A 66-year-old Michigan golfer has been swinging at greens for half a century but has never had a hole-in-one. Until last Thursday, when he had two of them – in the same round – beating the odds at 67 million to one. (City News in Toronto)
Every TerraCycle Product is Made From Garbage, Packaged in Garbage
Kraft Foods has joined a list of major corporations, like Coke and Kellogg, to fund the collection of used packaging and consumer leftovers of its own products through a partnership with upstart super-recycler, TerraCycle, Inc.
In 2001, Tom Szaky, a Princeton University Freshman, dropped out of school to become an eco-capitalist founding TerraCycle, a company that turns garbage into useful home products.
“TerraCycle’s eco-friendly products have received a myriad of social and environmental accolades and are sold at major retailers like The Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods Markets.”
Last month, Kraft announced its new partnership with TerraCycle that will invest in the collection of packages that are challenging to recycle, like its Capri Sun containers and food bar wrappers, turning them into affordable, high quality bags, spray bottles, shower curtains, umbrellas and other consumer goods.
One of the ways TerraCycle collects the product packaging is by enlisting schools in a fund raising scheme where the “TerraCycle Brigades” earn pennies for every bottle or wrapper collected. Check out their products and fundraising programs online at www.terracycle.com.
Watch this overview of the operations of TerraCycle…
Cat Stuck in a Pipe? Roto-Rooter to the Rescue
A kitten was rescued from his snag inside an outdoor drainage pipe near Cleveland by the plumbing service, Roto-Rooter. Workers used a drain snake with remote camera to locate the animal and worked for 4 hours on recovery. The kitten was adopted on the spot by Larry, one of the rescuers, who says he plans to name the kitten “Roto.”
Well, last week’s rescue, it turns out, is not unusual for the plumbing company. In April another feline distress signal went out from Harrisburg, after firemen suggested calling Roto-Rooter. CBS-21 reported that Bud the cat was underground in the dark for four days until his owner heard a faint meow while she was gardening. Hours later the remote camera caught sight of Bud blinking in front of the tiny light. Check out this video of the six hour rescue.
As Pump Prices Rise, Traffic Deaths Fall
Another silver lining of rising U.S. gas prices may be the sharp decrease in traffic deaths around the country, which mirrors the same declines seen during the Arab oil embargo three decades ago.
BMW Says Mini’s Time has Come: Electrics Due in U.S. Next Year
The U.S. car market may be moving toward Mini’s kind of small, fashionable and fuel-efficient vehicles, and the British brand will be ready as it prepares to launch its first electric vehicles in the United States in 2009 and a small crossover utility vehicle not long after.
Electricity Brightening for State That had Seen Dimming
In the last few years, Connecticut has become a leader in “demand-response,” which provides financial incentives for electricity customers to lower their use during tight supply periods. The state has also promoted conservation and reduced demand to limit the growth in electricity use; set environmental goals to curb emissions; and encouraged the development of renewable energy to better balance its fuel sources. (Full story in Hartford Courant)
Trans Fats Banned in California Restaurant Food
Doctors across the United States commended California which enacted legislation on Friday making it the first U.S. state to prohibit restaurants from preparing food with trans fats, which clog arteries and raise the risk of heart disease.
Indian Army to Help Prevent Rhino Poaching
Authorities in northeastern India have asked the army to help protect endangered one-horned rhinoceroses from poachers and have made the soldiers honorary wildlife wardens, officials said Saturday. (Full story in the Guardian)
New Mexico Researchers Work to Halt Depletion of Native Herb by Encouraging Farmers
“Described by local residents as magical, a native herb called yerba mansa, known as the “the calming herb,” has been used for centuries throughout the Southwest by American Indians and Hispanics for ailments ranging from toothaches to sinus infections. Anticipating the herb’s rising popularity, a researcher has made yerba mansa a viable and desirable agricultural crop for New Mexico’s small farmers, helping to protect the ecologically threatened plant from depletion.” (Chicago Tribune Business section)
Summer Vacation for Kids Includes Helping Neediest Communities in Dallas
As most teenagers spent their summer break at the beach, pool or working at summer jobs, some 240 junior high and high school-age kids were hard at work on a one week-long community service project to spruce up homes and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas. “World Changers,” an initiative for youth of the Southern Baptist Convention, brought the group of workers to several Dallas low-income neighborhoods to paint houses, replace roofs, and provide hope to residents in need.
Inspirational ‘Last Lecture’ Professor Dies (Video)
A Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose ‘last lecture’ about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday at the age of 47, but ‘s inspiring message lives on. (See also the September, 2007 GNN video: Rapidly Dying 47-Year-Old Professor Gives Exuberant ‘Last Lecture’
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Salinas Tries a New Tack in the Fight Against Gangs: Fasting
Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue publicly called for a week of Fasting for Peace in the city as a response to a recent spike in violence. City leaders and clergy are promoting the weeklong effort. Some scoff that fasting couldn’t possibly work, but Donohue said, “The evidence suggests otherwise: Gandhi and Cesar Chavez used it quite effectively.” (Los Angeles Times)
Reviving the Lost Art of US Statesmanship
For more than twelve years, US Amb. Dennis Ross played a leading role in shaping US involvement in the Middle East peace process. Responsible in both the former Bush and Clinton administrations for exploring ways to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he has now put his diplomatic expertise into a recently published book, entitled: Statecraft And How to Restore America’s Standing in the World.
AMBER Alerts on the Decline
Every state but Alaska has issued at least one AMBER Alert — a public announcement of a child abduction using the media, email and traffic signs — since Texas launched the first program in 1997. But the number of alerts has been dropping off, and state officials say that’s not a bad thing.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the number of alerts has declined in the past three years. There were 275 issued nationwide in 2005, falling to 262 in 2006 and 227 in 2007. As of May 31 this year, there were only 74 alerts.
9-Year-Old Toy Philanthropist Still Going Strong
“Ashlee Smith, the 9-year-old who started to collect toys for kids who have lost everything in fires, is now about to become a nonprofit entrepreneur earning “501(c)3” status. She started out when the Angora fire hit last year, destroying many homes in South Lake Tahoe. Having lost all her toys in a house fire once, Ashlee, the daughter of a firefighter, said she knew how it felt and wanted to help. (Nevada Appeal) This is from our local paper and right in our back yard, so we’ll be bringing her some toys for her cause this week!
Visit Ashlee’s Toy Closet and help out
Cyprus Leaders to Resume Direct Peace Talks
The leaders of divided Cyprus are to enter direct peace negotiations on September 3 aimed at ending the 34-year-old division of the island — Europe’s last cold war divide. (Read More)
Scientists Expose Mystery Behind Northern Lights
NASA has solved some of the mystery behind the Northern lights. Explosions of magnetic energy between Earth and the moon are behind the sparkles and wavy glows of the Northern Lights that color the night sky, NASA said Thursday. A fleet of five satellites on a mission known as THEMIS studied the phenomenon of energy that leads to the spectacular brightening of the aurora borealis.
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Peacock Hitches Ride with Pair Along Pa. Roadway
Animal lover Jerry Dimick was driving with a friend in northeast Pennsylvania when he saw a beautiful peacock standing on the side of the highway, cars speeding past. He was determined to find the bird a safe place to stay. He picked it up and, and with no room in the back of his pick-up truck, Jerry planted the peacock in the front seat. “The bird was sitting in between the two of us. He sat there,” Dimock added. So far, the peacock’s new foster father has had no luck with the Game Commission, animal control, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or the local zoo. (WNEP.com TV-16 w/ Video)
Glimmer of Hope for Botswana’s Rhinos
Africa’s white rhinos were driven to the brink of extinction in the early 20th century as poachers hunted the animal for its horn. A breeding program launched in Botswana has been successful in bringing the white rhino back to Botswana’s bush and it gives hope that black rhinos, which are still seriously endangered, may also survive.
House Bill to Provide Gas-Price-Relief Without Drilling
Bipartisan Legislation to Provide Transportation and Housing Options was introduced in the Congress yesterday that would offer Americans relief from high gas prices by providing expanded transportation and housing options.
The bill, “The Transportation and Housing Options for Gas Price Relief Act of 2008” (H.R. 6495), was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and five co-sponsors. It was endorsed by the Environmental Defense Fund as a bill that would “facilitate alternatives to driving where possible and respond to America’s insufficient public transit and costly housing options”.
