"From California to Maine, state and local officials are taking steps to ban toxic substances found in consumer goods ranging from TVs to baby bottles, rather than waiting for the Environmental Protection Agency or other federal agencies to yank them off the market." (USA Today)
Tortured Congolese Mom Wins America’s Hometown Hero Award and New Car
In 1998, Rose Mapendo was sitting on the concrete floor of a Congolese prison cell summoning up every ounce of courage, strength and intellect to protect her children. Almost ten years later, she has used that same determination and drive to help protect and rescue countless thousands of fellow refugees of genocide, and this April was honored for her humanitarian outreach at the 5th Annual Volvo for life Awards ceremony in New York City. Volvo named Mapendo “America’s Greatest Hometown Hero” and awarded her a $50,000 charitable contribution and a new Volvo every three years for the rest of her life…
Mapendo, a Tutsi, was imprisoned and tortured by Congolese soldiers in the wake of the Rwandan genocide. Following 16 months of daily confrontations with death, witnessing the torture and execution of her husband and giving birth to premature twins on the floor of her cell, Mapendo and her nine children ended up in a refugee camp in Cameroon, from where she resettled to Phoenix, Ariz. Once safely established in the U.S., Mapendo helped found Mapendo International with the man responsible for her rescue. Mapendo International works with the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations to identify and assist Africa’s forgotten, those who are at risk of falling through the cracks of humanitarian aid efforts. The organization helps these people through its medical clinic in Kenya and through a rescue operations initiative, identifying at-risk individuals, families and groups of refugees and working to get them out of danger.
Held at the world famous 42nd St. Cipriani on April 5, the Volvo for life Awards ceremony was the climax of the largest-ever national search for and celebration of everyday heroes, with Volvo Cars of North America providing $1 million annually in awards and contributions. This year, in honor of the Awards’ 5th Anniversary, Volvo selected the top five heroes from every state in America and asked the public to visit www.volvoforlifeawards.com and vote for their favorite unsung hometown hero. Volvo received hundreds of thousands of votes from across the country.
A panel of distinguished judges — including Hank Aaron, Sen. Bill Bradley, Caroline Kennedy, Maya Lin, Val Kilmer, Paul Newman, Dr. Sally Ride, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and previous Volvo for life Awards grand winners — selected the program’s top three winners in the categories of Safety, Quality of Life and Environment. Mapendo was the Quality of Life category winner.
“The heroes selected as this year’s honorees have incredibly moving and powerful stories that symbolize Volvo’s core values of conscience, care and character and we are exceedingly proud to have the chance to honor them,” said Anne Belec, president and chief executive officer for Volvo Cars of North America. “It’s hard for anyone to imagine living through what Rose and her family had to endure, but to then go on to help other victims like herself is truly inspirational. She gives Africa’s forgotten refugees a voice and we hope this recent recognition will help America listen.”
Volvo’s 2006 Greatest Hometown Hero Award went to Dr. Ingida Asfaw of Pontiac, Michigan, a doctor who has galvanized over 550 medical and non-health professionals in the U.S. and Canada to give their time and talents to the cause of serving orphans and mothers in Ethiopia. Read his story featured on the GNN, here.
Read more hero stories, gathered over the past five years at the Volvo for life Awards Youtube page.
Geena Davis Honored With Hollywood Hero Award (Video)
Geena Davis received the USA Today Hollywood Hero Award for her project called See Jane, which seeks to improve the number and quality of portrayals of women and their characters in children’s films and in the film and television industry overall.
(WATCH the video below and Learn more at Geena’s website See Jane.org)
Photo: YouTube
Building a Better Bike Lane
"Flat, compact and temperate, the Netherlands and Denmark have long been havens for bikers. In Amsterdam, 40 percent of commuters get to work by bike… New measures designed to shift bike commuting into higher gear include the construction of new parking facilities that can hold up to 10,000 bikes… The rest of Europe and some cities in the U.S. are paying close attention, seeking advice from Amsterdam on developing bicycle-friendly infrastructure and policies." (Wall Street Journal) Google is doing its part, offering free bikes, their own unique model of Google bike, to all empolyees of the company overseas.
Age Friendly Workplaces on the Rise
"Most baby boomers say they plan to stay in the workforce longer… Some employers are creating an enviroment free from age bias: Tony Rich cites the benefits of hiring those over 50. In addition to their broad experience, he says, "The work ethic they bring is just incredible. They come from a generation that grew up working hard and doing whatever it takes." (CS Monitor)
(UPDATED) Bill Clinton Brokers Generic AIDS Drug Deal
"Former U.S. president Bill Clinton has announced a deal with drug companies to drastically reduce the cost of second-line anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS medicines for people in the developing world. His foundation has also negotiated a deal allowing a one-pill-a-day treatment that would cost less than $1 a day for developing countries, a 45 percent saving on the current price in Africa…"
Filipino Pineapple Peace Plan to Employ Poor Muslim Insurgents
"The Philippine army plans to transform the insurgency-wracked island of Jolo into the country’s second-largest pineapple-producing region in an effort to end decades of bloodshed. Under the plan, Jolo, 950 km south of Manila, would be transformed into a major producer of pineapples to provide livelihoods to impoverished Muslims who have lived under the shadow of rebel violence for decades." (Qatar Peninsula)
Elephant-Man Disease and Possible Amputation Won’t Stop 32 Year-Old From Seeing Adventure in Life
This story would be really sad if it weren’t for the inspired attitude ringing from this young woman’s lips. She is one of only 126 people in the world to have a rare deforming disease that, in her case, has enlarged her legs to beyond imaginable proportions and might lead to amputation. Instead of dwelling on the horrible ‘luck’, Mandy Sellars, from Lancashire, wants to bring awareness of the condition to the public. She says of the possible amputation ahead, "It could be a more adventurous life. Things I can’t do now I might be able to do then. I quite fancy having a go at snowboarding actually…" (BBC) Thanks, Andrew, for the link – you are correct in seeing the value to GNN readers – filed under, "You think you’ve got problems?"
75-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Skis to North Pole; First Black Woman Believed To Make Trip
Barbara Hillary became one of the oldest people to trek to the North Pole last month at the age of 75. The New York woman, a former nurse and community activist is believed to be the first black woman on record to accomplish the feat, eight years after her battle began with lung cancer. Read more about her on her website
Climate Change ‘Can Be Tackled’
"The growth in greenhouse gas emissions can be curbed at reasonable cost, experts at a UN climate change conference have agreed. Boosting renewable energy, reducing deforestation and improving energy efficiency can all help, they say." (BBC)
Madagascar Creates Millions More Protected Acres
“The government of Madagascar has established 15 new conservation areas encompassing a total of 2.65 million acres (about a million hectares) on the East African island famed for its unique wildlife, (but) which traditionally has had a poor conservation record. An estimated 80 percent of the island plants and animals are found nowhere else on Earth.” (Nat’l Geographic)
Brewing a Sustainable Energy Solution — With Beer!
A joint project between Australia’s most famous lager brewer, Foster’s, and the University of Queensland to turn beer wastewater into electricity has won $140,000 from the Queensland Government’s Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund. The technology works using a microbial fuel cell, which feeds continuously on the churning organics in the brewery wastewater, turning it into watts.
The team from UQ’s Advanced Wastewater Management Centre (AWMC) posed for photos at Foster’s Yatala brewery during the presentation of the funding by Minister for Environment Lindy Nelson-Carr on May 2.
“Energy and water supply are among the biggest challenges we will face in the coming decades,” he said.
AWMC Director Professor Jurg Keller said the focus in wastewater management had shifted away from simply treating waste to recovering valuable resources such as water, energy and nutrients.
“Technology that can do this should be supported, therefore the decision by the Queensland Government to support this project is a very important signal, both to universities and industry,” he said.
The team’s work is in collaboration with the University of Ghent, Belgium, and is backed by a $1.3 million Australian Research Council Discovery grant in addition to on site and financial support from Foster’s, who have been recognised for their innovative water reduction and recycling programs.
A patent is pending for the technology — believed to be a world first — which is designed for small to medium operations and could be used across a number of food, beverage and manufacturing industries.
Professor Keller said the team are achieving good progress with a 10-litre prototype, with plans to have a pilot-scale model up and running to coincide with an international bio-energy conference hosted by the University in September.
Advanced Wastewater Management Centre
Ton of Pharmaceuticals Kept Out of Michigan Rivers (Earth Day Follow-Up)
Pharmaceuticals in the water supply likely are responsible for crises of sexual mutation in fish found in the Potomac River and deformed frogs in Wisconsin, according to Environmental Protection Agency studies.
That’s why the EPA is now funding efforts to help Americans dispose of their old and unwanted pharmaceuticals in a safe manner.
Last month in honor of Earth Day, 2,400 residents in Michigan collected one ton of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and delivered them for proper disposal instead of flushing them down the drain and into our water supply…
Thanks to the third annual Earth Keepers’ Clean Sweep campaign, 400 volunteers, including 40 Northern Michigan University students, collected tens of thousands of drugs, pills and personal care products, and pulled off what the EPA called “the largest geographical pharmaceutical collection in U.S. history.”
Nineteen drop-off sites spread across a 400-mile area, in all 15 counties of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, were opened on a sunny Saturday morning, April 21, to collect the barrels and bags of unwanted drugs in preparation for disposal.
Recent nationwide studies found 80 percent of rivers sampled “tested positive for a range of pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, birth control hormones, antidepressants, veterinary drugs and other medications.”
Michigan’s lakes and rivers are world renown for their walleye, pike and trout though people are finally waking up to how important their actions are in maintaining the fishing habitat.
“Most treatment plants are not designed to filter out these medications,” according to Carl Lindquist, executive director of the Superior Watershed Partnership, and co-founder of Earth Keepers, who coordinates the technical aspects and writes government grants for the group.
The 19 sites collected “the whole gamut” of over-the-counter and prescription medications including a wide range of narcotic pain killers, sleeping pills, syringes/needles and antibiotics.
Pharmacists and law enforcement officers were present at all collection sites to ensure security and proper collection of the pharmaceuticals, some of which had a street value of $500,000, Lindquist said. The public also turned in a wide range of personal care products like suntan lotions, shampoos, cosmetics and soaps.
140 CHURCHES AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP SIGNED COVENANT THAT CREATED EARTH KEEPERS
One participant said the interfaith aspect of this project has given it a unique energy and power. The Earth Keepers is a faith-based environmental movement founded on the idea of bringing together all religions, including native American traditions, to preserve the Earth in active ways.
Over the past four years Rev. Jon Magnuson activated nine different faith communities along with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to accomplish the massive Clean Sweeps each April. Working with a single purpose are Catholics, Episcopals, Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Methodists, Unitarian Universalists, Baha’is, Jews, and even Zen Buddhists, from 140 congregations throughout the upper peninsula with 130,000 members.
“We are in trouble with the way we live on the Earth, we have lost our balance” but projects like the clean sweeps are one example of humans correcting man-made problems, said Rev. Magnuson, founder of Earth Keepers and the head of Lutheran Campus Ministry at Northern Michigan U.
Wiese Martin, an environmental scientist and Presbyterian, suggests we need a systematic way to routinely and safely dispose of unused and unwanted medications but, he said, “An organized means for collection and disposal just does not exist.”
Pastor Jim Balfour, of United Methodist Church of St. Ignace appreciated the Earth Keepers literature that was passed out to the public because it helps “people understand how many of the common items of our daily lives can be a threat to the environment when they have out lived their usefulness.”
Also active in the Clean Sweep was the non-profit company Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, which donated $15,000 to the cause along with 150 volunteers, and the Cedar Tree Institute, a Marquette, Michigan non-profit environmental group.
CLEANING OUT MEDICINE CABINET CLEARS DRUGS — AND MEMORIES
Katherine Geier removed all the narcotics from her home, delivering OxyContin and other medication to the collection site at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Ishpeming.
“My mother had become addicted to prescription pain killers and sleeping pills, that I ended up hiding them from her,” Geier said. “So I had all these narcotics and didn’t know what to do with them. I didn’t want to flush them down the toilet.”
Some participants held medications “for many years after the death of a relative,” said Jill Wiese Martin, site manager and a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Escanaba, MI.
Catholic Earth Keeper member Kyra Fillmore, a 29-year-old mother of two small children, said “People were unloading medicines from deceased relatives or from past illness. I’m grateful that Earth Keepers could provide a comfortable place for people to, in a sense, release past pains and help keep our water clean as well.”
Many rivers in the Michigan area are world renown walleye fisheries and vulnerable to the toxins that collections like these remove.
Mary Klups of Ontonagon County brought in several types of pain and blood pressure medication, including two bottles of morphine, leftover from her late husband’s cancer treatment and kept by her until she could dispose of them in the right way.
“I also have several of my own medications including some very expensive medicine that did not work out because I had an allergic reaction to it,” Klups said. “I really appreciate having a way to get rid of all this.”
White Pine pharmacist Chuck Blezek said “for years we told people to flush old prescriptions down the toilet – it is only lately that we have found out that it is the wrong thing to do.”
Site coordinator Phil Hansen said many participants collected from their family and friends filling large bags. Most, he said, were previously “unaware that throwing away medicine or flushing it was harmful.”
ANTIQUE PHARMACY BOTTLES RESCUED FROM BASEMENT
Some of the medication was over 100 years old, including 18 large dust-covered antique bottles filled with liquids and powders that Lutheran Mary Sloan Armstrong of Harvey brought to the Messiah Lutheran Church collection site in Marquette.
Armstrong said the medicines – some with Latin labels – belonged to her late father J.K. Sloan, who ran Sloan’s Pharmacy in Galva, Illinois for decades prior to his death.
“These are drug bottles that were in the basement of my dad’s pharmacy,” said Armstrong. “We’ve had them for about 30 years (since her father’s death) and haven’t done anything with them. We thought this would be a good chance to get rid of the contents.”
Pharmacists gathered around Armstrong’s car to get a look at the century old drugs that had a variety of deteriorating cork-like lids. “These powders and liquids are considered hazardous waste but they are drugs.”
One person dropped off a “turn-of-the century” black folding case containing eight small bottles filled with powders to a collection site in Marquette.
“This is what would have been a doctor’s traveling pharmacy,” said pharmacist Kent Jenema, while showing the leather zippered case to an EPA observer. “This has a lot of old patent type medications from mostly natural sources that predates some of the pharmacy that we know today.”
CLEAN SWEEPS IN 2005 AND 2006 COLLECTED TONS OF ELECTRONICS AND TOXIC CLEANERS
In 2006, the Clean Sweep focused on electronic waste, like old or broken computers, printers and cell phones. Organizers expected to collect 100 tons and instead were shocked by more than 320 tons of equipment dropped off in just three hours by an estimated 10,000 U.P. residents. It took 9 semi trucks to haul the e-waste to an EPA approved recycling center.
In 2005, the first Clean Sweep collected 45 tons of household poisons and vehicle batteries. The hazardous waste, including over two pounds of mercury, were properly disposed of in various ways according to EPA and state guidelines.
Both previous clean sweeps broke EPA collection records for the Great Lakes region, organizers said.
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Contributing writer – Greg Peterson, Earth Keeper volunteer, media advisor and news reporter
More information at: Earth Keeper TV
The Superior Watershed Partnership
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Steal Shipping Containers Find New Life as Homes
Inexpensive and abundant, old shipping containers are turning into good looking affordable housing! NBC-TV’s Roger O’Neil reports on the container-housing which is purported to be "hurricane-proof, fire-resistant, and there’s not a termite to be found." (MSNBC w/ video option) Thanks to David in the UK for the great link!
Kidney Donation to Hubby Ends Divorce Plans
A couple on the verge of divorce remain married after 17 years after the wife offered to donate her kidney to her estranged husband who was in need of transplant. (AP)
Heart Patients Living Longer
Heart disease rates have been falling for decades due to healthier lifestyles, but now death rates after severe heart attacks have been cut in half over the last six years, thanks to new treatments and anti-clotting drugs. Death rates of patients in 14 countries fell from 8.4% to 4.5% between 1999 and 2006, a study showed.
Fight Fashion Snobbery, Don’t Give Up Your Hi-Tops
I used to love the TV make-over shows. A team of stylists transform a country bumpkin into a sexy sister unrecognizable by her own family whose jaws are dropped open in glee with the rest of the audience. Often the admiration the new look brings is wholly new for the woman and she’s grateful for the transformation. That’s what I love about these events, the sweet self-approval that blossoms when others recognize you as gorgeous.
The problem arose for me when people were asked to stop expressing their own uniqueness and give up their own style just because some TV personality had decided that it was totally unacceptable for adult women to wear hi-tops…
Illusion, the Must-See Movie of the Year (Join Spiritual Cinema DVD Club and Get Film Free in May)
“What if I could do my life over again?” This is the tantalizing question at the heart of ILLUSION, a new film starring the legendary actor Kirk Douglas. The award-winning movie tells the story of a once powerful but now ailing film director, who is visited by the ghost of a dear, departed friend. He plays movie scenes from the director’s life (called Akashic records), convincing him of the need to set things right after a lifetime of rejecting his only son. On his deathbed, he receives the gift of redemption… Very cool movie. My husband and I both thought it was fabulous. Just watch the trailer below.
During the month of May, you can get the Illusion DVD for free, along with nine other excellent films, just for joining the Spiritual Cinema DVD Club’s risk-free trial offer. (details follow)
More About Illusion
Michael A. Goorjian stars as Kirk Douglas’s son and also directs this movie. The plot flips and turns, offers suspense and true love. Douglas, the celebrated star of more than 80 films including SPARTACUS, gives the performance of a lifetime at age 88, despite suffering a stroke in 1996. Now age 90, Douglas says, “ILLUSION appealed to me because I found something spiritual in it. The man I played was not a very good guy throughout his life but he felt the need to do something good before he died. Playing this role was a great privilege.” Watch the Trailer below.
What is The Spiritual Cinema Circle?
It’s a DVD club specializing in uplifting, inspirational films. The Circle acquires features, shorts and documentaries from film festivals around the world. The Circle’s editors pick films that “stir the soul, expand the mind and help you feel better about being human”. Read an earlier review of the movie club here, in which I described some of the short films included in the monthly package. Subscribers never return DVD’s. The disks are theirs to keep and share with friends. The cost after the free-trial month, is $21 plus shipping for four films each month.
Free Trial Membership
Sign up in May and you’ll receiveyour first month of movies for free (Illusion and three short films) plus the bonus Soulmates Collection, featuring 6 heartwarming short films about the many faces of true love. That’s 10 films in all, a $50 value, as a gift for trying the service. They do require that you cover the cost of shipping ($6.95 for domestic orders, $9.95 for international orders).
The Soulmates Collection includes:
PAPER ROSES: Examines the circle of life, loves lost and loves found
DANCE WITH ME: Explores the key to lasting love
JILLIAN’S VANTAGE: A favorite spiritual love story here at the Circle
FLIRTING WITH DEATH: A man meets death, and she’s gorgeous!
BICYCLES AND RADIOS: Healing and love come when least expected
SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER: A magical love story… with a fun twist
To learn more and start your risk-free trial membership today, visit the Spiritual Cinema Circle.
Watch the film trailer of the must-see movie of the year, Illusion
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Video Shooter Game Hooks Kids on Shakespeare
A new space shooter online video game developed by a Canadian University uses lush graphics and challenging quests into outer space to teach a little Shakespeare. Gamers become pilots of an elite squadron of ships whose mission is to guard an ancient text called Romeo and Juliet.
The game, called Speare, is available as a free demo, upon registration with a company set up by the university.
Speare was tested on 100 sixth graders but only after game designers specifically devised a game that will not run kids off with its ‘educational’ label:
“They had a blast with it!”
Palestinian and Israeli Doctors Join to Improve Kids’ Health
"Well aware that children on both sides of the divide have long suffered from the Arab-Israeli conflict, 300 Israeli and 100 Palestinian doctors and other professionals convened and ate together during an unprecedented conference" created to discover methods that help kids with chronic diseases "reach their full potential." (Jerusalem Post) Thanks to new GNN member Daniel for the link!
