NURTURE NATURE PROJECT

Conversations on Courage: Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu & Aung San Suu Kyi (CGI 2011)

Posted by Heather ⋅ October 3, 2011 ⋅ Leave a Comment

My hero, and the hero of so many, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the amazing and honorable Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu talk with each other for the first time at the Clinton Global Initiative. Hosted by Charlie Rose.

(video) Want to understand the problems with GMOs? I highly recommend this video, The Future of Food. It is your right to know.

Posted by Heather ⋅ September 29, 2011 ⋅ Leave a Comment

The Future of Food – Introduction

There is a revolution going on in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America, a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. www.thefutureoffood.com

Tune in! UN Webcast “New Media in a World at 7 Billion” Online Today 12PM. You Can Help Change the World!

Posted by Heather ⋅ September 14, 2011 ⋅ Leave a Comment

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has convened a panel discussion to explore the challenges and opportunities in a world of 7 billion.

Tell them that you are “Attending” the event by visiting the Facebook event page.

Join in to ask the UN Secretary-General any questions you have about the United Nations and its work, such as: What more can we do to stop wars from breaking out? What can one individual do in the fight against climate change? What’s it like to be Secretary-General of the UN?

Post your questions on Twitter using #asktheSG in English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese or Swahili, before or during the live event. Questions in Chinese can also be posted on Weibo.

Secretary-General on Facebook.

Join the Panel Discussion Today from 12 pm- 1:15pm EST live streaming here:

New Media in a World of 7 Billion

NOTE: Go to Channel 3 on the side bar

more info here:united nations

A Global Conversation with the UN Secretary-General
Live on Social Media Networks

7billionactions.org connects people around the world and inspires action. From their amazing site:

Women and Girls: Empowerment and Progress

Unleashing the power of women and girls will accelerate progress on all fronts.

In a world of 7 billion, every person should enjoy equal rights and dignity. We cannot afford to lose the full potential of half the world’s population. Investing in women and girls is cost-effective and essential to solving the world’s most challenging problems. When women are healthy and educated and can participate fully in society, they trigger progress in their families, communities and nations.

Yet women continue to face widespread discrimination and violence. They lag behind men in access to land, credit and decent jobs, and hold far fewer policy-making roles. Their social roles are often justified by culture or religion, but not biologically determined. These are societal arrangements which vary widely by locality and change constantly.

Advancing women’s education, reproductive health and rights will enhance their well-being and productivity, improving prospects for current and future generations. Most of the money women earn is spent on their families’ food, education and health care. Thus, investing in girls and women pays: it boosts national security by strengthening families, which promotes economic growth and community peace and stability.

When Women and Girls have rights and opportunities, their families, communities, and nations prosper. PDF

Find out more here:http://bit.ly/nzvtB9

Innovating to improve women and children’s health (eurekalert.org)
National Geographic Advocates Seed Banks (pgcsc.wordpress.com)
Addressing World of 7 Billion, Young People’s Needs, Focus of UNFPA’s New Leader (prweb.com)
Watch TEDGlobal 2011 via webcast (via TED Blog) (techweev.com)
Watch the Climate Reality Project on Wednesday at 7:00 PM Your Time (desmogblog.com)

New York Eco Fashion Week! The GreenShows Sept 8th – 15th 2011

Posted by Heather ⋅ September 9, 2011 ⋅ Leave a Comment

Photo from thegreenshows.com

The Green Shows, New York Eco Fashion Week started yesterday! See information and videos here: The GreenShows, New York Eco Fashion Week, Sept 8th – 15th 2011.

Check out their BLOG for daily updates

Check out their great FIBER GLOSSARY

A Little about The Green Shows

The GreenShows is dedicated to the design, and development of the next generation of specialty retail destinations to service a growing global market of socially conscious fashion shoppers. An international community of ethical fashion designers and collectives are producing with passion, style, and integrity. The primary need and opportunity is to create online and physical points of distribution that are friendly, informative and scalable.For additional information on their retail strategies, and fashion events contact: info@thegreenshows.com

Past Designers:

Ashton Michael Black Label : www.ashtonmichael.com

Auralis Herrero : www.auralistudio.com

Bright Young Things : www.youbrightyoungthings.com

Dress Reform : www.dressreform.com

Joann Berman : www.joannberman.com

Lavuk : www.mylavuk.com

Luis Valenzuela : www.luisvalenzuelausa.com

Milliners Guild : www.millinersguild.com

Samantha Pleet : www.samanthapleet.com

Susan Cianciolo : www.susancianciolo.com

Spring Ecolux Designer Showcase : Pop-Up Shop
Bloomingdales Soho : New York City
April 2011

Artists & Revolutionaries : www.artistsandrevolutionaries.com

Ajna : www.ajnacollection.com

Samantha Pleet : www.samanthapleet.com

The Battalion : www.thebatallion.com

Robin Brouillette : www.robinbrouillette.com

Study NY : www.4equalsides.com

H Fredriksson : www.hfredrikkson.com

Suzanne Rae : www.suzannerae.com

Luis Valenzuela : www.luisvalenzuelausa.com

Amy Butler’s Blissful Organic Cotton Prints Change the Game!

Posted by Heather ⋅ September 7, 2011 ⋅ Leave a Comment

Bliss!!

I cannot lie. I have a huge thing for beautiful fabrics and fabric prints. A couple years ago I fell head over heals, madly, deeply in love with Amy Butler’s bright, passionate, joy-filled designs. I knew then and there that we needed Amy Butler on Team Organic. So…

About a year and a half ago I contacted a woman at Amy Butler Design via phone. I told her that I (along with throngs of other Amy Butler fans) was utterly in love with Amy Butler patterns and I virtually begged (OK I did beg) for a line of organic fabric prints and solids. The woman I spoke to was extremely sweet and explained that they had thought about it but they did not presently have anything in the works. Worth a try right?

Then, this last July 11th, I happened to be looking up a sewing pattern on her site and low and behold, there, shining brightly off the screen, was a message (with a gorgeous picture) for the new Amy Butler Organic Soul fabric line, not yet in, but coming soon! Joy!!

I sent them a message thanking them for creating this gorgeous line of ORGANIC cotton fabric patterns.

Two days later I received the following VERY SWEET message back.

Hello Heather,

Thanks for passing the word along, it has taken a lot of work to make Amy’s vision for organic cotton a reality and it has been so hard to keep it a secret. I do remember talking with you and Amy thanks you for persistence and for emailing us. Amy would love to get your feedback on the organic cotton, be assured Amy does plan to add organic to her next collection of fabric too, already in the works . We hope everyone likes it as much as we do!

LOVED your site, must stop interrupting my studio mates with “come here, you just have to see this!” Please stay in touch.

My best,

Linda Sandin

Finally, yesterday I received the email message that the fabrics had arrived! So, without further ado!

A sustainable, beautiful line for quilting and fashion sewing.
Prints derived and rescaled from her most popular Soul Blossoms designs
Lovingly reproduced on a 100% organic cotton using low impact dyes.
The fabrics come 44″ wide
Certified organic through G.O.T.S. affiliate Control Union Certifications – Netherlands

My Favorites! See more here

Why Choose Organic?

More Amy Butler Organic

Amy Butler’s Organic Coverlets Embrace Subtle Patterns (casasugar.com)

(video) Bill McKibben: Why I Spent 2 Days In Jail Protesting the Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline

Posted by Heather ⋅ August 25, 2011 ⋅ 1 Comment

DemocracyNow.org – Fifty-two environmental activists were arrested Monday in front of the White House as part of an ongoing protest calling on the Obama administration to reject a permit for the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline project, which would deliver Canada tar sands oil to refineries in Texas, and rather focus on developing clean energy. An estimated 2,000 people have signed up to hold sit-ins and commit other acts of civil disobedience outside the White House everyday for the next two weeks — 162 have already been arrested since Saturday. Also joining the protest are indigenous First Nations communities in Canada and landowners along the Keystone XL pipeline’s planned route. An editorial in Sunday’s New York Times joined in calling on the State Department to reject the pipeline, noting that the extraction of petroleum from the tar sands creates far more greenhouse emissions than conventional production. Meanwhile, oil-industry backers of the project emphasize what they say are the economic benefits of the $7 billion proposal. As the Obama administration remains undecided whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, Democracy Now! speaks with Bill McKibben in Washington, D.C., where he was released Monday after spending two nights in jail. He is part of Tar Sands Action, a group of environmentalists, indigenous communities, labor unions and scientific experts, calling for action to stop the project. “This is the first real civil disobedience of this scale for the environmental movement in ages,” McKibben says.

For the complete transcript, to download the podcast, or for more Democracy Now! reports on climate change issues, visit http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/23/over_160_arrested_in_ongoing_civil

FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/democracynow
Twitter: @democracynow
Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/democracynow
Daily Email News Digest: http://www.democracynow.org/subscribe

Arrests Mount As Climate Activists Push Obama On Keystone XL Oil Pipeline (huffingtonpost.com)
Keystone XL: a line in the sand for Obama | Amy Goodman (guardian.co.uk)
Obama’s big dirty oil test (salon.com)

Upcycling: What is it? 8 Kick Buttock Examples

Posted by Heather ⋅ August 5, 2011 ⋅ Leave a Comment

Pochette - Green Leaf

In nature nothing is ever wasted. When a plant dies it decomposes and becomes the nutrients for new life. Upcycling mimics this natural process.

Upcycle TerraCycle® definition: Using every aspect of waste as value… Typically a piece of waste can be seen as two things: the material it’s made from and the shape it is in. For example a chip bag is made from plastic and is in the form of a bag. If one were to upcycle a chip bag one would be leveraging both aspects and not destroying any part of it. While if one were to melt a chip bag into a plastic product it would be considered recycling vs. upcycling. terracycle.net/upcycling TerraCycle ® upcycles and recycles traditionally non-recyclable waste (including drink pouches, chip bags, tooth brushes and many more) into a large variety of consumer products.

Upcycle Wikipedia definition: The process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value… Upcycling reduces the consumption of new raw materials when creating new products. Reducing the use of new raw materials can result in a reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution and even greenhouse gas emissions… Upcycling is the opposite of downcycling, which is the other half of the recycling process. According to this concept, recycling, as we know it through our traditional waste management systems, would actually be considered downcycling. Downcycling involves converting materials and products into new materials of lesser quality. Most recycling involves converting or extracting useful materials from a product and creating a different product or material. – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upcycle