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Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.

Etsy's mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to
 reconnect makers with buyers.

Etsy's  vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

http://www.etsy.com/

Caucasian (dark-colored) bee originates from the Caucasus region that separates Europe from Asia.

Italian bee is the most common bee in the United States. Its origin: Italy.

This is one of Susan Cobey's New World Carniolan bees.The Carniolans originate from the Northern Balkans, Slovenia and Caucasian mountains.(Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The California State Beekeepers’ Association and the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA), are cooperating in research and exchange of bees to strengthen the honeybee populations around the world.

Susan Cobey is internationally known for her expertise in honey bee breeding and instrumental insemination. She teaches classes that draw students from throughout the world. A bee breeder and geneticist for more than 30 years, she developed and maintains the world-renowned New World Carniolan stock.

“Researchers are still collecting more samples from collapsing colonies and trying very hard to process those and previous samples to see what may be causing the problem,” said UC Davis Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, who believes that CCD is not caused by one single factor, but multiple factors, including malnutrition, pesticides, diseases, parasites and stress.

“Nearly every state in the U.S. has some to many beekeepers who are having difficulty with losses that appear to be CCD,” said Mussen, Extension apiculturist at UC Davis since 1976 and a former state and national beekeeper of the year. “Many countries are encountering similar bee losses.  Since we don't know what is causing ours, or theirs, we cannot say that the cause(s) is the same, but it is likely.”

In CCD, nearly all adult worker bees unexpectedly fly away from the hive, abandoning the stored honey, pollen, larvae and pupae. Usually they leave in less than a week, and only the queen and a few young workers remain, Mussen said.

CCD  is not a new occurrence, Mussen said. “Similar phenomena have been observed since 1869. It persisted in 1963, 1964 and 1965 and was called Spring Dwindling, Fall Collapse and Autumn Collapse. Then in 1975, it was called Disappearing Disease. But the disease wasn’t disappearing—the bees were.”

Can we surmise what the future holds for bees? “No, we cannot,” Mussen said. “We hope that this episode will just be one in a number that have occurred, and resolved themselves, in the past.”

At the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture hearing on June 26 to review the status of pollinator health and CCD, subcommittee chair Cong. Dennis Cardoza of California’s 18th District, said that the “importance of bees and other pollinators cannot be underestimated. Nearly 130 different crops—totaling over $15 billion in annual farm gate value—depend on pollination to grow.”

Testimony revealed that the lack of pollinators could further increase food prices. Said Cardoza:  “USDA desperately needs to better coordinate their research and response to this ongoing crisis, and more clearly define their needs so that Congress can adequately respond.”

“Should the CCD crisis continue unchecked, pollinated ingredients such as strawberries, cherries and almonds could become scarce or too expensive to obtain, forcing us to evaluate whether we can continue offering popular flavors that depend on pollinated ingredients because of higher production costs,” Pien said.

Those interested in making online donations to UC Davis to help save the honey bees can access the UC Davis Department of Entomology Web page. Or, checks may be made out to “UC Regents” and mailed to the UC Davis Department of Entomology, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616.

Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. Regions of Focus: North America, Hawaii, Caribbean, and U.S. Pacific Islands. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research today released a scientific assessment ("Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate") that provides the first comprehensive analysis of observed and projected changes in weather and climate extremes in North America and U.S. territories. Among the findings reported in this assessment are that droughts, heavy downpours, excessive heat, and intense hurricanes are likely to become more commonplace as humans continue to increase the atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Global warming of the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced increases in heat-trapping gases, according to the report. Many types of extreme weather and climate event changes have been observed during this time period and continued changes are projected for this century. Specific future projections include: Abnormally hot days and nights, along with heat waves, are very likely to become more common. Cold nights are very likely to become less common. Sea ice extent is expected to continue to decrease and may even disappear in the Arctic Ocean in summer in coming decades. Precipitation, on average, is likely to be less frequent but more intense. Droughts are likely to become more frequent and severe in some regions. Hurricanes will likely have increased precipitation and wind. The strongest cold-season storms in the Atlantic and Pacific are likely to produce stronger winds and higher extreme wave heights.

Not only do women suffer the most from global problems, such as the current crisis arising from the surge in food prices, but they can also contribute the most to its solutions, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said.

Ms. Migiro pointed out that the world is faced with an “unprecedented” rise of food prices, plunging many developing countries into a crisis that threatens to thwart efforts to achieve the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Highlighting some of the effects of the crisis, Ms. Migiro noted that families that do not have enough to eat are being forced to make terrible choices, such as deciding between food or medicine, or choosing whether to send their children to school or to the fields where they might earn money to help the family.

“And it’s women who are hit the hardest,” she said. “The development emergency engulfing whole communities is taking its heaviest toll on women.”

The crisis offers an opportunity to re-invest in agriculture in Africa.

“Helping African farmers can have a decisive impact on women’s lives,” Ms. Migiro said, noting that for the most part it is women – who make up 80 per cent of Africa’s farmers – that are out there under the hot sun, tending the fields and harvesting crops.

“But the same women hit hardest by the food crisis are ready to hit back,” she added, stressing that with the right support, they can move their communities from subsistence farming to commercial farming and even industry. This is crucial not only for the continent but for the world, which is just not producing as much food as it consumes.

“We need to do much more… to empower women. Women can drive the Green Revolution in Africa. They hold the key to breaking out of the food crisis; to educating the young; to peace, progress and prosperity,” the Deputy Secretary-General stated.

SOURCE: UN.org

Waste is our nemesis -- and solid waste is filling our cities not only with trashy debris, but it also causes water pollution, air pollution and land contamination.  Prevention would be nice!  But in a consumables society, that's not a robust answer to the problem of excess packaging, throw-away product design and planned obsolescence. How we handle solid waste is a critical issue for our decade.  Here's an overview of how Minnesota and The Netherlands differ...and are finding solutions to this community quality of life issue.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) recently (Feb 2008) issued a "2007 Solid Waste Policy Report"
(DOWNLOAD HERE: www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/reports/lrw-sw-1sy08.pdf )

Some points:

• Incineration is unhealthy and makes global warming worse;
• Incineration is not a source of "green" or "renewable" energy;
• incineration is very expensive and diverts investment from better options such as "zero waste;"

The MPCA agrees that it cannot be silent on such a high-profile issue, particularly following the Supreme Court's decision in Oneida and following landmark legislation in 2007 on the urgency of building up renewable energy sources and cutting down greenhouse gases. In fact, MPCA believes that Minnesotans can no longer afford to discard the energy embodied in solid waste.

Impact on recycling and organics recovery: The MPCA looked into concerns about WTE plants interfering with Minnesota's recycling and organics potential. The stated concern was that such plants usually require some form of "put or pay" commitments that guarantee a given daily tonnage of garbage to the WTE plants, before investors will commit capital; and that the locked-in tonnages will discourage materials that are burnable from going to recycling or composting. While the concern is reasonable and must be addressed, it is not inevitable that WTE hinders the recycling effort. Rather, residential recycling rates have typically been higher in communities with contractual commitments to WTE facilities than those without WTE. It is worthy of note that the highest waste-diversion achiever in the European Union is the Netherlands, which recycles and composts 65 percent of its waste but also sends 30 percent of its waste to combustion.

One reason for this counter-intuitive state of affairs may be that committing to WTE plants has persuaded those communities to pay attention to their waste rather than relying on distant landfills that are "out of sight, and out of mind." For example, those that operate WTE plants look for ways to keep metal and glass out of combustion chambers, because metals, such as aluminum that melts to slag steal heat from the furnace, interfere with furnace equipment and then add to the tonnage of ash that must be managed at considerable expense. One proven way to divert that metal and glass is source-separated recycling, which keeps the materials out of mixed municipal solid waste, maintaining its value as a marketable commodity.

The MPCA has benchmarked with the world's best achievers in solid waste management and does not find an inherent conflict between WTE and recycling, even at the highest rates of recycling achieved by states and nations.

Minnesota has included WTE in its waste-management mix since the 1980s and its recycling performance is well above average for the United States and is on par with Germany.

The Netherlands is the Pace Setter in Solid Waste  Solutions

The pace-setter is the Netherlands, which landfills only 5 percent of its waste, compared to Minnesota, which landfills 36 percent.

If the Netherlands is taken as one example of how a region with both rural and urban populations allocated efforts within its waste management hierarchy, Minnesota still has good opportunities to move waste up from landfilling. (The Netherlands adopted its hierarchy in 1979, called Lansink's Ladder.)

Lansink's Ladder has these rungs, in order of decreasing preference:

1. Prevention
2. Design for prevention and design for beneficial use
3. Product recycling (reuse)
4. Material recycling
5. Recovery for use as fuel
6. Disposal by incineration

Incorporating Sustainable Environmental Practices into Remediation of Contaminated Sites

Green remediation is the practice of considering all environmental effects of remedy implementation and incorporating options to maximize the net environmental benefit of cleanup actions.

Green remediation reduces the demand placed on the environment during cleanup actions, otherwise known as the “footprint” of remediation, and avoids the potential for collateral environmental damage. The potential footprint encompasses impacts long known to affect environmental media:

• Air pollution caused by toxic or priority pollutants such as particulate matter and lead,
• Water cycle imbalance within local and regional hydrologic regimes,
• Soil erosion and nutrient depletion as well as subsurface geochemical changes,
• Ecological diversity and population reductions, and
• Emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and other greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.

Opportunities to increase sustainability exist throughout the investigation, design, construction, operation, and monitoring phases of site remediation regardless of the selected cleanup remedy. As cleanup technologies continue to advance and incentives evolve, green remediation strategies offer significant potential for increasing the net benefit of cleanup, saving project costs, and expanding the universe of long-term property use or reuse options without compromising cleanup goals.

EPA’s regulatory programs and initiatives actively support site remediation and revitalization that result in beneficial reuse such as commercial operations, industrial facilities, housing, greenspace, and renewable energy development. The Agency has begun examining opportunities to integrate sustainable practices into the decision-making processes and implementation strategies that carry forward to reuse strategies. In doing so, EPA recognizes that incorporation of sustainability principles can help increase the environmental, economic, and social benefits of cleanup.

The PRIMER: Green Remediation

This primer outlines the principles of green remediation and describes opportunities to reduce the footprint of cleanup activities throughout the life of a project.

Best management practices (BMPs) outlined in this document help decision-makers, communities, and other stakeholders (such as project managers, field staff, and engineering contractors) identify new strategies in terms of sustainability.

These strategies complement rather than replace the process used to select primary remedies that best meet site-specific cleanup goals. The primer identifies the range of alternatives available to improve sustainability of cleanup activities and to help decision-makers balance the alternatives within existing regulatory frameworks.

To date, EPA's sustainability initiatives have addressed a broader scope or focused on individual elements of green remediation such as clean energy (April 2008, 54 pages).

View or download this primer by th EPA at http://clu-in.org/techpubs.htm .

Based on a survey of state water departments, the U.S. General Accounting Office concluded that 36 states will have “water shortages in average rainfall years by 2010.”


Grappling with other water-related issues, many agencies have decided to delay conservation projects until the public perceives a critical shortage.

According to WeatherTRAK, who draws on years of experience in designing and implementing landscape conservation programs, some agencies face political barriers or consumer resistance to saving water. Past conservation programs have produced largely disappointing results, causing enthusiasm to dwindle.

SUCCESS STORY:  25% Savings

The widespread implementation of low-flow plumbing devices has saved significant amounts of water in the past decade. In Los Angeles, California, the powerful combination of a federal code requiring low-flow plumbing devices in new developments and rebates for installing these devices in homes and commercial sites has reduced water demand by twenty-five percent.

New Conservation Efforts Transitioning from the Indoors to the Outdoors

Water agencies must ensure that their water infrastructure can satisfy peak demand and emergency flow requirements. Peak usage is in the hottest weather period when demand for landscape water is greatest.

Analysis has shown that agency demand curve peaks have been pushed to artificially high levels because landscapes need significantly less water than is typically applied to them.

If landscape water use were efficient, the water infrastructure and supply would accommodate many more customers without costly upgrades. Moreover, customers would pay less for water. The result is a win-win for elected water officials: a more reliable water supply and satisfied customers.

SUCCESS STORY: 45% Savings

Examining current agency programs and past studies data, we see that it is likely that as much as 50% of current landscape water could be saved. For example, in Irvine, California, landscape water conservation programs have reduced commercial irrigation by 45%.

The advantages to landscape water conservation are far-reaching. Not only is the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades reduced, but there are also measurable environmental benefits. Efficient landscape water use yields significant dividends by reducing the tremendous costs incurred in pumping and transporting water.

It is estimated that it requires 10 TO 30% of California’s total energy supply to move water from its source to the regions in which it is consumed (California Urban Water Conservation Council, 2001).

Landscape water runoff contains pollutants from fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that are now being measured in our lakes, streams, bays, and oceans. Metropolitan Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) conducted a peer-reviewed study that documented the relationship between landscape water waste and non-point source water pollution.

Consumer support can be quickly won through significant cost savings in individual water bills and overall water delivery system costs.

Landscape water efficiency is likely to be a water provider’s cheapest supply of new water.

Weather Based Irrigation Controllers can Save 35% of Landscape Water Use

Based on results of a California pilot program that were extrapolated across a larger customer base, one water district found that the installation of weather-based irrigation controllers would save 35% of water currently applied to landscapes in the service area.

The water district determined that installing the controllers would cost 29% less than securing more water through infrastructure expansion and water purchases.

Indoor water savings have been realized in most communities. But the American Water Works Association (AWWA) reports that 58% of non-agricultural water is applied to residential and commercial landscapes, whereas toilets use just 11%.

Low-flow toilets save water automatically with every flush, but they were a tough sell to many consumers. By contrast, convincing consumers to adopt effective outdoor conservation appliances has been easier because people enjoy spending time in their gardens.


Water district staff reports that water use is actually higher today in new homes than in older homes with comparable lot and structure sizes. This is despite:
1) increased agency conservation programs,
2) mandated installation of low-flow plumbing devices into all homes built since 1992, and
3) use of low water need plants suggested by state legislation (AB 325).

Efficient indoor water use is considered a widespread practice in the area, which points to increased landscape water use, despite conservation measures.

Traditional methods for reducing landscape water demand have proven to be difficult to enforce and monitor, expensive for long-term use, politically unpopular, and, in some cases, actually counter-productive. In light of study results about typical landscape watering behavior, these lackluster results are not surprising.

Study after study has shown that nearly everyone, from novices to experts, over-waters.

Why? Scheduling irrigation requires complex scientific equations that must be calculated daily as local weather changes. The fact is that accurately setting and adjusting irrigation schedules is difficult and time-consuming. Add to that, many homeowners mistakenly believe that the more water applied, the healthier the landscape. It’s time to stop deluding ourselves about the willingness and ability of homeowners and professionals to calculate efficient irrigation scheduling. Water providers are charting a new course for achieving their goals.

Introducing Weather-based Irrigation Management

In 1998, the first weather-based controller was tested for its ability to accurately schedule and adjust irrigation by MWD and the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD). Existing residential controllers were removed and replaced with WeatherTRAK-enabled controllers in forty homes. New levels of water usage were compared against historical water usage for the same households.

Following are the results of this study:

• Landscape water use in average water use households was reduced by sixteen percent to twenty-five percent.
• Plant health and appearance improved.
• Water bills were reduced.
• Customer satisfaction was measured at ninety-seven percent.

Homeowners reported that their plants looked as good as or better than they did prior to WeatherTRAK installation, their water bills were lower, and that they did not have to do anything. Participants appreciated the convenience offered by the WeatherTRAK-enabled controller, which fully automates irrigation. This study, which opened the eyes of agency officials, marked the first time a controller was shown to maximize conservation by accurately irrigating in accordance with plants’ varied needs and daily, local weather conditions.

A broad range of studies with varied settings and objectives has proven the benefits of weather-based irrigation management. WeatherTRAK-enabled controllers, now available from The Toro Company, Irritrol Systems, and HydroPoint Data Systems, have been tested more than all other products combined.

One of many programs worthy of note is the California EPA-funded study of the use of WeatherTRAK-enabled controllers in micro-watershed areas. Study methodology tested the controllers in neighborhoods of three-to-four-hundred homes with street landscapes as well as homeowner association common areas and parks.

The goal was to measure the ability of weather-based irrigation controllers to reduce urban runoff and non-point source water pollution through precise calculation of water applications.

The study found that:

RUNOFF in neighborhoods with WeatherTRAK-enabled controllers was reduced by 71%, when compared to control neighborhoods.

Mass  loading of pollutants into the waterway was correspondingly reduced by 71%.

These impressive results led directly to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation providing $1.5 million in rebate funds for Orange County-based water agencies to distribute to consumers who install approved smart controllers.

The ability to broadcast weather-based data (local evapotranspiration, or ET, values) and automate plant-specific irrigation scheduling provides additional benefits, including:

Peaking Management Service: daily, wireless transmission of ET data for maximum water use efficiency.

Rain/Winter Shut-off Service: automated irrigation suspension during rain and the winter season, particularly useful in colder climates.

Drought Management Service:  broadcasting during emergency drought conditions, is a powerful tool for enforcing water conservation.

To read the full explanation of adopting and implementing a new water conservation program for your community, contact WeatherTRAK for their white paper by Tom Ash, entitled, "How to Implement a Cost-effective Landscape Water Efficiency Program".

WeatherTRAK
www.weathertrak.com

Conscientious Innovation conducted a survey of 5,000 North Americans and found that people are concerned about the environment...but not at the expense of the very human side of sustainable survival!

North Americans' top issues about sustainability include global change and  the environment; which rank over 50%, but the top issue is feeling connected to friends, family and community: at 90%

Followed closely by:

Sense of personal well being 90%
Balanced life 89%
Being paid a living wage 88%

Other high ranking issues include Fair trade; Personal relationships and Buying local to support locally based business.

Tips to stay connected... (Watch the videos)
    Throw a block party with local food, of course.
    Have a group yard sale.
    Make a little extra food and share it with a neighbor who might be harried...like a new parent!
These are all also great for the environment!

Jason McCormick with Conscientious Innovation, wrote the following in response to a recent blog story:

We’ve done the research (including a super recent 5,000 people study of what people think of this thing called ’sustainability’ - April, 2008), we know that people rate Global Warming and Pollution as important sustainability issues. But it didn’t top the list. Personal and social sustainability issues such as connecting with community and leading balanced life leapfrog environmental issues.

As one of the respondent from an early round of focus groups said’ How can i look after the environment, if i can’t look after myself??’.

His company focuses on brand development for a wider range of issues than "green" or "environment."

What we’re seeing right now is a lot of what we call “knee-jerk green marketing” and it’s a big mistake. Companies are jumping on the green bandwagon because they think that’s the only way to get on the sustainability wave. What’s dangerous is that it’s leading to a lack of authenticity because it’s often done indiscriminately and without rigor. When brands make vague, philosophical claims about their pro-environment values, but don’t support them with specific, observable actions, it diminishes the eco story for everyone and begins to spark a backlash.

He's right...what we're seeing is a lot of concerned parents who are also business people getting concerned and seeing both the opportunity for healthier community for themselves and their families...and the greening of their bottom line to keep up with the highly publicized shift toward greener products and processes.

Many people think "green" is simple.  The consumer media makes it look that way.  "Just change your lightbulbs and convert to biodiesel."  And all will be better.  "Don't get overwhelmed.  Keep it simple. Think green."  But business greening is more complicated and like Jason says, it must be a metamorphosis of core competency  -- much like the caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

Greening a business involves training the employees; changing the products from gas-guzzlers and energy-hogs to ever greater efficiency in design and production; optimizing operations; optimizing the fleet of transportation used both by the company and the employees...and more.  Saving water.  Saving the air.  Saving natural resources.  We rely on nature's bounty for the source of everything that keeps us alive and busy at work -- and greening is that integrated into how we do business.

So if you want to do the green thing...think green, educate yourself, and take it a step at a time.  But get started because the future will leave you in a dusty barren wasteland if you don't.  That's the growing future for much of the earth.  (That's not meant to be an exaggeration.  Desertification of arable lands is a growing problem for many nations...)

Managing green investments are entertwined with innovation because change is at the heart of "green" and sustainable change.

Marketing Green provided an interesting evaluation of innovation financing that can also be applied to green innovation and green technology.

In many ways, the imposition of carbon caps will reset the current competitive landscape.  Those businesses able or willing to adapt more quickly to this changing landscape will likely secure a competitive advantage by differentiating their brand or products, or by improving their cost basis.

How aggressive will carbon reduction targets be?  A recent Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme concluded that developed nations needed to reduce carbon emissions by greater than 80% from 1990 levels by mid-century in order to advert the worst impact of climate change.  Under any implementation scenario, carbon caps will likely be imposed over many years, if not decades, providing a window of opportunity for companies to adapt to and compete in this new world order.

Marketers must understand and compensate for bias that leads to underinvestment in green.  Formulate a strategic vision for green, properly balance the risks and rewards and invest for the long haul.  Your shareholders will thank you.

Clayton Christensen, Stephen Kaufman and Willy Shih, “Innovation Killers: How Financial Tools Destroy Your Capacity to Do New Things”, Leadership & Strategy for the Twenty-First Century, Harvard Business Review, January 2008 point out the following three financial straegies that can hinder innovation ... and green investments:

Cash flow modeling: Companies often do not fairly compare the projected discounted cash flow from a new investment

Asset lifetime: Financial managers may mistakenly assume that that an asset’s usable lifetime should be based simply by its depreciation period, rather than its “competitive lifetime”.

Quarterly earnings: Companies that focus on quarterly earnings may systematically under invest in innovation as they are not rewarded by the market for doing so. 

Read the full article at MarketingGreen.wordpress.com