Last month at the San Francisco Green Festival, ReusableBags.com received Green America’s second-ever Longtime Leadership Award, which honors businesses that take the top spot in the People’s Choice contest more than once.
ReusableBags.com previously won Green America’s People’s Choice Award in 2007. Since launching in 2003, the company has grown to provide hundreds of high-quality reusables in more than 30 categories, has empowered 210,000+ customers to save an astounding 800,000,000 use-and-toss items and has been an important catalyst in the broad reusables movement. ReusableBags.com also serves as an information hub, providing myth-busting articles, news and more on issues related to over-consumption.
“We’ve always been about much more than just bags. Reuseit.com - the new name for our store - accurately reflects our growing family of practical, high-quality reusables for every part of your life,” said Vincent Cobb, founder of ReusableBags.com. “From day one, it’s been our mission to empower people with the best tools to break their addiction to disposables.”
The Green America People’s Choice Award winners were chosen by individual voters across the country. Each year, thousands of consumers nationwide take part in a Green America online questionnaire to select their favorite green businesses, and nominees are then narrowed to the top ten. The public was then invited to vote for their favorite amongst the ten finalists, and fifteen thousand people participated. Reusablebags.com just edged out finalist Care2.com for the most number of votes. Both Care2.com and Lunapads International also took home awards at this year’s event. Past winners include IdealBite and Ten Thousand Villages.
“It is truly exciting to see tens of thousands of environmentally and socially conscious consumers from around the country take part in voting for their favorite green business this year.” said Green America’s Green Business Director, Denise Hamler. “All of this year’s finalists are leaders in creating a green economy and we thank each of them for their leadership in demonstrating that successful businesses can also uphold the highest environmental and social values.”
Green America (http://www.GreenAmericaToday.org) is a non-profit membership organization founded in 1982 with the mission to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—and to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.
About ReusableBags.com
The Reusablebags.com store (soon to be Reuseit.com) is the leading online source for high-quality reusable products and the site provides information on the problems related to over-consumption of use-and-toss items. Recognized as a leader and innovator, the company won the prestigious Green Business of the Year, People's Choice Award in 2007 and is a BizRate Circle of Excellence Gold Honoree. Reusablebags.com/Reuseit.com is an authentic, triple-bottom-line company, supporting Fair Trade Practices and donating one percent of all sales to environmental causes through 1% For the Planet. The site has been featured in hundreds of news stories, including NPR's Marketplace, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and was endorsed in An Inconvenient Truth.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Refugees flee drought, war in East Africa
East Africa's 'climate refugees'
Ahead of the global climate talks in December 2009, nine photographers from the photo agency NOOR photographed climate stories from around the world. Their goal: to document some of the causes and consequences, from deforestation to changing sea levels, as well as the people whose lives and jobs are part of the carbon culture.
A woman waits to be processed into Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp. Located in Kenya 55 miles from the Somali border, the overcrowded camp houses many people fleeing violence in Somalia. Others have fled their homes due to famine and severe drought, a category now being described as "climate refugees."
A woman waits to be processed into Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp. Located in Kenya 55 miles from the Somali border, the overcrowded camp houses many people fleeing violence in Somalia. Others have fled their homes due to famine and severe drought, a category now being described as "climate refugees."
Coal dependence darkens skies of Poland
Poland's coal industry
Ahead of the global climate talks in December 2009, nine photographers from the photo agency NOOR photographed climate stories from around the world. Their goal: to document some of the causes and consequences, from deforestation to changing sea levels, as well as the people whose lives and jobs are part of the carbon culture.
Poland has long relied on coal for its energy, using mostly antiquated equipment like this extractor at the Adamow field in Turek. The country uses coal for 94 percent of its energy needs, among the highest rates anywhere. Plans are to reduce that to 60 percent in 2030 via a nuclear plant, natural gas and wind and solar power.
Poland has long relied on coal for its energy, using mostly antiquated equipment like this extractor at the Adamow field in Turek. The country uses coal for 94 percent of its energy needs, among the highest rates anywhere. Plans are to reduce that to 60 percent in 2030 via a nuclear plant, natural gas and wind and solar power.
India urges deal on climate change solution by 2010
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday ruled out that India would compromise its stand on climate change and urged that the world reach a deal by 2010.
Ramesh told reporters at the Copenhagen climate change summit that the text of a political statement would be ready before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other world leaders reach Copenhagen for the final leg of the 12-day talks.
"I have clearly and categorically stated on behalf of the government of India that our Prime Minister is not coming here to negotiate the text," he said.
"India would not compromise on ‘teen murti’ (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol and Bali Action Plan)," said Ramesh ahead of Monday’s high-level segment which would see participation of environment ministers from across the globe.
"We must get an agreement in 2010," he said, adding that the text of the political statement should be ready by December 15.
Informal talks among world environment ministers on the draft deal, which has been criticised by rich and developing nations, continued over the weekend with the hope that they could agree on a text that could be put before the heads of state and government assembling for the plenary here later next week.
The highlight of the past week was an attempt by tiny Pacific Island nation Tuvalu to stall the negotiations by staging a walkout as the chair of the conference refused to take up its proposal for limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial years.
However, Danish Minister Connie Hedegaard, chairing the talks, insisted that procedural advances in the first six days had been "fantastic."
"The core discussions... have really started," she said adding the delegates "still have a daunting task in front of us over the next few days."
Ramesh, who is here to participate in the ministerial meet, has said India will play a constructive role in the climate negotiations but slammed efforts of rich nations to make domestic emission reduction claims by developing nations legally-binding and verifiable
Finally, America takes the lead on climate change
President Barack Obama's appearance at the U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen this week will draw the spotlight. But one of the most important developments in the fight against global warming took place in Washington on Monday, when the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and the environment. This paves the way to regulate them.
With the ruling, the Obama administration sent a clear signal to Congress, to polluters, to climate-change deniers and to negotiators in Denmark trying to hammer out an agreement to replace the expiring Kyoto accord: After years of inaction, America is ready to lead. Senators reacted quickly. They recognize that it's their job, not the EPA's, to figure out how to limit emissions of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Democrat John Kerry, Independent Joe Lieberman and Republican Lindsey Graham offered more details of their tri-partisan plan to cut emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, with a long-term target of reducing them by 80 percent. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Susan Collins announced a competing proposal. The House passed its version in June.
Senate legislation isn't likely to be heard until spring, and both plans announced last week are too meek. But the discussion itself is what's important. Obama's leadership has led to renewed hope that the Denmark conference may produce tangible results, if not
The controversy over the e-mails dubbed "Climategate" won't stall progress toward a global treaty that can be signed by the United States. Improper behavior by a group of researchers doesn't change the science, which is as clear about the Earth's warming as it is about gravity. Fifty years from now, this incident will be at most a footnote in what by then will be a history of rising seas.
The question for doubters to grapple with now is: What will be the consequences of inaction?
Economically, they could be dire. While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others claim regulation would be a job killer, it's increasingly apparent that green businesses will fuel the next boom. Their success will be necessary if the nation hopes to compete globally — let alone help to slow climate change.
Look at California. Its governments and businesses have been far ahead in fostering a green economy, and a study last week showed the results: From January 2007 to 2008, the number of green jobs in the state increased 5 percent, while the overall number of jobs declined 1 percent.
But economics are a minor concern compared with what worries the people of countries like Tuvalu, located halfway between Hawaii and Australia. If temperatures don't stop rising, the entire island could be under water by the end of the century.
That reality is finally leading to action, in Copenhagen and in Washington.
Major emitters must join climate pact: Australia
Australia fears rising temperatures will trigger more intense bushfires and greater extremes of droughts and floods, threatening crops and livelihoods. It says all major greenhouse gas emitters should sign up to legally binding steps to reduce emissions.
"This is one of those situations where we're all in it," Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told Reuters in an interview.
Draft U.N. climate text at climate talks in Copenhagen says the world should halve emissions by 2050, with rich nations making the largest portion of cuts.
The text only mentions that big developing nation emitters should take aspirational steps to curb the output of planet-warming gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, language many rich nations say is unacceptable.
"That text is a reflection of where negotiators have got to but it's a long way from what we need and a long way from what we need to be working with," Wong said.
Australia, among the world's highest per-capita carbon emitters, says it will offer cash to help the developing world cope with climate change. It plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions between 5 and 25 percent below 2000 levels by 2020.
Negotiators from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Copenhagen during Dec 7-18 talks to try to finalize what hosts Denmark hopes will be a political agreement that ramps up the fight against climate warming.
More than 110 world leaders descend on Copenhagen next week to attend a summit to try to clinch a deal on deeper emissions cuts by rich nations, steps by developing nations their carbon pollution and finance to help the poor adapt to climate change.
The United Nations has said a full, legal treaty to expand or replace the existing Kyoto Protocol is out of reach at the talks after two years of troubled negotiations and is likely to be agreed some time in 2010.
Wong said it was crucial ministers and world leaders give the talks a stronger focus and that it was time to overcome the entrenched positions of a few people.
"Fundamentally what we need now is political ownership of these negotiations. This can no longer be about just one or two people putting a particular position that they've put for the past two years."
Host Denmark has given Australia a special role at the talks to try to help get an agreement.
"My view is very much that we need the key issues that are beyond agreement, beyond the possibility of agreement at the official level, being elevated to ministers and then to leaders.
She said agreeing on a global deal to limit the average rise in global temperatures to 2 degree Celsius needed participation from all major emitters.
"We're not going to get that unless we're able to expand the circle, expand the number of countries who are prepared to put actions on the table, who are prepared to come into an international arrangement."
"This is one of those situations where we're all in it," Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told Reuters in an interview.
Draft U.N. climate text at climate talks in Copenhagen says the world should halve emissions by 2050, with rich nations making the largest portion of cuts.
The text only mentions that big developing nation emitters should take aspirational steps to curb the output of planet-warming gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, language many rich nations say is unacceptable.
"That text is a reflection of where negotiators have got to but it's a long way from what we need and a long way from what we need to be working with," Wong said.
Australia, among the world's highest per-capita carbon emitters, says it will offer cash to help the developing world cope with climate change. It plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions between 5 and 25 percent below 2000 levels by 2020.
Negotiators from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Copenhagen during Dec 7-18 talks to try to finalize what hosts Denmark hopes will be a political agreement that ramps up the fight against climate warming.
More than 110 world leaders descend on Copenhagen next week to attend a summit to try to clinch a deal on deeper emissions cuts by rich nations, steps by developing nations their carbon pollution and finance to help the poor adapt to climate change.
The United Nations has said a full, legal treaty to expand or replace the existing Kyoto Protocol is out of reach at the talks after two years of troubled negotiations and is likely to be agreed some time in 2010.
Wong said it was crucial ministers and world leaders give the talks a stronger focus and that it was time to overcome the entrenched positions of a few people.
"Fundamentally what we need now is political ownership of these negotiations. This can no longer be about just one or two people putting a particular position that they've put for the past two years."
Host Denmark has given Australia a special role at the talks to try to help get an agreement.
"My view is very much that we need the key issues that are beyond agreement, beyond the possibility of agreement at the official level, being elevated to ministers and then to leaders.
She said agreeing on a global deal to limit the average rise in global temperatures to 2 degree Celsius needed participation from all major emitters.
"We're not going to get that unless we're able to expand the circle, expand the number of countries who are prepared to put actions on the table, who are prepared to come into an international arrangement."
ADB chief says climate finance insufficient
ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda also told Reuters in an interview that if governments were to fail to reach a climate deal in Copenhagen, it could lead to a collapse of the carbon market which would hit efforts to deal with climate change.
Rich and poor nations differ over how much the developed world should pay to help developing economies combat or cope with climate change.
"Whatever is agreed in this process, financing is really key -- financing for mitigation as well as adaptation efforts to be done particularly by developing countries," Kuroda said during a one-day break in 190-nation negotiations in the Danish capital.
"If meaningful financing arrangements are agreed, that would facilitate the core agreement on greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, threshold or benchmark by the international community, which would be absolutely necessary to stabilize climate change at the latest by 2015," he said.
Kuroda said many different figures had been mentioned of the need for financing for a climate deal ranging anywhere from $10 billion to $100 billion.
"At this stage the figures committed by the developed world are still insufficient and must be substantially increased over the years to come," Kuroda said, but did not give a figure for how high it needed to rise.
The bank's Japanese president said that the European Union's pledge of 7.3 billion euros over three years was "a significant first" toward a global financing deal.
ADAPTATION MONEY
Financing is needed, he said, especially for developing countries' adaptation measures which are not so "automatically financed" as mitigation efforts which benefit from funds generated by the cap-and-trade system.
Mitigation means curbing greenhouse gas emissions while adaptation comprises efforts to cope with climate change by widely ranging means from flood defenses to development of drought-resistant crops and disease control.
"Some Asian countries are going to be disproportionately affected by climate change," he said, mentioning Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pacific islands as vulnerable to sea rises, typhoons, cyclones and other weather phenomena.
"Many of them are low-income countries, and the adaptation costs are huge," he said. "So the international community must provide adequate support for those severely affected and low-income countries."
Kuroda said it was the role of the multilateral development banks, including his Manila-headquartered ADB, to assist governments in the process, though the banks are not directly involved in the Copenhagen negotiations. Kuroda said failure by governments to reach a new accord on climate measures extending beyond the Kyoto Protocol period ending in 2012 could have grave repercussions.
"If there is no agreement post-Kyoto, then the carbon market would collapse," he said. "That would cause great damage to the global effort to reduce effort to reduce GHG emissions
Rich and poor nations differ over how much the developed world should pay to help developing economies combat or cope with climate change.
"Whatever is agreed in this process, financing is really key -- financing for mitigation as well as adaptation efforts to be done particularly by developing countries," Kuroda said during a one-day break in 190-nation negotiations in the Danish capital.
"If meaningful financing arrangements are agreed, that would facilitate the core agreement on greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, threshold or benchmark by the international community, which would be absolutely necessary to stabilize climate change at the latest by 2015," he said.
Kuroda said many different figures had been mentioned of the need for financing for a climate deal ranging anywhere from $10 billion to $100 billion.
"At this stage the figures committed by the developed world are still insufficient and must be substantially increased over the years to come," Kuroda said, but did not give a figure for how high it needed to rise.
The bank's Japanese president said that the European Union's pledge of 7.3 billion euros over three years was "a significant first" toward a global financing deal.
ADAPTATION MONEY
Financing is needed, he said, especially for developing countries' adaptation measures which are not so "automatically financed" as mitigation efforts which benefit from funds generated by the cap-and-trade system.
Mitigation means curbing greenhouse gas emissions while adaptation comprises efforts to cope with climate change by widely ranging means from flood defenses to development of drought-resistant crops and disease control.
"Some Asian countries are going to be disproportionately affected by climate change," he said, mentioning Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pacific islands as vulnerable to sea rises, typhoons, cyclones and other weather phenomena.
"Many of them are low-income countries, and the adaptation costs are huge," he said. "So the international community must provide adequate support for those severely affected and low-income countries."
Kuroda said it was the role of the multilateral development banks, including his Manila-headquartered ADB, to assist governments in the process, though the banks are not directly involved in the Copenhagen negotiations. Kuroda said failure by governments to reach a new accord on climate measures extending beyond the Kyoto Protocol period ending in 2012 could have grave repercussions.
"If there is no agreement post-Kyoto, then the carbon market would collapse," he said. "That would cause great damage to the global effort to reduce effort to reduce GHG emissions
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