Good news in the advancement of renewable energy from Pacific Gas and Electric. Already PG&E has 12,000 customers using solar panels to produce enough electricity to power more than 66,000 homes. California’s governor added a surcharge onto current electric bills to fund rebates for more customers to install solar panels. Solar is clean and green, and may be ready to become a big player. (Mercury News)
Change for Good
EDITOR’S BLOG
As I touched down on U.S. soil late yesterday in a British Air jet, after having shepherded a group of teenagers through multiple screening and searches at London’s Heathrow airport, I was happy to be landing. I was even more delighted that the kids and adults on the plane were offered the opportunity to contribute their loose change and foreign currency to the UNICEF Change for Good program. British Air flight stewards announced there would be a special collection and provided the envelopes for our goodwill donations. (right) They have been collecting change for twelve years with magnificent results…
G is for Great Britain
EDITOR’S BLOG
I will be shooting a small documentary this week in England, so, will not be able to post nearly as much good news as I normally do. My camera is following the English-born director of a Mount Vernon youth theater group as she takes 12 kids on a foreign exchange adventure to the town where she was born, Clacton-on-Sea. The kids cast and rehearsed the abridged version of Romeo and Juliet last week and we board a flight to London this evening. The players are marvelous young actors who will perform at the local Prince’s Theatre and attend the Globe’s production of Antony and Cleopatra in London…
Japan: Producing Electricity from Train Station Ticket Gates
The East Japan Railway Company, as part of research aimed at developing more environmentally friendly train stations, is testing an experimental system that produces electricity as people pass through ticket gates. JR claims that this sort of human-powered electricity generation system may provide a portion of the electricity consumed at train stations in the future. (via orgismo)
Rebels Declare Ceasefire in Uganda
The Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has announced a unilateral ceasefire, with immediate effect… The rebel movement’s deputy leader Vincent Otti told the BBC he had ordered all field commanders to cease all hostilities against Uganda’s army.
Anti-Evolution School Board Members Lose Election
Voters in Kansas have ousted two anti-evolution school board representatives in the State’s primary elections. (Not many more details, but here is the source: The Register)
India Posts New Ban on Child Labor
"In a determined bid to curb the exploitation of children," the government of India will prohibit the employment of kids as servants in homes, or in businesses, including factories, shops, dhabas, restaurants, and hotels beginning October 10. (Financial Times)
GM Unveils New, Green Assembly Plant
AP reports on the new GM auto plant in Michigan unveiled as the "most environmentally-friendly auto plant" in the world. It implements lots of green innovations like:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
 The GM plant has a reflective roof to reduce heat absorption, saving costs to cool the building. It also has 800 lights in the assembly area, half that in a typical plant. About 80 percent of the waste generated during construction, or nearly 4,000 tons, was diverted from landfills. Rainwater is collected from the roof and used instead of potable water to flush toilets.
‘Me Generation’ becomes ‘We Generation’
As baby boomers turn 60 they are transforming what we think of the process of aging. The period of retirement used to mean stagnation, degeneration of body, and waiting for the arrival of social security checks.
The emerging model embraces personal growth, giving back and continued employment. These hallmarks of the new retirement have the potential to reshape the economy and society to everyone’s benefit. (USA Today)
House Republicans Drop Their Snub of France
The cafeteria in the US House of Representatives has returned the once villified French moniker to the food items renamed "Freedom Toast" and "Freedom Fries". Sometime last week French Toast and French Fries returned to the menu without the same fanfare as their ouster in 2003, when Republican leaders paraded the change as a "symbolic gesture" against the country that strongly criticized the imminent US invasion of Iraq.
Florida Buys 74,000 Acres for Preservation
Seventy-four thousand acres of wilderness (115 sq miles, 297 sq KM) that is inhabited by bears and panthers was purchased Monday by representatives of Florida in the state’s biggest-ever purchase of land for environmental preservation. "This is just an awesome day," State Lands Director Eva Armstrong said through tears after the deed was handed over for the sum of $350 million. (AP via MSNBC)
Chocolate Could Contribute to New Source of Renewable Energy
UK scientists have found a way to extract hydrogen from confectionary waste — a process that could lead to food factories using their own product waste to generate energy for the manufacturing process. (Food Ingredients First )
Wal-Mart Boosts Organic Cotton
Though wearing cotton seems like a natural way to live, the growing of cotton is an environmentally destructive industry using more pesticides and fertilizers than any other crop harvested. Now, Wal-Mart’s entry into the organic cotton market gives green farmers a big lift…
Solar-Power Trash Compactors on Boston Streets Save Money, Cut Litter
The mayor of Boston is cutting down on city litter with new solar-powered trash compactors on the streets. They collect the maximum trash with minimum effort. Another "good government" idea that proves thinking green means more green in your pocketbook. The mayor has placed 50 of the trash bins around town.
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
 The solar-powered trash compactors need emptying only once or twice a day, not the 15 or more sanitation worker visits required for traditional cans. They don’t spill. They smell less. And, they hold some 150 gallons of trash, 5 times more than standard receptacles. (Boston.com)
At-Risk Teens Care for Homeless Dogs
Kids caught in the juvenile detention system in Albany, Georgia, have a chance to change their outlook on life by caring for and training homeless dogs.
Project Hero coordinator Marty Harris says she’s seen a positive change in the young people’s lives: "A lot of them have not grown up with a nurturing aspect toward animals, so by helping them to understand how to work with animals and care for animals they learn to care for other human beings." (WALB News)
DR Congo Votes, First Time in 40 Years
Polls have closed in national elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo – the first multi-party vote in 40 years… Many people walked miles to get to the polling stations, and some queued overnight, waiting for them to open.
And, although many people are hungry and weary from a long civil war, voter Donatien Kalinga "said his heart was ‘full of joy’ at the prospect of voting for the first time."
MIT Students Invent Cars That Keep Going . . . and Going
50 college students from 21 Universities around the world have converged on MIT for an 8-week Vehicle Design Summit. The goal? To invent 5 different kinds of cars that can drive from Boston to Seattle without having to stop — even once — for fuel! The teams will not compete, but collaborate, and share their innovation with the world, for all our benefit…
Listening to Mozart Heals Elephant’s Depression
When zoo keepers realized that classical music seemed to help Suma, the elephant, cope with the grief brought on by a mate’s death, they installed a stereo and showered the pachyderm with the healing vibes of Bach, Vivaldi, and her favorite, Mozart. (Sapa-AFP)
New Trawling Ban Protects Deep-Sea Alaska Corals
Newly discovered gardens of colorful corals blooming under water in the Gulf of Alaska, will get special protection… A new rule bars bottom trawling (the fishing technique that uses nets to drag the ocean floor) over an area the size of Texas and Colorado combined. (Fishermen agreed to the ban, which will hurt their income, but agreed it was needed. ENN)
Dog Raises Squirrel As Her Own
The animal kingdom knows how to get along with each other — even if individuals look different, or reside across the border. CBS news in Iowa featured a story and photos of a dog who has adopted an orphaned baby squirrel and who is contentedly nursing it through its infancy. (CBS )