WIC and EBT Participants Enjoy Eating Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Today farmer’s markets are making a comeback. They often participate in government programs such as WIC (women infant and children) and EBT (electronic benefit transfer). WIC is a program that allows participants to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from farm vendors. These vendors set up their tents in places where participants can easily locate them.

Both program participants can purchase, fresh bananas, squash, collards and cabbages with their program coupons. The majority of farmer’s market merchants also take the EBT card. EBT participants can basically purchase the same kind of foods as WIC program participants. The benefits of shopping at a farmers market are many, for example:

· They offer lower prices

· They offer fresher fruits and vegetables

· They have fruits and vegetables that may not be found at local supermarkets

· Vendors can answer questions on meal preparation

· Customers can sign up for newsletters or exchange recipe ideas

· They offer healthier food choices

Farmer’s markets are growing and they are reaching out to people in diverse communities. Low-income families usually struggle with not having enough money to purchase fresh foods for their families. The farmer’s market makes eating right affordable at any price. Supermarkets charges way too much for their foods and the cost is passed on to the consumers.

Buying directly from the farmer cuts out the middleman, making the purchase of healthy and nutritious foods cheaper and more appreciated. The biggest disadvantage of farmer’s markets is that many of them are not open more than once per week. What does this mean for families? They must go to their local stores to purchase their foods and at a higher price. A larger problem with buying produce from larger grocery stores, especially in urban areas, is that the produce spurious and often on the verge of expiration. A gentle spray of city water every 15 minutes does not mean those soggy cucumbers are fresh.

Given the option of buying produce from a 24-hour grocery store bathed in fluorescent light or from beneath the tent of a bearded farmer who lives 45 minutes away, give me the bearded tent man any day.

Tents Serve in a Multipurpose Capacity

The tent serves as a shelter. During the summer months it protects the fruits and vegetable from being scorched by the sun and leading up to the winter farmer’s markets, it also protects them from being exposed to the cold. Examining each personal storefront is a small joy of mine, and I find that on particularly sunny days, the shade offered by those tents provides a little respite from the sun, which is an impeccable business plan for many of these vendors.

Farmer’s markets are definitely reintegrating themselves back into the community in a positive way. They are offering families a healthy lifestyle, better eating habits, and affordable meals. Now families have a choice as to what they want to eat and feed their children. Farmer’s markets give communities a reason to want to live a long and prosperous life. However, longevity starts with eating right and loving it!

Farmers Markets: A Big Part Of Our Sustainable Future is a post from: Living on the Planet

With the amazing advances in technology, you would think people could figure out how to make cars more efficient. In fact, they have. We’re not talking about a miniscule improvement of 5 or 10 miles per gallon. Students in engineering degree programs regularly figure out how to make cars go thousands of miles on a single gallon of gasoline. They do this in Shell’s Eco-marathon in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

History of Shell’s Eco-Marathon

In 1833, an entrepreneur in London began to sell oriental shells to meet consumer demand for oil. The company grew into Shell. The idea of the Eco-marathon goes back to a friendly bet between American scientists to see who could get the best mileage from their cars. The first official Shell Eco-marathon occurred in Europe in 1985. Competitors must design and build their own cars before driving them at the competition to see how far they can get on a single gallon of gasoline. The team’s car that gets furthest using the least amount of energy wins.

About The Event

In 2012, Shell’s Eco-marathon will take place in Houston for the American competition, Rotterdam in Europe’s, and Kuala Lumpur in Asia’s. The Houston event will be March 29-April 1, with the actual driving competition taking place on city streets. Headquarters and campgrounds are inside the George R. Brown Convention Center. Each team consists of a manager, who is the only team member eligible to communicate with competition officials, the driver, the driver substitute and an unlimited number of other team members, who help design, build and troubleshoot before and during the event. Engineering students are common entrants.

Global Implication

Achievements in Shell Eco-marathons include running a vehicle with lower carbon dioxide emissions than a human athlete and going 3,000 miles on a liter, or quarter-gallon, of fuel. The innovations developed for the competition have real-world applications, too. To encourage cleaner energy, the competition has categories of diesel fuel cell, solar cell, gasoline, alternative diesel, battery electric and alternative gasoline. The top prize in each category is $2,000. Each category includes divisions for prototype vehicles, which are designed for maximum efficiency, and Urban Concept vehicles, which are more practical for actual use in urban settings.

College Support

Colleges that support their students in the contest communicate that the environment is important to them. Purdue engineering students are habitual competitors, and the Purdue Alumni Association, Purdue Solar Racing and the College of Engineering are sponsoring a private reception in honor of Purdue’s participation in the Shell Eco-marathon. The event is a networking session for alumni, future students and current students.

Parallel Eco Marathon events are held in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and each occasion is certain to present exciting feats of fuel efficiency. The technology that participants develop for the Eco Marathon competition can potentially be applied to more common situations and truly benefit the environment. Engineering departments at Purdue and other universities who support this initiative are demonstrating their support for a cleaner and greener future.

Fuel Efficiency and our Future is a post from: Living on the Planet

Until recently, the majority of plastic has been petroleum-based. Petroleum, derived from oil, is a nonrenewable source that is very costly to produce. Factor in the large amount of energy then required to manufacture the plastic and you can see why the issue stirs strong debate. In fact, on an average day, it takes around 200,000 barrels of oil to meet the US’s need for plastic products.

The reason such plastics have remained in popular use, however, is down to the fact they are strong and durable with a high boiling point which makes them available for use in most applications. Water bottles, plastic plates, garbage bags and storage containers are just some of the everyday uses for petroleum-based plastics.

In an effort to help preserve the environment and conserve energy, the corn-based plastic PLA is phasing out the use of petroleum-based plastics in certain part parts of the world. In areas of China and South America as well as cities such as San Francisco communities are already taking a proactive approach to reducing the white pollution by outlawing petroleum-based plastics. They, along with many others, are switching to polylactic acid (PLA) a substitute plastic.

Made from a fermented starch, the corn-based plastic is a biodegradable substance that breaks down into non harmful natural components. Because it’s made from a renewable source, it’s not as much of a strain on the environment as the petroleum-based products. The fact that harmful chemicals don’t leak into your food is another advantage corn-based plastics have over the traditional plastics.

Because ethanol fuel requires a large amount of corn, PLA plastics are actually made from genetically modified corn. Modifying the corn allows the manufacturer to produce larger yields of the harvest. Since the plant is carbon absorbing, PLA is a carbon-neural product. This means it does not contribute to the harmful gases affecting the ozone layer. In some cases, however, genetically modified foods have been known to cause lesions in mice. Added to that there are concerns that such production is actually inflating global food prices which is affecting some of the most vulnerable communities on the planet.

Whilst the corn-based plastic has many benefits, it does have a low boiling point making it unusable for certain every day applications such as for use as soda bottles. Since it’s a plastic substitute and not an actual plastic it can’t be sent to a recycling plant. Instead it must be sent to a composting facility. Unfortunately there are less than 120 composing facilities nationwide at this time.

Even though it’s a biodegradable substance, the rate at which it breaks down depends on the environment. In a composting environment that’s controlled, the substance will break down in as soon as three months as long as the environment is kept at a constant 140 degrees Fahrenheit. However in a landfill without light and little oxygen, it takes at least 100 years for the substance to decompose. Compared to the petroleum-based plastic, however, this is quite some time saving as the petroleum-based plastics can take several hundred years to decompose.

As can be seen in this debate there are no easy answers. There are down sides to both sources of plastic. With the global population continuing to grow and resources diminishing at an alarming rate one thing is clear, the lesser of two evils may need to become the rule of thumb if we are to leave a planet worth living on for future generations.

Grace Pamer is a work from home mom and the author of www.RomanticFrugalMom.com, one woman’s on going quest to get her family to go green whilst keeping romance alive in her marriage.

Is Corn Based PLA The Answer to our Plastics Problem? is a post from: Living on the Planet

One example I’d like to use today is Douglas Band – Mr. Band is a member of the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) and serves as a personal aide to former President Clinton. Band has exceeded his expectations as just a legal advisor by actually having set forth a vision for an organization designed to tackle all the most pressing world issues like poverty, climate change, foreign educational development and much more. The CGI is made up of non-profit organizations, political members and business professional that collaborate together on any size scale to bring change to whatever challenging issue they’re tackling. In one piece by the Herald Tribune, President Clinton accredits Band as having the idea for such a groundbreaking organization that continues to provide aide to all parts of the world.

Of course, it’s clear that Band and Clinton are connected to many influential political, economic and corporate individuals with a plethora of resources capable of making an organization like the CGI flourish. It’s with my strong belief that being “well-connected’ goes much deeper than knowing somebody that can get you somewhere. It’s impossible to think that Clinton and Band got to where they are without practicing a certain set of ethical and moral conduct, all the while entertaining a long educational and professional career. The way anybody should view somebody like Band is that he’s a man with a vision, that despite what others felt, he was able to pursue his own beliefs through perceiving foreign aide as something that was needed, and imagining a world without it.

Perceptions, beliefs and imagination are critical components of any successful and happy individual, and if character and integrity is founded by properly aligned thoughts, anybody can pursue a vision as great as Bands. I can use a much more basic example – Let’s say you’re an individual working in a corporate environment and you learn of company theft. Depending on the situation, your basic thoughts and actions following the acquirement of this knowledge are entirely dependent on who you are as an individual. And this is again is subject to your own beliefs and perceptions. Your imagination can certainly be a tool for empowering both, or perhaps going in the complete opposite direction (which we all hope doesn’t happen!) Nonetheless, if acted on according to morality, you’ve just succeeded as a leader, and hopefully set an example for somebody else.

Awareness is much like a contagious disease, but for the better of society. Many companies often organize events or campaigns to raise money to help fund research to find new medications and cures for diseases. The commercial clothing company Gap started a campaign known as (PRODUCT) RED that sells clothing and other product through Gap with the (RED) label to support The Global Fund and their efforts for an AIDS free world. Through the sales of their (RED) products, Gap donates 50% of the profits directly to The Global Fund who uses 100% of the money to continue to finance HIV health programs in Africa that focus on women and children. This is a great example of an organization using their commercial influence and profits to help rid the world of such a deadly disease.

This is not the only example of a company doing great things for the health community. Many companies organize walks and other money raising events for cancer research. If you have known anyone who’s been affected by any of these diseases or have been affected yourself, then you know that these initiatives, whether on a grassroots or global level, are very beneficial in bettering ourselves and our world. Yet, it always starts with a vision or goal by a group, organization or individual like Band. These visions, thoughts, or expressions can only be achieved through enforcing ethical principles, and leaders will always find success through this.

By: Jack Lundee of Everything Left and Shades of Green.

Semantics of Character and Leadership is a post from: Living on the Planet

Without the ability to benchmark a property, it’s very difficult to know where to start identifying potential energy saving improvements. This was most shockingly demonstrated when it was found that the Houses of Parliament (aka the tax payer) had overpaid for its power by nearly £400,000 over a five year period. Accompanying every A-G rating is a report which provides advice on how to improve a building’s energy performance; this considers factors such as insulation, heating, ventilation and lighting. Building type and construction method play a major role in determining where most savings are to be made however, thermo graphic surveys or infra red (IR) surveys are key to making significant savings in the vast majority of cases.  A way of attaining the information needed is to use companies you offer test equipment hire.

Over recent years, IR cameras have morphed from being bulky, specialised research instruments into compact, user friendly tools designed for a range of commercial and industrial applications. Camera prices have dropped from in excess of £25,000 to just a few thousand which means that even a high quality camera can be hired for an annual inspection for around £200 or so.  This means that for a relatively small fee the hirer can identify significant savings against the building without need to maintain or recalibrate an expensive instrument from year to year.

The camera will detect very subtle changes in the surface temperature of whatever feature is being inspected. It shows temperature differences by ‘colouring’ which indicate a loss of energy (and cash).  Within commercial buildings, this creates a vast array of opportunities to identify and eradicate expensive energy losses. For example, a simple external survey may identify missing or settled insulation panels on the inside of the building. Similarly, air leakage through damaged windows, doors and wall penetrations can be sealed through replacing seals and repairing cracks. Roof damage can be easily identified without the need for coring –through detecting saturated areas and making localised repairs.

Inside the building, complete electrical distribution systems can be checked including fuses, buzz bars and other connections for overheating. Motors, generators, steam systems and boilers can be inspected to quickly identify losses in efficiency through misalignment, leakage, overheating and breakdown. Most IR cameras are supplied with intelligent software which allows the user to benchmark building’s the current condition and annually re-inspect for signs of deterioration.  As IR surveys are conducted very quickly, they save significant time over conventional methods –and often more accurately.

If we really need want some quick wins when it comes to energy conservation, the no brainer has to be an IR Survey.

Image via Creative Commons

Energy Losses In Commercial Buildings Are Going Through The Roof! is a post from: Living on the Planet

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Photo by Flickr user comedy_nose, used under Creative Commons license

Texting it’s a Way of Life is a post from: Living on the Planet

To get a college grant you will have to submit an application.  You should apply as soon as you can and to as many sources of grants as you can.  It’s a first come first served scenario – and once the funds are gone no more applications will be accepted.  Make sure your application is complete and that all of the questions are answered.  Do this neatly.  You don’t want to miss out on the opportunity for these reasons.  Send in your application on time per the deadline.  If possible get it in early.

The application process may be lengthy and may require certain criteria, letters of recommendations, essays, and family income statements.  Grants may be given in exchange for professional services once the education is complete.

Grants can be applied to different areas of the expenses you will face.  Some grants will be for tuition or accommodation but may also be applied to other expenses related to your education.  There is a large variety of grants so its best to seek out the ones that meet your particular needs.  Some types of grants may not apply to your needs.

Governmental grants are probably the most common.  These grants may come from the federal or state level.  A good example is the Pell Grants which can be obtained for a variety of circumstances including financial need, academic ability or for a particular in-demand field of study.

So research your options, be prepared in advance and apply for as many college grants as you can.  This will help you to optimize your chance of funding your college education and enter the field of your dreams.

What is a College Grant? is a post from: Living on the Planet

The book has been one of the most revolutionary pieces of technology in the history of civilization, and Google has found a way to revolutionize the written word once again. With their Ngram Viewer platform, readers can search a database for words and phrases that appear in at least five million books—a development that has the potential to change the way we do research.

Google’s platform measures how frequently words and phrases appear in books in the years 1800-2008, providing data for more than 200 years of literature in several languages. This has the potential to impact academic study in several fields: for liberal arts students and teachers, the birth, disappearance and resurgence of certain words can give them a picture of a word’s origins and history. For scientists, the appearance of terms can offer ideas on how the etymology of science has transformed as the field advanced.

But Google’s Ngram Viewer is also a significant indicator of the increasing influence technology has on teaching and learning. The Internet is becoming one of the most important tools that teachers and students use to collect, process, and examine information—and that makes the Internet the primary tool to facilitate education. As a result, online teaching and learning are also gaining popularity, from kindergarten to higher learning.
But what do online tools like Ngram Viewer mean for the future of education? And how can online education prepare students for the workforce of the future? How can a shift toward technology help shape the business world and the workers who will fuel it?

The new economy

An article from AOL’s Jobs site gives a list of the ten possible jobs of the future: all of them are related to health care, the food industry, and information technology. In three cases, health care and information technology are blended: genetic counseling, medical records administration, and stem cell research. The list is speculative, but it does reveal that information technology will play a substantial role in the job market. Learning to use technology in school—and encouraging students to embrace technology and the Internet as tools—can help prepare students for their future careers. Tools like the Ngram Viewer can be used in the future to track the use of terms, words and phrases in research, and can help scholars build a roadmap of both culture and technology that can give them clues to solve future problems.

Influencing the job landscape

Another job on AOL’s future jobs list—sustainability officer—suggests that conservation and environmentally conscious business practices will be important to both large and small companies in the near future. A sustainability officer would research and apply policies that are both environmentally-friendly and cost-effective. Online teaching and learning can play a role in this development as well: as the environment becomes a key concern, different parts of the world will use education to address

The Paperless Library: Google’s N-Gram, A New Tool For Research is a post from: Living on the Planet

To be fair, it is not that Jobs has never been involved in philanthropy. Bono, singer in the pop band U2, is the founder of the (Product)RED campaign. After Jobs was critiqued in a New York Times article Bono stated that Apple’s support of his campaign was “invaluable.” He further claimed that “through the sale of (RED) products, Apple has been (RED)’s largest contributor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.” Apple helped AID’s victims in Africa in a really tangible and significant way–providing millions of dollars towards material support. They advanced the idea that health insurance is a human right. They may not have been providing personal health insurance like we have in the U.S. but they were providing medicine to the masses etc.

Other than supporting (RED) products, Apple showed its support of civil rights in 2008 when it gave $100,000 to a group looking to block Proposition 8, a ballot that would have banned same-sex marriage in California. These contributions are fantastic, but considering the amount Apple could give they seem to come up short.

Jobs had always been a private person. By the time he stepped down on August 24th most of his pubic appearances occurred when he was showing off a new Apple product. So it is possible that Jobs’ philanthropy has been vast but anonymous. However, the amount of money that Jobs has accrued (around $8.3 billion from Apple alone) would be hard to move without making any noise.

It seems odd that the billionaire has had little influence in the philanthropic community. For one, by the time Jobs stepped down he was working at Apple for the salary of $1 a year. Additionally jobs has been quoted saying “My main reaction to this money thing is that it’s humorous, all the attention to it, because it’s hardly the most insightful or valuable thing that’s happened to me.” Clearly Jobs’ money is not the reason he’s kept working. So why keep it?

It’s possible that Jobs will make a turn toward philanthropy now that his responsibilities at Apple have been largely decreased. In the absence of Jobs, Apple’s philanthropy has already taken a turn for the better. Tim Cook, the capable new CEO of Apple, has reestablished Apple’s charitable matching program; one of the first things to go when Jobs returned to the company.

The announcement of Cook’s positive change was made Thursday in a company email. Hopefully this change will be the first of many that can steer the behemoth of Apple back on the right track. Apple is such a force of innovation in our world that having their powers used for the good of humanity could be invaluable.

Philanthropy Death Match: Apple vs. Microsoft is a post from: Living on the Planet

Course Offerings in Enviro Sciences

Aside from helping our environment, a green push can help to create some badly needed jobs in the sustainable energy, green building, and other related industries. Rather than remaining dependent on oil, a resource that we know is finite, why not spend time develop new ways to capture renewable sources of energy like the sun, wind, and hydropower? Though we have had some forms of these for years, advancements are slow to come, likely because they are not profitable for the big oil companies (which spend billions each year for lobbyists in Washington.)

Colleges are expanding their environmental offerings at a rapid rate, which is encouraging. They will be capable of turning out students with the knowledge required to make the technological changes that we need desperately.  Schools are also ramping up programs of sustainability on campus—recycling, adding solar panels, consulting with LEED professionals, installing more efficient HVAC systems and automated control systems to reduce energy consumption. Another initiative at post-secondary schools is building partnerships within the sustainable energy industry.

Some universities now offer degrees in environmental science, and offer them a choice of environmental science or environmental policy, depending upon the career path they choose. Other universities offer environmental engineering programs that help to equip students to design efficient systems to save fuel and other natural resources.

Virtual Learning

With the advent of personal computers and video conferencing technology, it is possible to take an interactive course of studies almost completely off-campus. By all accounts, eLearning departments all over the country are booming. The convenience for students who are often working their way through school cannot be understated.  Moreover, an effect of less travel is less pollution and conservation of fuel.

In the State of Florida, about 3% of students in the public school system rely on Florida virtual schools to complete their education. Not all of them are full-time enrollees. Some are taking one makeup course or attending during an illness so that they stay up to date. Others add an extra course or an advanced class to an otherwise crowded school day by learning virtually. Some, however, are happily learning from home.

Over time, Florida and other states that have adopted similar virtual public schools, intend to save a lot of money and resources on construction, overhead, and transportation costs, while also limiting the size of each class for individual attention.  The curriculum is the same for in-school students as it is for virtual students, and it is free. Students in the same household typically share the same virtual teacher and the system sends everything necessary for the lessons: books to goggles, scales, paint, seeds, and workbooks included.

While virtual schooling in the early years is gaining popularity because of the high costs as mentioned earlier with public schools, and because of safety issues, an unintentional side effect is a reduction in energy consumption and consumption of other natural resources like building materials.

Denise Gabbard has been writing and blogging for over five years, and she writes about a wide range of topics. Education, travel, pets, personal finance, and even horse lorry insurance are common topics.

Today’s Eco-Friendly Education Options is a post from: Living on the Planet