VERTE, which translates to green in many languages, was created to recognize environmental champions who have grown a local program in just two years to reach over 66,000 students in over 100 schools across 19 states, Canada and Australia. The event, now in its second year, will also raise money and awareness for Grades of Green’s vision to make environmental protection second nature in young minds.

Environmental advocate and former educator, Ranae DeSantis, will be honored for her unwavering support of Grades of Green and the environment. Grades of Green will also honor Wells Fargo for bringing Grades of Green’s program to numerous inner-city schools and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County for sponsoring a Trash Free Lunch Challenge that will result in 10,000 bags of trash being diverted from landfills annually.

JD Roth, executive producer of ABC Daytime’s “The Revolution,” as well as long-running television series “The Biggest Loser” and “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition,” will host the evening’s festivities. Grades of Green students and educators will provide live demonstrations at “Eco-Stations” that highlight Grades of Green key programs, such as In-Class Composting, Trash Free Lunches, and Walk to School Wednesdays, and will explain how guests can take Grades of Green’s free and easy to use templates to bring to their own schools.

“The impact Grades of Green has had on our school is profound,” stated Dawnyell Goolsby, principal of Warren Lane Elementary. “Since launching Grades of Green’s Trash Free Lunch activity, our school has reduced the number of lunch time trash bags from eight to four. Its educational activities are also teaching our students how to compost, which will reduce the number of trash bags even more!”

For more information on the event, or to purchase a ticket, go to https://gradesofgreen.ejoinme.org/?tabid=339232 .

About Grades of Green:
Grades of Green is an international nonprofit 501(c)3 that provides parents, students and educators with free instruction on its website. Anyone wanting to implement sustainability programs can register their school online – at no cost – to get tips and measure their success on reducing trash, emissions, harmful classroom chemicals, plus dozens of other ways to help the environment. Grades of Green has been honored with many awards, including the U.S. EPA’s prestigious Environmental Award. The nonprofit is growing rapidly, with over 66,000 students enrolled across 19 states and Canada and Australia, including many low-income schools.

Additionally, Grades of Green recently partnered with Republic Services to provide environmental education on recycling and composting to nearly 1,100 schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Grades of Green’s goal is simple – to enroll thousands of schools with millions of kids- all caring for the environment and collectively making a difference.

For more information, please go to http://www.gradesofgreen.org .

News Source: Grades of Green :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

VIDEO:

Dr. Dave Williams, MD, MPH, Board Certified in Preventive Medicine is completed his residency at Loma Linda University in 2001 and serves as the Medical Director of the Center for Lifestyle Medicine, Inc., a clinic that helps patients optimize health through assessment, education and therapeutic lifestyle measures that improve health and reduce risk for disease.

“Medical science has shown that the major chronic diseases affecting Western societies are due to underlying processes transpiring in our bodies,” said Dr. Williams. “Hydroponic vertical farming processes results in clean, natural food that is rich in essential vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Consuming fresh, unprocessed, locally-grown produce reduces disease-triggering processes. By making these healthy nutritional lifestyle choices, we can strengthen our body’s immune systems and combined with more exercise and rest, we can all dramatically improve how we feel and enjoy life.”

Dr. Steven Dreyer, DC, FACO also joined the EnviroIngenuity team. An expert in providing specialty care for complicated injuries to the neck, back, and joints, Dr. Dreyer has incorporated extensive nutritional counseling, exercise and preventive health care programs into his practice. He provides intensive personal one-hour nutritional consultations with functional laboratory analysis incorporated.

“EnviroIngenuity’s hydroponic vertical farming processes allow people a way to heal themselves by growing their own pesticide-free produce in very small spaces,” said Dr. Dreyer. “When we eat fresh-picked fruits and vegetables, we benefit from a greater concentration of enzymes and nutrients that can be lost during the food distribution process. What really intrigues me is the way kids take to the vertical home gardens. One day I hope to see my own kids comparing the quality of the produce they grow with each other and understand why it is so important to eat fresh greens.”

EnviroIngenuity’s Verti-Gro(R) hydroponic commercial and home garden systems dramatically increases affordable access to locally grown, natural produce while reducing water use by 85 percent, land use by 70 percent and fertilizer consumption by 50 percent and completely eliminating pesticide use. High-yield vertical home gardens eliminate the need to transport food from the field to the store and then to the home, cutting greenhouse gas emissions over 90 percent. Commercial Verti-Gro(R) hydroponic vertical farms enjoy the same resource efficiencies.

“For years I’ve wanted to find a fun way to engage youth with science and technology and assist them to become more conscious of how natural processes work and why. I’m particularly interested in teaching them how to grow natural, clean food and for them to connect with where their food comes from. When youth they learn early the simple processes of growing food, they develop many valuable skill-sets that can help them throughout their life. Hydroponic vertical home gardens do all that and more plus provide a fun, healthy activity for parents to interact with their kids.” said Erik Cutter, Managing Director of EnviroIngenuity. “Hydroponic vertical farming can correct many shortcomings in the modern American diet by helping families to grow nutritious, flavorful fruits and vegetables at home on a year-round basis.”

About EnviroIngenuity:
EnviroIngenuity was founded in 2009 by Erik Cutter. The company is comprised of forward-thinking professionals, whose goal is to take advantage of the growing demand for more efficient, cost effective sustainable energy solutions, employing solar PV, hi-efficiency LED lighting, green building and hydroponic vertical food production technologies.

EnviroIngenuity’s mission is “advancingreenergy” and reducing waste, thus better utilizing limited natural resources. As we invest in a lower carbon future, the EnviroIngenuity team is focused on helping organizations move forward to deploy sustainable energy solutions using disruptive technologies. http://www.EnviroIngenuity.com .

News Source: EnviroIngenuity :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

In these impactful projects, students are fusing their first-hand experiences in Bangladesh to their respective local communities in the United States. Since students observed how regional actions could have a direct impact on global sustainability, their action projects will empower their local communities to make a change in order to prevent further global destruction.

In December 2011, thirty youth leaders and five educators from across the United States earned the unique opportunity to experience how climate change is affecting the local environment and community in Bangladesh firsthand. The international trip was part of the American Youth Leadership Program (AYLP), an initiative sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and global education nonprofit World Savvy.

The program is administered by World Savvy (www.worldsavvy.org), a non-profit organization that educates and engages youth in community and global affairs. Program goals include fostering mutual understanding, respect, and civic engagement among young Americans and their Bangladeshi peers.

“Enabling students to meet individuals affected by climate change in Bangladesh helps illustrate the connections between issues, events and people, locally and globally, in a way that promotes informed, positive action,” explained World Savvy’s Executive Director and Co-Founder Dana Mortenson. “Since major issues such as the environment, economy, natural resource distribution, and immigration are truly global in scope, it is essential that we provide students with educational opportunities to view these issues from multiple perspectives.”

While in Bangladesh, youth leaders and educators witnessed the devastation in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, and additionally, visited communities that lost farmland as a direct result of climate change. These and many other first-hand experiences provided youth leaders and educators with the understanding that our actions in the United States can have an impact halfway across the world.

After traveling to Bangladesh, Natasha Wood (San Francisco University High School, San Francisco, CA) realized how poverty in Bangladesh and in the world could be decreased by better allocating natural resources. Inspired by this epiphany, she is working to install solar panels in her school in order to decrease excessive consumption. Aury Hernandez (Flushing International High School, Queens, NY) is also focusing on decreasing consumption at his school through lobbying for and raising funds to replace paper towels with hand dryers in school restrooms.

Filip Kostanecki (Wayzata High School, Plymouth, MN) is addressing the lack of awareness amongst his peers in the Minnesota area about climate change by developing an informational website that will also include local events related to climate change that students can attend. Filip is hoping that his website and the events that he is recommending will inspire students to learn more about global issues and encourage them to be more involved in the local and global community.

About World Savvy:
World Savvy educates and engages youth in community and world affairs, to learn, work and thrive as responsible global citizens in the 21st century. Learn more at: http://www.worldsavvy.org .

* Photo Caption: From left to right: American Youth Leadership Program participants Steven Torrisi, Tania Ahmed, educator Linda Stern, Judy Yang, Amirah Birt, and Aury Hernandez at the closing ceremony of their month in Bangladesh.

News Source: World Savvy :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

With the increase of roadside rubbish, America’s beauty has been getting cluttered right under our spacious skies. To help keep America beautiful, e2b teknologies will be adopting a stretch of highway, volunteering to clean the area around it. Each year, the Ohio Department of Transportation spends $4 million and over 200,000 hours on litter pick up alone. Litter is a preventable problem, and the money spent on its removal could be spent on other community benefits. With volunteers such as e2b teknologies, this unnecessary use of time, money and resources is not as great.

In addition to keeping the street neat, e2b teknologies’ employees will be volunteering to clean up the Holden Arboretum in Kirtland and has made a $500 donation to the park to help retain its natural beauty. This event will be followed by an employee potluck picnic on Earth Day, Sunday April 22, 2012.

“There is a huge negative impact on the environment that can be avoided,” said e2b teknologies’ President Lynne Henslee. “We have a moral obligation as human beings to right these wrongs, and this obligation is deeper than merely the interests of our company. It coincides with the interests of our local and global communities and the world we entrust to our children.”

About e2b teknologies:
e2b teknologies (www.e2btek.com) provides ERP accounting software for distribution, manufacturing, and service companies. Anytime Collect (www.anytimecollect.com) collections management and e2b 500 are delivered through its e2b software division. e2b software (www.e2bsoft.com) also provides custom cloud-based business application development services. e2b calibration (www.e2bcal.com) is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration laboratory.

News Source: e2b software :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

Butcher brings nearly 20 years of experience to the table. Prior to joining Loureiro Engineering, he was senior vice president of operations at a Massachusetts-based environmental consulting firm.

In his new role at Loureiro, he will work as a Licensed Site Professional. Responsibilities include managing and overseeing assessment and remediation of contaminated sites in Massachusetts in accordance with the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP).

His particular interest and expertise is in the cleanup and redevelopment of underutilized contaminated properties. As a result, he will help clients to understand their responsibilities pertaining to the MCP in these areas.

Additionally, Butcher is a professional geologist and LEED-AP, credentials which complement his ability to provide assessment and remediation services to clients.

“Butcher shares the same ideals and values as Loureiro Engineering does when it comes to customer service,” says Brian Cutler, senior vice president of Loureiro Engineering. “Customer service is paramount in his work ethic.”

Finally, Butcher provides litigation support services and environmental consulting services across other regulatory programs including wetlands and underground storage tanks. He is also responsible for business development across a wide spectrum of Loureiro Engineering’s service offerings.

A member of the Town of Duxbury Conservation Commission which regulates activities in accordance with the state and local wetland bylaws and regulations, he is well positioned to lead this new office to overwhelming success.

“Having an office in the Boston metropolitan area now allows us to service areas that were beyond our reach before,” says Cutler. “Mainly, the Rockland office addresses a gap in service area coverage between Merrimack, NH and Wakefield, RI. “We are excited to have Butcher on board to oversee this new location; we have aggressive marketing and growth plans on the horizon.”

About Loureiro:
Loureiro has been providing engineering, construction, EH&S, and energy and waste management services to a wide variety of public and private sectors throughout the Northeast since 1975. Engineering service offerings include: environmental; site; transportation; water and wastewater; underground utilities; land surveying; structural; mechanical; electrical; plumbing; fire protection; and facilities engineering.

Construction capabilities include: heavy and highway; bridge; site development; underground utilities; remediation; demolition; concrete and general contracting.

EH&S services encompass: multi-media consulting and permitting; auditing; training; emergency planning and response; management systems consulting; professional resource support; and transportation compliance.

Energy services include: assessing energy reduction opportunities; energy modeling; training; alternative energy; and energy metrics and reporting.

Waste management capabilities address: management; transportation; and disposal of industrial, construction and universal waste.

For more information, visit: www.Loureiro.com .

News Source: Loureiro Engineering Associates, Inc. :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

On January 16, twelve travelers are going to Vietnam and Cambodia for an Eco Volunteer trip. Days will be spent both seeing the sites, and donating supplies, teaching English, and staying and eating at facilities that are helping the many people in need. The final two days culminate in a village stay where guests put the finishing touches on a bridge that the group sponsored. This footbridge will allow children to get the education and nourishment from a local nonprofit school that has been inaccessible during monsoon season.

In addition to this project, Destination Earth will be providing a variety of local and international adventure tours into 2012 and beyond. This includes adventures into South America, and shorter Northern California adventure tours as well.

Company president Jud Yaski says, “It’s about time that there is an opportunity for individuals to both take an exciting trip and help the planet at the same time.”

As well as group tours, Destination Earth will be offering these adventures as both Team Building exercises for companies, and as corporate incentive travel, allowing companies to both provide a benefit to their staff and contribute to their social responsibility goals.

The company’s model is to offer intimate adventures with no more than 15 people per trip, allowing the groups to maneuver easily through the varied locals that their trips take them. All trips are designed to not only highlight the “must sees” of an area, but also take guests off the beaten path, to unique environments they would never encounter on their own.

About Destination Earth, Inc.:
The company is the brainchild of Veteran Event producer and world traveler, Jud Yaski. He has partnered with successful adventure travel founder Steve Juba, combining their combined quarter of a century in hospitality to create the ultimate travel experience: Destination Earth.

For more information on the next adventure, or to design a custom adventure with meaning, visit www.destination-earth.org or call 650-533-5487.

News Source: Destination Earth, Inc. :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

“This is a great extension of our product line brought about by customer request,” explains Matt Pletcher, managing director for REMIS AMERICA (www.remisamerica.com). “Demand for black doors is coming from several major retailers. We can build any color door with volume justification.”

REMIS AMERICA offers retro-fit refrigeration doors and covers to grocery retailers and OEM case manufacturers that cut energy costs up to 80% while also greatly reducing retailers’ carbon footprint.

REMIS AMERICA’s eco-friendly, energy saving systems are unrivaled in keeping energy consumption low by providing a full range of medium temperature insulated glass doors and bunker freezer covers, installation and service.

These proven glass doors and covers are engineered to custom fit individual refrigeration case specifications and are in use in over ten thousand retail stores throughout Europe, via our sister company, REMIS GmbH of Cologne, Germany.

REMIS AMERICA, headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, is the result of a joint venture between, DEHCO, Inc., Elkhart, Indiana, and REMIS GmbH of Cologne, Germany.

In addition to the Midwest headquarters, REMIS AMERICA offers a network of sales and service centers throughout North America, including Eugene, OR, Tampa, FL, and Manheim, PA.

More information: http://www.remisamerica.com .

- Photo Caption: Black RemiSafe doors, ShopRite, New Rochelle, NY.

News Source: REMIS AMERICA, LLC :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

Tom will be responsible for managing MWE’s project development portfolio and the activities of development staff. Tom joined MWE in 2006 and has contributed significantly to the successful completion of major projects, including Broken Bow, an 80-megawatt wind farm located in Custer County, Nebraska that will begin construction later this fall.

In addition, Tom has been responsible for developing several projects in Wisconsin and Illinois. Tom has a bachelor’s degree in Community and Regional Planning from Iowa State University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Midwest Wind Energy, LLC is a Chicago-based developer of utility scale wind farms. MWE has successfully completed eight wind farms totaling 728 megawatts that are currently in operation or under construction in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. MWE has a project development portfolio more than 1500 megawatts and has a goal to complete development of more than 1200 megawatts in total by 2013.

More information: http://www.midwestwind.com/ .

News Source: Midwest Wind Energy, LLC :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

The mental imbalances created by PAN produce stress disorders that deteriorate personal, social and environmental well-being. They cause our economic slowdown and unemployment problems because they lead us to use 150 percent more resources each year than our planet produces. The article offers a practical remedy for PAN.

Dr. Cohen, author of ten books on reducing PAN, is the founder and director of online courses and degrees at the Akamai University Institute of Applied Ecopsychology, Portland State University and the Institute of Global Education. He shows that we suffer PAN mental dysfunctions because we seldom keep in mind that our ancestors biologically, culturally and spiritually evolved in the tropics, the so-called Garden of Eden. As our ancestors migrated for food and shelter they encountered stressful, non-tropical situations.

This made their tropical-based body, mind and spirit face new challenges for survival, challenges that prejudiced them against nature’s “whims.” In response, they developed and bonded to techniques that created supportive, artificial solutions. For example, new tools and agriculture rewardingly provided food when its availability in nature waned.

Cohen says “Today, our socialization encourages us to continue our ancestor’s PAN thoughts and feelings. As we gain satisfactions from excessive media, shopping and technologies we suffer their adverse side effects. Our exploitive thinking seldom acknowledges that it is extremely disconnected from, and addictively prejudiced against, nature, in and around us. In denial, we alienate ourselves from nature’s organic gratifications that include balance, peace and happiness.”

“There is hope,” says Cohen. “The Natural Attraction Ecology science of ‘Educating, Counseling and Healing with Nature’ (ECHN) helps us reverse our PAN by enabling us to make conscious sensory contact with the powers of nature’s self-correcting ways, backyard or back country. We learn how to responsibly tap our mind into nature’s unifying love of life.”

ECHN works because it restores our mental integrity. It enables the nature of our psyche to compost our PAN addiction and recycle it into constructive relationships. The exhilarating results speak for themselves.”

Read the article at www.ecopsych.com/journalPAN.html.

For further information visit www.ecopsych.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Michael J. Cohen, Ph.D. 360-378-6313, email nature@interisland.net; or Barbara Huning, MA LP 507-450-0200 email barbhuning@gmail.com .

RESOURCE INFORMATION:
Research: http://www.ecopsych.com/2004ecoheal.html .
Testimonials: http://www.projectnatureconnect.org/testimonials .
Articles: http://www.ecopsych.com/2004artnews.html .
Director: http://www.ecopsych.com/mjcohen.html .
Course: http://www.ecopsych.com/orient.html .
Book: http://www.ecopsych.com/ksanity.html .
Film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1357054/ .

News Source: Project NatureConnect :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

“The upcoming public hearings on the failed ‘No-Otter’ Zone hold the key to the future of southern sea otters in California. After 24 years, citizens have a momentous opportunity to help remove regulations that have effectively kept southern sea otters on the endangered species list,” said Steve Shimek, Chief Executive of The Otter Project.

Since 1987, a “No-Otter” Zone has existed in Southern California extending from Point Conception near Santa Barbara in the north, to the Mexico border in the south.

These “lines- in-the-water,” brought about due to pressure from fishing and oil industry interests, have set back the natural range expansion of the southern sea otter into Southern California.

Following a 2009 legal action brought against the USFWS by The Otter Project and the Environmental Defense Center, a sixty day comment period ending on October 24, 2011 has been enacted to determine the future of the failed zone.

“What this experiment has shown us is that zonal management of sea otters simply doesn’t work. It’s fairly clear that the otters aren’t paying much attention to these ‘borders’ and the time has come to stop insisting that they should,” said Shimek.

The Otter Project encourages citizens to attend the public hearings and vocalize their support for the removal of the “No-Otter” Zone in Southern California.

“If you love otters and want this charismatic California icon to be around for generations to come – we need your support,” said Shimek. “The meetings will be crucial in ensuring that the interests of southern sea otters are heard and not held hostage to the whims of industry.”

The USFWS meetings will commence at 5:00 p.m. with a one hour information session followed by a public hearing between 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Channel Islands National Park Auditorium
1901 Spinnaker Drive
Ventura CA 93001

Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Fleischman Auditorium
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
2559 Puesta del Sol
Santa Barbara CA 93105

Thursday, October 6, 2011
La Feliz Room
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Long Marine Lab
100 Shaffer Rd
Santa Cruz CA 05060.

For more information visit freetheotters.org.

News Source: The Otter Project :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .