The LOHASIAN

The Environmental Price of Smoking Bans

2009-06-01T12:12:00.003-04:00

Here's a question for you: Are smoking bans a good for our planet? Your first response, assuming you're not a smoker, is uh - of course! Well, not so fast.Indoor smoking bans are actually wreaking havoc on our environment. Smokers are flocking outdoors and leaving cigarette buts on sidewalks. The filter of the cigarette is made out of condensed cellulose acetate that is thinner than sewing

Holistic Warfare:Killing Colds and Flues...Naturally

2009-06-01T11:14:00.011-04:00

I got ill this weekend - terribly, horribly, knock you on your back ill. It's an interesting phenomena that any ailment seems to arrive immediately following my Saturday morning chiropractic adjustment, my chiropractor calls it "release care" ...meaning releasing of whatever it is that is already in your system. I suppose that it didn't (or did, depending how you look at it) help that I decided

WHO Demands More Graphic Anti-Smoking Campaigns for World No Tobacco Day 2009

2009-05-29T11:56:00.010-04:00

WHO today urged governments to require that all tobacco packages include pictorial warnings to show the sickness and suffering caused by tobacco use.WHO's call to action comes on the eve of World No Tobacco Day, 31 May. This year’s campaign focuses on decreasing tobacco use by increasing public awareness of its dangers.Studies reveal that even among people who believe tobacco is harmful, few

Ancient Origins of Birthdays...and Reflections on Mine (Less Ancient)

2009-05-27T10:46:00.005-04:00

Today is my birthday - again. It's a funny event filled with dichotomies; it comes every year marking an end to one year and a beginning to another. On the one hand the "big day" begs for reflection, while on the other demands new benchmarks...it's "a whole lot" while ultimately being a day no different then any other (equally as precious and no more divine).Days of playing "pin the tail on the

Curing Asthma Naturally... and Other Lessons in Breathing

2009-05-26T10:36:00.005-04:00

In August of 2008 year my then two and a half year old son was admitted to the hospital in respiratory distress. Horror is the only word to describe the experience of watching ones own child gasping for breath. The day started innocently enough; breakfast, laughter, playtime, mom leaves to run errands as dad stays on to play with kids in the August sun. By late afternoon, upon my return, my

Endangered Species Day....Through The Eyes of Charles Darwin

2009-05-21T13:32:00.003-04:00

--Feature Column: "Sustainable Soul w/Rebecca Hecking"--Note to the reader: 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Last Friday was Endangered Species Day, and it seems appropriate to mark that occasion by reflecting on the man who helped us envision ourselves as one branch on the greater tree of all life. "There is grandeur in this view of life...from so simple a

The Climate Project Summit Opens Uniting Al Gore With World's Experts On Climate Change

2009-05-15T08:38:00.004-04:00

The Climate Project (TCP), an international non-profit founded by former Vice President Al Gore with a mission to increase public awareness of the climate crisis at a grassroots level worldwide. The TCP opened its North American Summit in Nashville yesterday.During the three day event, Gore is addressing more than 500 attendees as well as conducting a three hour training workshop. Dr. Rajendra K

Africa's Deepening Food Crises: An Urgent Call for Agricultural Reform & Green Economy Solutions

2009-05-15T08:26:00.006-04:00

With Africa’s population set to rise by an additional one billion people over the next four decades, the continent risks being plunged into a deepening food crisis without urgent changes to the management of its natural resources, warned a new United Nations UNEP report.Agricultural yields in Africa have already fallen in some cases by up to 50 per cent as a result of invasive pests, land

Coke Creates Eco-Friendly Bottle Made of Plants...Targeting LOHAS Consumer

2009-05-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

You know times are changing when giants like Coke are creating vitamin infused soda and now developing plant derived bottles (that is 30% plant derived). The company announced today that it has developed a new plastic bottle that is partly made from sugar cane and molasses," raising the bar in the battle for the most environmentally friendly packaging." Coke will test the new bottle in North

United Nations & "The Billion Tree Campaign": 7 Billion New Trees Inspire Global Climate Change

2009-05-14T10:57:00.007-04:00

Ahead of World Environment Day, celebrated globally on 5 June, the United Nations today announced an ambitious tree-planting target in a bid to push governments into reaching agreement on a climate change pact in Copenhagen this December.The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has appealed to the world to help its effort to plant seven billion trees by the end of the year, coinciding with the UN

West Virgina Coal Association Markets Dirty Little Tones (Environmentally That Is)

2009-05-13T13:47:00.008-04:00

--fashion + travel + music--Can a ring tone be bad for the environment ? Hard to imagine, but if the West Virginia Coal Association finds success with it new catchy ring tone...it just might be.Just have a read of these lyrics!"West Virginia coal gonna take you on a ride,Gonna take you to the city to the shore and countryside,Gonna let you work your magic and your power and your pride,West

UNESCO Launches Library Honoring Global Cultures

2009-05-13T13:11:00.006-04:00

In a bid to celebrate the world’s myriad cultures, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and dozens of partner institutions have launched the World Digital Library, a Web site featuring cultural materials from libraries and archives worldwide, free of charge. The new Library, known as WDL, will function in seven languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French

Eco-Friendly Chocolate Powered Racecar ...(Yes, You Read It Right)

2009-05-12T12:58:00.010-04:00

--LOHAS: science + technology + innovation--Carrots, potatoes and chocolate might not seem like effective contents for a recipe...that is unless your cooking up a new race car! A new experiment in greening the raceway has produced a quirky and headline grabbing F3 motor car - with a body made from vegetable products, and powered by a chocolate-based biofuel. (LOHAS Culture, Green Cars,

Barack Obama -VS- National Prayer Day:Insights on Selling God

2009-05-12T11:03:00.010-04:00

--LOHAS: body + mind + spirit--Barack Obama got a lot of slack last week from the Christian right when he decided to break a Bush Era White House tradition and not have any White House Prayer Day events scheduled. The 58th annual National Prayer Day, which rolled around this year on May 7th, has a web site titled "National Prayer Day Task Force," which accurately set the tone that prayer is "

Aiding Africa's Water Crises:20 City in 20 Day Peace,Water &Wisdom Walk

2009-05-11T09:51:00.012-04:00

--LOHAS: celebrity + charity + global relief--The BARKA Foundation and Global Walk announce the inaugural Peace, Water & Wisdom Walk to raise funds and awareness for the work of The BARKA Foundation. BARKA is a US and Burkina Faso-based NGO addressing the centrality of water's role in eradicating extreme poverty in Burkina Faso, West Africa, a country ranked 173rd out of 179 countries on the

Nature's Resilience as a Lesson in Economic Optimism

2009-05-08T12:38:00.005-04:00

--Feature Column: "Sustainable Soul w/Rebecca Hecking"--Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the financial markets, spring still arrived this year in the northern hemisphere. I take this as a supremely encouraging occurrence in an otherwise unsettling time in human history. This season in particular (for reasons unknown) I find myself noticing the gradual arrival of spring more vividly than in

Dalia Lama Concludes US Tour Offering "Compassionate Ethics in Difficult Times"

2009-05-08T11:59:00.005-04:00

--LOHAS: body + mind + spirit--His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama spoke at Albany's Palace Theater yesterday of the need to foster ethics and embrace basic human values, especially during these times of economic and socio-political turmoil. About 2,600 people heard his public talk titled ''Compassionate Ethics in Difficult Times.''The event, sponsored by the World Ethical Foundations Consortium (

Physician & Researcher Stuart Brown Asks, "Can PLAY Save the Human Race?

2009-05-07T14:13:00.006-04:00

--LOHAS: video features--Brown, a physician, psychiatrist, clinical researcher and the founder of the National Institute for Play, has made a career of studying the effects of play on people and animals. His conclusion is that play is no less important than oxygen, and that it's a powerful force in nature that helps determine the likelihood of the very survival of the human race.Brown states, "

Humanity as a Personal Responsibility: "Dalai Lama Renaissance" (Dir: Khashyar Darvich)

2009-05-07T12:47:00.015-04:00

--Feature Column: "Wisdom Keepers of the World w/Bettina Gordon"--Picture this....forty of the world’s most prominent and innovative thinkers (self-proclaimed) meet in Dharmsala, India, at the exiled residence of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, to attend the "Synthesis Conference." The goal of the conference is no less ambitious than to “find solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems and to

Infectious Disease Society Fears Conventional Farms Are Creating Health Crises

2009-05-06T11:54:00.009-04:00

--LOHAS: trends + business + politics--With Swine Flu dominating the news world wide, the condition of conventional farms has finally come under scrutiny. The public is finally starting to get information about the impact of unsafe and unethical animal farming practices that pose severe health risks to the humans who consume them. One additional element that seems to be missing the news is

Microlending in Your Backyard:KIVA Targets U.S Market

2009-05-06T11:40:00.004-04:00

--LOHAS: celebrity + charity + global relief--An ambitious social experiment will launch later this year that will test Americans’ ability and willingness not just to give, but to give to one another. Kiva, an online micro-lender that has so far worked only in developing nations, will be launching here in the U.S. Americans have been more than willing to give small loans to businesses in Africa

Climate Change & Cultural Genocide:Aborigines Under Threat

2009-05-06T08:08:00.003-04:00

--science + technology + innovation--Climate change would force Australia's Aborigines off their traditional lands, resulting in "cultural genocide" and environmental degradation, a human rights watchdog warned. Australia's original inhabitants, whose cultures stretch back many thousands of years, Aborigines would be deeply affected by the impact of global warming, the government-funded Human

A Mother's Report Card:Best & Worst Countries for Mothers

2009-05-05T14:50:00.004-04:00

--celebrity + charity + global relief--Nordic countries lead the globe as the best places to be a mother, while sub-Saharan African countries rank among the worst places for mothers, according to Save the Children's 10th annual Mothers' Index. The global ranking is highlighted in the organization's State of the World's Mothers 2009 report, which focuses on the link between investing in early

When Nature Gets Dirty:Sundance Channel's Eco-Friendly "Green Porno"

2009-05-05T10:56:00.008-04:00

--video features--Isabella Rossellini doesn't know what we can learn from the sex lives of sea creatures, and she isn't particularly worried about it."People are so human-centric," she laughs in a recent interview about Green Porno 2, the second in a series of films she writes, directs and stars in for the Sundance Channel.The outrageous films provide a witty and illuminating translation into the

Unholy Healing ?Catholic Church Renounces Reiki

2009-05-04T17:04:00.010-04:00

--body + mind + spirit--One of the greatest services Hospice of Frederick County offered for Mary Rice's terminally ill husband was Reiki therapy provided by volunteers."The morphine, the anti-anxiety drugs, the painkillers -- nothing provided the peacefulness, inwardly and outwardly, that Reiki did," Rice said. "It's such a soothing experience, and the difference in my husband before and after