AzSustainability.com

Eco-Girls’ Night out this Thursday!

Tracy Perkins — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:21:44 +0000

Photo: The ever-fabulous beauty guru Sunny Subramanian of Vegan Beauty Review

With my little company, Strawberry Hedgehog, I seem to always be telling people “what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it!” Why? Because our skin is our biggest organ, just as it expels toxins in sweat it that delicate, thin membrane between your inner systems and the polluted outside world also absorbs what it comes in contact with. The trick is learning how to read the labels, how to decipher those ingredient lists and figuring out exactly what IS in the stuff we slather on every day or suds up with in the shower. Historically, we have done some crazy things for beauty but by being mindful of what you’re using you can count yourself out of that modern group. Cosmetics and beauty products have a huge range of ingredients from seriously hazardous and cancer causing, to allergy-inducing, to down right gross (hello carmine!). Ecocentricity, a fantastic ecofriendly shop in downtown Phoenix is offering an informative get together to clue you in on the No-No’s and what to look for.

Join us for light refreshments and a good time. Hear from Donna Harris, CEO of Naturoli Beautiful, LLC , a local natural skin care company; Rachael Ward, founder of Mixology Makeup, a local mineral makeup company; Elizabeth Allard, owner of Organic Excellence, a local company offering natural hair care, anti-aging and therapeutic cremes; and someone from Just B – B Just, a local social enterprise offering natural soaps and benefiting individuals trying to escape homelessness. Sample products from these and other local companies offering natural alternatives — that really are natural. (* Men are welcome, too — the nasty stuff is in your skin care products too!) RSVP by following this link or at 602.281-2725 so we will have enough refreshments to refresh everyone.

Host: ecocentricity!
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: 137 W. McDowell Road, Phoenix, AZ

If you can’t make it and want more information on your own products you should do some searching on the Cosmetics Database. You can also find valuable information on the Vegan Beauty Review or read some of my other posts on the topic:

Time to Green your Hair Routine

Everlasting Marks “Take a Hike!” Fundraiser

James Towner — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:51:28 +0000

PHOENIX, AZ, January 8, 2010 – On February 7^th, Everlasting Marks, a local environmental education nonprofit, is kicking off their second annual “Take a Hike!” hike-a-thon fundraiser sponsored by REI. They are currently recruiting participants who find sponsors to pledge funds for hiked miles that can be completed over the course of the 8-week event. There will be awards and prizes for the most miles hiked and the most funds raised.

Registration for the hike-a-thon ends January 22,2010 and the first hike is February 7^th. It continues for 2 months with one scheduled hike each week at various mountains in the greater Phoenix area and ends April 5^th. In order to meet their mileage goals, hikers can participate in the organization’s scheduled hikes, or hike on their own at locations and dates they choose. All ages are welcome and families are encouraged to participate.

Jaime Collins, founder of Everlasting Marks states, “The ‘Take a Hike!’ program is not just an event to raise funds, but to increase the community’s awareness of the environment through the enjoyment of the outdoors.”

This year’s hike-a-thon is in honor of Tessa Worby, who had a fatal fall while rock climbing Camelback Mountain on February 5, 2009. While her accident is a reminder of the dangers of hiking and rock climbing, her memory serves as an inspiration to others to live life to its fullest.

“Tessa was passionate about the outdoors, youth and the environment, reflecting the values of Everlasting Marks,” said Collins. “May we each discover even a portion of her enthusiasm in our own lives.”

Everlasting Marks is an Arizona based organization dedicated to promoting cultural understanding and environmental awareness through youth-oriented educational service projects that involve sustainable construction from recycled materials. Current projects include the development of a sustainable garden and educational facility at Superstition Farm in Mesa. For more information visit www.EverlastingMarks.org

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Michael Shuman, Author of Small Mart Revolution and Going Local will be speaking in Phoenix February 1st

James Towner — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:50:34 +0000

Michael Shuman will be speaking about localism on February 1st in downtown Phoenix, this is sure to be an interesting talk. He will also be in Tucson on the February 2nd at the UA Student Union at 6:30 in the Santa Rita room.

Your Help Is Needed to Reinstate the Biodiesel Tax Incentive

James Towner — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:19:14 +0000

Below is a note from AZ BioDiesel owner Dan Rees about the federal tax incentive that expired this January. AZ BioDiesel is a local Arizona biodiesel producer that makes their fuel from 100% locally sourced waste vegetable oil.

Hi Everyone,

Az BioDiesel is still alive and producing for now without the $1 a gallon federal biodiesel tax credit.

It will hopefully be passed by Feb/March and be retroactive to Jan 1st but there are no guarantees.

For now, we (AZ BioDiesel) can afford to “weather the storm” and wait until the end of January to see if the tax credit will come back anytime soon.

Most plants around the country unfortunately, have closed or severely reduced production as they can’t weather a long wait to get the tax credit dollars.

The word is that if congress doesn’t get around to it before Feb, most of the industry will close and many may not be able to reopen. 29,000+ jobs will be lost very soon. Congress came back Jan 20th from their holiday break. Health care was still taking priority to anything else when they started.

Our industry is the victim of congress’ focus on health care and not having time to pass the biodiesel tax credit extension which helps biodiesel to be competitively priced to the already subsidized petroleum fuels.

Several senators (Dem & Rep) have sent letters to President Obama to get the extension passed quickly but, no answer yet.

Some are saying that Big Oil is behind this. The EPA was going to pass (this Feb) it’s new alt fuel standards which, for the first time, would include a national minimum requirement for 1 billion gallons of biodiesel to get the industry on its feet and growing. The EPA now is saying they may just give the 1 billion gallons to the ethanol industry to add to the minimum requirement they already have since they don’t believe the biodiesel industry can now live up to the new requirement.

Another win for Big Oil and their support of ethanol! The alternative fuel (ethanol) that isn’t a threat to the future of replacing petroleum oil.

It really concerns me that President Obama had the nerve recently to tout the $2.3 billion he gave out to create new forms of energy and add 17,000 jobs while he knows that the biodiesel industry is about to lose 29,000+ jobs and already can produce new energy but no one in congress or the white house seems to care. You’ll notice very little press about the loss of the biodiesel tax credit and it’s potential to bankrupt this industry even if they get around to passing an extension later in the year.

Please help save the biodiesel industry by going to this link and sending emails to our congressmen:

Your Help Is Needed to Reinstate the Biodiesel Tax Incentive
http://www.biodiesel.org/news/taxcredit/default.shtm

With your help, this industry can survive!!!

Thanks,
Dan Rees, AZ BioDiesel

Save Taxpayer Money And Help Create Locally Made Fuel By Recycling Your Turkey Grease This Year.

James Towner — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:54:19 +0000

DATE: Nov. 24, 2009
CONTACT: Mark Shaffer, Director of Communications, (602) 771-2215
ADEQ Urges Proper Disposal of Turkey Grease Through Recycling Rather than Pouring it Down The Drain
PHOENIX – (Nov. 24, 2009) – Don’t listen to any of the traditional gobbledygook when it comes to disposing of turkey grease after your Thanksgiving Day feast.
Pouring the grease down the drain clogs the pipes of many homes along with causing wastewater blockages and overflows in municipalities. There are environmentally conscious alternatives to disposal that not only protect wastewater infrastructure but can also help clean the air.
“Just say no to clogs and yes to turkey grease recycling,” said Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Benjamin H. Grumbles. “Thankfully, more households, businesses, and communities are seeing green by keeping fats, waste vegetable oils, and greases out of drains and sewers and converting them into clean-burning biodiesel fuel easily and cheaply.”
Arizona offers several venues for grease collection that will ensure it is used locally for the production of clean burning fuel.
The Town of Gilbert and Az Biodiesel group are partnering to collect the grease through Monday, Dec. 7 at eight Gilbert fire stations located at the following addresses: 215 N. Cooper Road, 2730 E. Williams Field Road, 2855 E. Guadalupe Road, 1011 E. Guadalupe Road, 909 E. Ray Road, 3630 E. Germann Road, 1095 E. Germann Road and 3595 E. Warner Road.
In the Town of Cave Creek, Dynamite Biofuels Co-op is partnering with Big Earl’s Greasy Eats Restaurant, 6135 E. Cave Creek Road, and is offering a bin for grease collection daily from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday during the holiday season.
In Tucson, the Tucson Clean Cities Coalition, Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department and the recycling group Grecycle will be sponsoring a grease disposal drive on Friday, Nov. 27 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at O’Reilly Chevrolet, 6160 E. Broadway; Pima County Industrial Wastewater Control Plant, 5025 W. Ina Road; and the City of Tucson Water Plant #2, 1102 W. Irvington Road.

Have a great clean energy idea? Enter the MIT Clean Energy Prize and Prove it!

James Towner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:42:50 +0000

Have a vision for our clean energy future? Students (grads or undergrad) here is your opportunity to prove it! MIT is holding a clean energy business plan competition with a grand prize of $200,000. This will be a great opportunity to get a tremendous amount of attention on your brilliant ideas! Head over to http://www.mitcep.org/ to find out more.

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TEDxPhoenix to Feature Local Sustainability Expert

Tomas Carrillo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:35:32 +0000

This is a guest post by longtime AzSustainability fan Tomas Carrillo.

Greetings AZSustainability readers. I’ve been in the trenches for the
last few weeks putting the finishing touches on Arizona’s first ever
TEDxPhoenix event which is scheduled to take place this Friday,
November 6th from 6pm to 9pm at the Mesa Arts Center.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with TEDxPhoenix, it’s been
described as a Cirque du Soleil for the mind. Our inaugural event
will feature six of Arizona’s leading experts brought together to
enlighten, inspire, and entertain via ideas worth spreading. For fans
of the environment and sustainability, we are excited to announce that
Urban Farm founder and sustainability guru, Greg Peterson, will be
speaking at the event.

TEDxPhoenix is also a place where you can meet individuals who are
interested in leveraging ideas, technology, education, and design to
help create a better future for the Phoenix-metro communities and
beyond. For more information about the event, I highly recommend
checking out our TEDxPhoenix
Beginners Guide.

I really hope you will join us this Friday, and here are all the event
details for your viewing pleasure:

Homepage: www.tedxphoenix.com
Event Date & Time: Friday, November 6th,
2009 from 6pm to 9pm
Location: Mesa Arts Center – Google
Map
Tickets: $5 – Get your tickets
here

Sincerely,
~Tomas

Post Scriptum: TEDxPhoenix is a local and independently organized
event operated under license from TED. TED rocks, if you don’t
believe me, check out one of our favorite videos below:

(*Feed subscribers, please visit the blog post if the video
doesn’t appear.)

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Shopping Local is Shopping Green!

Tracy Perkins — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:56:40 +0000

Hope to see you this Saturday! Great bands, fabulous local vendors, & what should be gorgeous weather. Keep your dollars in our state while avoiding the carbon footprint of shipping in goods from all over the world/country for nationally owned chains.

Saturday, November 7th
10am-4pm
Duck & Decanter
16th St. & Camelback
Phoenix, AZ 85016

Bashas’ supports local small business

Bashas’ supports local small business

Tracy Perkins — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:29:38 +0000

Head out to the Farmer’s Market being held by Bashas’ in Gilbert next weekend! As you probably know Bashas’ is our only large locally owned grocer here in Phoenix. At the suggestion of Local First AZ we’ve asked you to make the move to shopping predominantly at Bashas’ to help pull them out of bankruptcy. Part of this movement to support Bashas’ as a local business has apparently driven Bashas’ to do the same by offering this venue to other locals – farmers, crafters, artists, etc. See you there?

Bashas’ Farmer’s Market
next Saturday, Oct. 24 from 8am-1pm
at Bashas’ #172
99 S. Higley Rd. (Higley & Elliott)
Gilbert, 85296

Movie Screening: The Age of Stupid

Tracy Perkins — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:04:03 +0000

The new film The Age of Stupid is screening at select theaters worldwide tonight only! I know it is 8pm on Monday but it looks good if you are interested in the environment. Synopsis: “‘The Age of Stupid’ is the new cinema documentary from the Dir. of ‘McLibel’ & the Producer of the Oscar-winning ‘One Day in September’. This enormously ambitious drama-documentary-animation hybrid stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching ‘archive’ footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change while we had the chance?”

Find a viewing in your neck of the woods:

AMC Theatres Ahwatukee 24
4915 East Ray Road, Phoenix, AZ 85044
(888) 262-4386

Cinemark 16 – Mesa
1051 N. Dobson Road
Mesa, AZ 85201 (800) 326-3264

AMC Theatres Mesa Grand Twenty Four
1645 South Stapley
Mesa, AZ 85204 (888) 262-4386

AMC Westgate 20
9400 West Hanna Lane
Glendale, AZ 85305 (888)262-4386

AMC Theatres Desert Ridge 18
21001 N. Tatum
Phoenix, AZ 85050 (888) 262-4386

AMC Theatres Arrowhead 14
7700 W. Bell Road, Suite 1079
Glendale, AZ 85308 (888) 262-4386

Century Oro Valley Marketplace
12155 North Oracle Road
Tucson, AZ 8573

Century EL Con 20
EL Con Mall
Tucson, AZ 85716 (800)326-3264

Century 20 Park Place
5870 East Broadway Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85711 (800)326-3264
Directions

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