tag:www.naturalawakeningsnj.com,2005:/categories/community?page=15Community | Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey Page 15Healthy Living Healthy Planet2019-08-19T11:54:35-07:00urn:uuid:ef3408a3-417b-4e29-bb22-293f9a166b7a2019-08-19T11:54:35-07:002019-08-19T11:54:35-07:00What is Hospice: Hospice 1012017-01-30 19:34:55 -0800Kelly Roman, Volunteer Supervisor Ascend Hospice<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>o begin, there are many myths about hospice care that need to be dispelled. People think that hospice is a place, that it’s very expensive, limited to the elderly and that people die faster while they are on hospice. They also believe hospice care means forgoing medical treatment and that it is only used for the last few days of life or that a person can only receive care for a maximum of six months. This is simply not true.</p>
<p> Hospice is a service that focuses on the comprehensive care of patients with terminal illnesses. Hospice need not be a place but rather a service that offers support, resources and assistance to terminally ill patients and their families. The main goal of hospice is to provide a peaceful, symptom-free and dignified transition to death for patients whose diseases are advanced beyond a cure. The hope for a cure shifts to hope for a life free of suffering. The focus becomes quality of life rather than its length. Hospice care is patient-centered medical care. A host of valuable services are offered to address every aspect of the patient's care as a whole.</p>
<p> Hospice is specifically for individuals with a terminal diagnosis, whereas palliative care is for individuals at any stage of illness. Hospice care is a treatment option that does not not include aggressive, curative treatment while palliative care can occur in conjunction with aggressive treatment.</p>
<p> Services provided include nursing, medical social work, counseling, volunteer and administrative services provided by the hospice MD. Hospice can also be covered by Medicare, Medicaid, Managed Care and commercial insurance plans.</p>
<p> In many chronic and progressive conditions such as cancer, heart disease and dementia, the natural disease process can ultimately reach an end stage. Most of the time, as a disease progresses to an advanced stage, its symptoms become more intolerable and difficult to control. As a result, an end-stage condition can significantly impair a person's functional status and quality of life. Dying is part of the life process, and for many dying persons, life’s experiences still have significant meaning and importance. With proper care, support and planning the time remaining for a dying person and their family can be comfortable and enjoyable.</p>
<p>Location: Ascend Hospice, 65 Jackson Drive, Suite 103, Cranford. For more information, call 908-931-9068 or visit <a href="http://ascendhospice.com/">AscendHospice.com</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:29f3612e-e3b7-4fdd-8108-48dcd27bc4ee2019-08-15T22:21:25-07:002019-08-15T22:21:26-07:00Smog Begone: California Aims Even Higher on Emission Controls2016-12-28 10:43:27 -0800Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">C</span>alifornia lawmakers have enacted a bill that aims to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. It extends previous efforts such as the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 instituted to reduce emissions by 2020, along with another piece of legislation that vows to boost legislative oversight of climate change programs organized by the California Air Resources Board.</p>
<p>Supporters say that emissions rules have created new jobs and led to billions of dollars of investment in California’s clean energy sector. Opponents argue that the strict targets have caused some job losses, particularly in oil manufacturing.</p>
<p>The state, having the world’s eighth-largest economy, has further announced a goal of fighting climate change and improving air quality by putting 1.5 million zero-emission state cars on the road by 2025.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Source: MSN.com</em></p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the January 2017 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:4089eb7f-5c4c-425c-a407-cef5f62ed0262019-08-15T21:37:32-07:002019-08-15T21:37:32-07:00Reforesting India: Massive Tree-Planting Against Climate Change2016-12-28 10:43:26 -0800Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>ndian officials report that volunteers planted more than 49 million trees on a single day in 2016, surpassing the 2013 world record of 850,000 in Pakistan. An estimated 800,000 volunteers worked for 24 hours planting 80 species of saplings raised in local nurseries along roads, railways and other public land.</p>
<p>The effort is part of the commitment India made at the Paris Climate Conference in December 2015. The country agreed to spend $6 billion to reforest 12 percent of its land and bring the total forest cover to 235 million acres by 2030, or about 29 percent of its territory.</p>
<p>Trees sequester carbon dioxide from the air and reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. India has experienced substantial loss of its forest cover in recent centuries as people cut down trees for firewood, pasture and development. Still, saplings need water and care and are susceptible to disease. Mortality rates can reach 40 percent after such massive tree plantings.</p>
<p>Other countries are also replanting trees. Last December, African nations pledged to reforest 100 million hectares (386 square miles). A wide range of stakeholders from countries to companies also signed on to the non-binding New York Declaration of Forests that month, with the goal of halving deforestation by 2020 and ending it by 2030.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Source:</em> National Geographic</p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the January 2017 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:121306ea-1b08-45d3-aa12-e813083832532019-08-15T21:49:32-07:002019-08-15T21:49:32-07:00Bye-Bye Birdies: North American Species at High Risk2016-11-30 09:33:53 -0800Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he <a href="http://www.audubon.org/content/2014-great-backyard-bird-count-summary">2016 annual Audubon Great Backyard Bird Count</a> in February and a <a href="http://www.stateofthebirds.org/2016/">report compiled by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative</a> show that more than a third of all North American bird species are at risk of becoming extinct unless significant action is taken, especially ocean and tropical birds. The governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico created the North American Bird Conservation Initiative in 1999.</p>
<p>More than half the species that rely on oceans and tropical forests are on a special watch list because of small and declining populations, limited ranges and severe threats to their habitats. The report pinpoints invasive predators such as rats and cats on nesting islands, as well as overfishing, pollution and climate change. Ways to address the problem include removing predators, expanding protected marine areas and reducing the amount of plastic products that end up in the ocean and can trap or choke birds.</p>
<p>Many species such as long-distance migratory shore birds in coastal, grassland and arid habitats are declining steeply. The main causes are rising sea levels, coastal development, encroaching human activity and oil spills.</p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the December 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:2e3844bf-7dca-47ba-b2a0-527c9e2088882019-08-15T21:57:59-07:002019-08-15T21:57:59-07:00Ocean Watch: Sea Mammals Update2016-11-30 09:33:53 -0800Anonymous<p><span> </span><span class="dropcap">2</span><span> </span>016 was a mixed year for whales and dolphins and by extension, humans. Marine Biologist Sylvia Earle states the importance of ocean health this way: “With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. The ocean is the blue heart of the planet. There’s still time, but not a lot, to turn things around.”</p>
<p>Scientists have discovered a new, black-colored species of whale that’s one-third the size of a Baird’s beaked whale. Yet to be named, it’s rarely seen, feeding in deep canyons in the Bering Sea.</p>
<p>The oldest-known orca whale, Granny, at 105, swims Washington’s coastline. Wild orcas usually live 60 to 80 years; captives, 40 years at most. Iceberg, the only known adult white orca, age 22, was spotted in Russian coastal waters earlier this year.</p>
<p>In 2013, a Korean marine park retrained five dolphins to feed naturally and released them into the sea, where they rejoined their original pod. Recent sightings found them thriving, affording hope for the 2,900 dolphins in marine parks, aquariums and zoos worldwide.</p>
<p>Pink dolphins in Hong Kong’s bustling harbor remain endangered. In 2003, there were 158; by 2014, only 61. The Baiji River dolphin, only found in China, has been declared extinct. Vaquitas, small porpoises in the Gulf of California, declined from 97 in 2014 to 60 this year, most drowned in commercial fishing nets; it may be extinct by 2018.</p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the December 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:0133adbc-bbe1-4335-904f-fb55f18f1d632019-08-15T21:51:48-07:002019-08-15T21:51:48-07:00Extinction Scenario: Humans an Endangered Species2016-11-30 09:33:51 -0800Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he UK-based nonprofit <a href="https://www.zurichna.com/en/knowledge/topics/Global-Risks-Report?WT.mc_id=z_pro_na_se_GOOGLE_Geopolitical+Risk+-+GN+-+BMM_Global+Risks+Report_%2Bglobal+%2Brisk&WT.srch=1&gclid=CIDP6cq-tM0CFYw2gQodEC8LGw&gclsrc=aw.ds">Global Challenges Foundation’s annual report on global catastrophic risk</a> has found that the risk of human extinction is higher than we might expect. <a href="http://mudancasclimaticas.cptec.inpe.br/~rmclima/pdfs/destaques/sternreview_report_complete.pdf">The Stern Review</a>, the British premier government report on the economics of climate change, estimates a 0.1 percent risk of human extinction every year.</p>
<p>“We don’t expect any of the events that we describe to happen in any specific 10-year period. They might—but on balance, they probably won’t,” says Sebastian Farquhar, director of the Global Priorities Project. United Nations-approved climate models estimate that temperatures might rise six to 10 degrees Celsius, which pushes the probability of extinction beyond 3 percent, even with a considerable decrease in carbon emissions.</p>
<p>Nuclear war, natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, genetic engineering gone awry and pandemic plagues figure in too, but the biggest threat might be the ever-increasing human population. According to a paper published in the journal <em>Nature</em> by Elizabeth Hadly, a professor of environmental biology at Stanford University, such growth has followed the trajectory of a typical invasive species and suggests there may be a looming global population downturn. Still, humans are capable of exponentially growing their population several times over through the invention of new technologies and cultural shifts, regardless of Earth’s natural carrying capacity.</p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the December 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:40b2670a-f2e9-45df-8f32-336a43c52f012019-08-15T22:23:09-07:002019-08-15T22:23:09-07:00Greening Planet: Satellites Reveal Unexpected Plant Growth2016-11-30 09:33:50 -0800Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he study <em>Greening of the Earth and its Drivers</em>, published by an international team in the journal <em>Nature Climate Change</em>, shows significant greening of a quarter to one-half of the Earth’s vegetated lands based on satellite data from the past 33 years. This represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees that produce sugars using sunlight energy to mix atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) with water and nutrients from the soil.</p>
<p>These sugars are the source of food, fiber and fuel for life on Earth. More sugars are produced when there is more of this greenhouse gas in the air in a process called CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization.</p>
<p>About 85 percent of the Earth’s land is free of ice and covered by vegetation, currently encompassing 32 percent of the planet’s total surface area. Lead author Dr. Zaichun Zhu, a researcher from Peking University, in China, states, “The greening over the past 33 years reported in this study is equivalent to adding a green continent about two times the size of mainland USA, and has the ability to fundamentally change the cycling of water and carbon in the climate system.” The effect may serve as a carbon sink to help counter climate change.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Source: Boston University</em></p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the December 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:6ec8a5a6-8bc5-4acf-80ea-a9da2e9bf90f2019-08-15T21:47:17-07:002019-08-15T21:47:17-07:00Wise Woodsmen: Norway Bans Deforestation Products2016-11-30 09:33:49 -0800Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he Norwegian Parliament Standing Committee on Energy and Environment has pledged that the government will follow a deforestation-free public procurement policy, meaning that any product that contributes to deforestation will not be used by the country as part of an <em>Action Plan on Nature Diversity</em>. Rainforest Foundation Norway was the main lobbying influence behind this recommendation and has worked for years to bring the pledge into existence.</p>
<p>“This is an important victory in the fight to protect the rainforest,” says Nils Hermann Ranum, head of policy and campaign for the committee. “Over the last few years, a number of companies have committed to cease the procurement of goods that can be linked to destruction of the rainforest. Until now, this has not been matched by similar commitments from governments. The Norwegian state is now following suit and making the same demands when it comes to public procurements.”</p>
<p>Deforestation is estimated to comprise about 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change and disrupting natural cycles and livelihoods, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Removal of trees can disrupt a region’s water cycle, resulting in changes in precipitation and river flow that also contribute to erosion.</p>
<p> <br>
<em>Source: <a href="http://EcoWatch.com">EcoWatch.com</a></em></p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the December 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:262ef07a-b2de-4889-998b-7cfab89b76ac2019-08-15T21:54:29-07:002019-08-15T21:54:29-07:00Stark Mark: Carbon Dioxide Passes Climate-Warming Threshold2016-10-31 08:13:24 -0700Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">R</span>ecord carbon dioxide levels will surpass the symbolic threshold of 400 parts per million (ppm) this year and will likely never fall below it again in our lifetimes, according to a new study published recently in the journal <em>Nature Climate Change</em>.</p>
<p>The findings highlight urgent concerns about global efforts to curb climate change as outlined in the Paris agreement negotiated last December and signed in April by nearly 170 nations. Carbon concentrations have passed the 400 ppm limit before, but never permanently.</p>
<p>The authors state, “In the longer term, a reduction in CO2 concentration would require substantial and sustained cuts in anthropogenic [humanly influenced] emissions to near zero.” The determined safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a maximum of around 350 ppm, according to climate advocates.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Source: <a href="http://Nature.com">Nature.com</a></em></p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the November 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:dc45db09-db4b-4f8f-8154-324816c4b8c82019-08-15T21:35:24-07:002019-08-15T21:35:24-07:00Safer Citizens: Germany to Ban Fracking Permanently2016-10-31 08:13:23 -0700Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he German government has ruled to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for shale gas in the country, but will allow test drilling in certain circumstances, reports Reuters. The industry has lobbied to continue fracking, which involves blasting chemicals and water into underground rock formations to release trapped gas, but strong opposition has persisted throughout the nation, with a powerful green lobby warning of possible risks to drinking water. Germany follows France and Bulgaria, which have already permanently banned fracking.</p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the November 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:2bc7ae76-ed79-4b07-8e27-2924ce8d3b672019-08-15T21:25:31-07:002019-08-15T21:25:31-07:00Zoo Zapped: Buenos Aires Moves Animals to Nature Reserves2016-10-31 08:13:22 -0700Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he 140-year-old zoo in Buenos Aires is shutting down to give the animals a better life. Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta agrees with activists that keeping wild animals in captivity and on display is degrading, so the zoo’s 2,500 animals will be moved to more suitable living environments in nature reserves around the country. Older animals and those too sick to be relocated will remain in their current home, but not displayed.</p>
<p>The 45-acre zoo will be transformed into an eco-park to give children a place to learn how to take care of and relate with the different species. It also will provide refuge and rehabilitation for animals rescued from illegal trafficking.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Source: <a href="http://Ecowatch.com">Ecowatch.com</a></em></p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the November 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:1dd6478d-02ec-4b98-b845-03d2179099a42019-08-15T22:16:52-07:002019-08-15T22:16:52-07:00Change Makers: Inspired to Act2016-09-30 08:20:00 -0700Linda Sechrist<p><span class="dropcap">“O</span>urs is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts, or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good,” says Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D., a world-renowned author and Jungian psychoanalyst specializing in post-trauma counsel.</p>
<p>Thousands of people each day choose to see a world radiating with hope and light, despite ever-present conflict and strife. Their talents and gifts, alliances and collaborations are inspiring a new story that ripples outward into our communities and beyond.</p>
<p>In <em>The Ten Gifts: Find the Personal Peace You’ve Always Wanted Through the Ten Gifts You’ve Always Had</em>, author Robin L. Silverman affirms that everyone can reach within, even in the worst of circumstances, for treasures that can be used to improve the lives of others. She concludes, “We are not meant to use our gifts simply to survive, but to satisfy our souls and inspire others to do the same.”</p>
<h3>Meeting Basic Needs</h3>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-right">
<img alt="Komal Ahmad" src="//cdn0.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575360/Komal-Ahmed.png"><div class="small">Komal Ahmad</div>
</div>Komal Ahmad was unaware that her single act of kindness in simply offering to share her lunch with a homeless veteran in 2011 while she was attending the University of California, Berkeley, would lead to a multiplying mission to feed America’s hungry. His heartfelt expression of gratitude for his first meal in three days sparked an epiphany: Her school was regularly throwing away thousands of pounds of food while neighbors were going hungry.
<p>Today, Ahmad is the founder and CEO of Copia, an app that matches nonprofits serving in-need veterans, children, women and others with companies that have leftover gourmet food. Following the 2016 Super Bowl, she used Copia’s technology to organize food pickups throughout the San Francisco Bay area. What she calls the “right thing to do” fed more than 41,000 people that day.</p>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-left">
<img alt="Margot McNeeley" src="//cdn2.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575361/Margot-McNeeley.png"><div class="small">Margot McNeeley</div>
</div>Named one of Toyota’s 2016 Mothers of Invention, Ahmad uses the company’s $50,000 grant to boost Copia’s services throughout the U.S. Recently, German and Austrian government officials expressed interest in expanding the service to help feed Syrian refugees in their countries.
<p>Friends Margot McNeeley and Janet Boscarino, in Memphis, Tennessee, looked around for local problems they could fix and took action starting in 2008. A former retail entrepreneur, McNeeley didn’t want food to go to waste and created the Project Green Fork certification program after learning that 95 percent of restaurant waste can be diverted from landfills. Her nonprofit helps restaurants to conserve water and energy, develop recycling and composting systems and switch to biodegradable containers and environmentally friendly cleaning operations.</p>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-right">
<img alt="Janet Boscarino" src="//cdn1.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575362/Janet-Boscarino.png"><div class="small">Janet Boscarino</div>
</div>Boscarino’s experience in business development and sales, combined with her disdain for litter, led her to found the nonprofit Clean Memphis, which began in 2008 with volunteer crews picking up litter. In recent years, the initiative’s community-wide strategy has expanded to involve local governments, businesses, neighborhoods, faith-based organizations and 20 local “sustainable schools”. In 2017, Project Green Fork will become a part of Clean Memphis.
<p>Throughout two decades of educational activism, John G. Heim’s passion for clean water as a human right has not waned. The founder and leader of The SWFL Clean Water Movement, headquartered in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, persisted even when many business owners considered him a nuisance, driving off tourists.</p>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-left">
<img alt="John G. Heim" src="//cdn0.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575363/John-G-Heim.png"><div class="small">John G. Heim</div>
</div>As infestations of blue-green algae blooms have reached emergency levels, Heim’s ongoing grassroots campaign to increase awareness of water quality issues that’s backed by social media recently brought him to Washington, D.C., to make his case before Congress. The nonprofit’s 18,000 members have succeeded in bringing national attention to the thick muck now plaguing both Florida coasts. They’re working to alter nutrient-laden discharges from Lake Okeechobee that send agricultural toxins and rain overflow down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers and out into vital estuaries.
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-right">
<img alt="Scott Bunn" src="//cdn3.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575364/Scott-Bunn.png"><div class="small">Scott Bunn</div>
</div>Scott Bunn’s Seneca Treehouse Project, launched in 2010, grew from his building background in a family of entrepreneurs to encompass design/build services and education in eco-housing and ethical living. Bunn’s original Seneca, South Carolina, homestead and acreage includes apprentice learning programs teaching practical skills in cultivating permaculture, growing food, building structures, working with tools and living in an intentional community.
<p>“For the next six years, our goal is to annually train 50 people that will train 50 more people. Continuing this exponential growth pattern means the potential for 312 million more people living more compatibly and lightly upon the Earth. We’ve already established collaborations with six other cities around the U.S. that can potentially duplicate our efforts,” says Bunn.</p>
<h3>Providing Healthcare Options</h3>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-right">
<img alt="Martie Whittiken" src="//cdn2.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575365/Martie-Whittekin.png"><div class="small">Martie Whittiken</div>
</div>Martie Whittiken, of Plano, Texas, a board-certified clinical nutritionist and host of the <em>Healthy by Nature</em> nationally syndicated radio show, uses her talents to advocate for health freedom in America. Educating listeners for 19 years, she served as president of the National Nutritional Foods Association during crucial phases of the 1992 to 1994 fight to successfully pass the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to preserve consumer choices.
<p>The author of <em>The Probiotic Cure</em> also helped found the Texas Health Freedom Coalition to protect citizens’ rights to choose alternative medical treatment in her state. Whittiken says, “My work is a labor of love. I have no interest in becoming famous or well known unless it contributes to getting the job done.”</p>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-left">
<img alt="Gigi Pomerantz" src="//cdn1.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575366/Gigi-Pomerantz.png"><div class="small">Gigi Pomerantz</div>
</div>On a 2006 medical mission to Haiti, Gigi Pomerantz, a licensed nurse practitioner at the Aurora Sinai Medical Center, in Milwaukee, discovered the impact of a lack of clean water and sanitation as her four-person team treated 1,400 patients for worms, stomach problems, diarrhea and poor appetite. Two years later, she founded Youthaiti, where she serves as executive director.
<p>The nonprofit helps rural Haitians build composting toilets and develop organic gardens using recycled waste as fertilizer. It also provides community hygiene education and reforestation. Everything is aimed at breaking Haiti’s widespread cycle of contamination and disease, and safely convert human waste into agricultural fertilizer that’s increasing crop productivity and the availability of healthy food.</p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-right">
<img alt="Jacqui Bishop" src="//cdn0.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575367/Jacquie-Bishop.png"><div class="small">Jacqui Bishop</div>
</div>
<p>Psychotherapist Jacqui Bishop and Integrative Nutritionist Lisa Feiner, co-founders of Sharp Again Naturally, in White Plains, New York, believe that dementia is reversible, and no case should be considered hopeless until all causative factors have been tested and ruled out. Their resolve for eliminating causes of disease rather than managing symptoms is based on University of California, Los Angeles, research studies and sources quoted in a Health Advocates Worldwide documentary.<br>
</p>
<p class="pullquote">We are a community of possibilities, not a community of problems. Community exists for the sake of belonging, and takes its identity from the gifts, generosity and accountability of its citizens. We currently have all the resources required to create an alternative future.<br>
~Peter Block, <em>Community: The Structure of Belonging</em>
</p>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-left">
<img alt="Lisa Feiner" src="//cdn2.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575368/Lisa-Feiner.png"><div class="small">Lisa Feiner</div>
</div>Project Yoga Richmond, established in 2010, makes yoga accessible to everyone in the city’s metro region. Thirty yoga teachers lead pay-what-you-can studio classes that help fund 22 outreach programs for underserved communities. Healing programs are designed for needs related to autism, recovery, seniors, special students and youths in the court system. “We also provide continuing instructor education, visiting teachers, workshops and other special events that deepen yoga practice in our community,” says cofounder Dana Walters, who serves as the board of directors vice president.
<h3>Enriching Lives</h3>
<p>As an Emmy Award-winning trumpeter, composer, educator and co-founder, conductor and artistic director of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic (CJP), Orbert Davis is dedicated to multigenre projects. His collaborative research in 2012 while in Cuba on a people-to-people exchange accompanied by fellow musicians and River North Dance Chicago’s Artistic Director Frank Chaves (now retired) proved to be a multifaceted boon.</p>
<p></p><div class="image-with-caption image-align-right">
<img alt="Orbert Davis" src="//cdn3.locable.com/uploads/resource/file/575369/Orbet-Davis.png"><div class="small">Orbert Davis</div>
</div>It generated the philharmonic’s <em>Havana Blue</em> live performance in 2013 and ignited a weeklong cultural exchange with Cuba’s Universidad Ciudad de las Artes (ISA) during his return trip for the Havana International Jazz Festival in 2014. President Barak Obama’s announcement of the normalization of Cuban/U.S. diplomatic relations opened up the possibility for a continuing CJP/ISA relationship, as well as their 2015 landmark partnered event when 37 ISA students traveled to Chicago to perform <em>Scenes from Life: Cuba</em> at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. Davis promises more such events to come.
<p>All of these individuals represent a small percentage of the game-changers actively moving to create an alternative future. Estés observes, “What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts; adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group that will not give up during the first, second or hundredth gale.”</p>
<p><br>
<em>Linda Sechrist is a senior staff writer for </em>Natural Awakenings<em>. Connect at <a href="http://ItsAllAboutWe.com">ItsAllAboutWe.com</a>.</em></p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the October 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:df408b0f-93c5-4adc-b65d-a3c4afa3324a2019-08-15T21:00:57-07:002019-08-15T21:00:57-07:00Green Crisis: One in Five Plant Species May Face Extinction2016-09-30 07:59:58 -0700Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">A</span> new report from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK, has issued the first comprehensive assessment of plant life, the inaugural <em>State of the World’s Plants</em>, and found that one in five plants may be at risk of extinction due to invasive species, disease and changing landscapes.</p>
<p>Researchers also have determined that just 30,000 plant species have a documented use out of hundreds of thousands of known species. These are only the vascular plants that have specialized tissue for sucking up water through their systems.</p>
<p>Over the years, different people and agencies have identified the same plant at both different times and locations, so they may have accumulated multiple names. The Kew researchers determined that each plant in the <em>International Plant Names</em> Index had, on average, 2.7 different species names. By cutting out the duplicates from more than a million different names, the Kew report was able to pare down the known species to 391,000.</p>
<p>In the Arctic, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a doomsday bank buried in the side of a mountain, contains more than 800,000 samples representing 5,100 different crops and their relatives.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Source: </em>Wired</p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the October 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:1a2f7d47-957a-42f6-b384-65bfc2c0c26d2019-08-15T21:55:13-07:002019-08-15T21:55:13-07:00Cause and Effect: Activists Will ‘Sue’ Monsanto in Mock Trial2016-09-30 07:59:54 -0700Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>onsanto, the U.S.-based, multinational producer of agricultural products infamous for its controversial Roundup herbicide, will be “sued” for crimes against humanity in the independent International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, on World Food Day, October 16.</p>
<p>Plaintiffs include the Organic Consumers Association, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, Navdanya, Regeneration International, and Millions Against Monsanto, along with dozens of global food, farming and environmental justice groups.</p>
<p>The court, developed in 2011, will use the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to assess damages for Monsanto’s acts against humans and the environment. The court will also attempt to reform international criminal law to include crimes against the environment, or ecocide, as a prosecutable criminal offense. It has determined that prosecuting ecocide as a criminal offense is the only way to guarantee the rights of humans to a healthy environment and the right of nature to be protected.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Source: <a href="http://NaturalSociety.com">NaturalSociety.com</a></em></p>
<p class="fineprint"><br>
<em>This article appears in the October 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>urn:uuid:9d760e09-dd77-4e51-be6b-b6ffa5b33ddd2019-08-15T22:09:53-07:002019-08-15T22:09:53-07:00School Haze: EPA Helps Schools Cut Bus Emissions2016-09-30 07:59:53 -0700Anonymous<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is helping finance the replacement or retrofitting of older school buses in public and private school fleets to reduce diesel emissions and improve air quality. Owners can install catalysts and ventilation systems to reduce emissions by up to 25 percent or replace older buses with newer ones that meet the latest highway emission standards. The EPA will pay up to $25,000 each, depending on the size.</p>
<p>“Our kids spend a lot of time on the school bus, and buses spend a lot of time in our neighborhoods and schoolyards. They are a national symbol of safety,” says Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation. “Significantly improving school bus fleets across the country with retrofits, replacements and idle reduction practices is imperative in meeting the agency’s goal of reducing children’s exposure to air toxins.”</p>
<p><br>
<em>This article appears in the October 2016 issue of </em>Natural Awakenings.</p>
<hr /><p><small>Original article published at <a href="www.naturalawakeningsnj.com">Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey</a></small></p>