Music, Art, Clothing Drive? That might sound a little off beat, but why not, is what the folks at Factory Vintage in San Diego decided when they through a summer donation drive at their new retail store in Bay Park.
On Saturday July 12th the Factory Vintage opened their retail showroom featuring a collection of authentic vintage apparel, albums, accessories; as well as one of a kind vintage reconstruction pieces. In their back warehouse/gallery they featured a diverse collection artwork from local San Diego artists Cowboy, Terry Diamond & Jonny Mac. During the entire event they had a local DJ crew spinning classic reggae and ska from a rare and admirable collection. Then at 7pm local legendary Ska band Self Made Men played a lengthy set for an excited crowd of fans and onlookers.
Great Art work, dancing, and shopping was all happening while a summer clothing drive was taking place. Anybody who brought in old clothes to donate to local charities would get 20% discount or gift card for their store.
We found this on Inhabitat.com and thought that it was worth re posting: Always quick to act, Architecture For Humanity is quickly pulling together efforts to offer design services to the survivors left in Cyclone Nargis’ wake this past Saturday. With more than two million people now displaced in Myanmar, even small donations will be a big help in AFH’s effort to rebuild. More than 85% of the donations go directly toward innovative design and construction solutions.
At the time of writing, $13,500 have been raised (and 25% matched) by more than 240 donors who believe in the power of design to rebuild communities. If you would like to contribute to the cause or volunteer follow the link below:
This Christmas Did you get what you wanted? Did you give more than you had too? Did family and friends come to your side showering you with gifts like you were a child lying in a little manger strategizing your mission to save the world? Are you in more debt now that when you started?
Well if you are not, than you probably weaseled your way out of partaking in this great Consumer Holiday called Christmas. Visa and Wal-mart would like you know just How unchristian you are. Or are you? Think about it. You don't have to believe in the Christ to know the only recorded time the Rabbi lost His temper was not when they falsely accused Him to death, but when the temple was turned into a CONSUMER market place. What do you think He would do if he saw His church on Christmas?
A new Movie came out that hits on this topic. What Would Jesus Buy? is the title of a documentary film produced by Morgan Spurlock and directed by Rob VanAlkemade. The title is a play on the phrase "What would Jesus do?" The film debuted on the festival circuit on March 11, 2007, at the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas. It is scheduled for wide release on November 16, 2007.
Although the film is a little lengthy and slow at times the topic can not be ignored. The film focuses on the issues of the commercialization of Christmas, materialism, the over-consumption in American culture, globalization, and the business practices of large corporations, as well as their economic and cultural effects on American society, as seen through the prism of activist/performance artist Bill Talen, who goes by the alias of "Reverend Billy," and his troupe of activists, whose street theater performances take the form of a church choir called "The Church of Stop Shopping," that sings anti-shopping and anti-corporate songs. The film follows Billy and his choir as they take a cross-country trip in the month prior to Christmas 2005, and spread their message against what they perceive as the evils of patronizing the retail outlets of several different large corporate chains.
If this is what it will take to open peoples eyes than GO SEE IT.
Tis the season to be jolly, and if you happen to be in New York, green! This year New York’s finest Christmas landmark is going green in the spirit of the Christmas season. For the first time in its history, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, will be getting a new set of energy efficient LED Christmas lights which will be fully powered by solar panels.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, which attracts over 500,000 visitors during the holiday period, will receive over 30,000 LED lights instead of the standard holiday lights that it normally had. This switch from tungsten Christmas lights to LED Christmas lights will have the result of reducing the energy consumption by almost sixty percent. Not only that, but Tishman Speyer, the organizers of the event, have come up with an environmental management plan to reduce the impact of this operation and restore the land from where this tree came from.
The power for the tree’s Christmas lights is coming from a new solar power station that is being installed on top of the roof of 45 Rockefeller Plaza. The 363 General Electric Solar panels will be fed back into the building to help reduce the peak energy demand from the grid.
Oh, and as for the tree? Once the holiday period is over, it will be transformed into lumber to be used by Habitat for Humanity.
Thanks to inhabitat for all the Bueno Verde information.
I found this story interesting and worth reporting. This story was posted by By: Mari-Ela David on KHNL KAUAI (KHNL)
- After leaving Honolulu Harbor on its first official journey out to sea, the Superferry gets a nasty welcome from protestors on Kauai. Once the vessel arrived in Kauai around 6:00 p.m. Sunday, angry words rippled through the waters at Nawiliwili Harbor, as protestors temporarily blocked the Alakai from docking.
Some protestors swam and surfed towards the vessel, determined to block the giant ship's path. For safety reasons, the Coast Guard stepped in and stopped the Superferry from docking, leaving 500 passengers stuck on the ship for at least an hour.
Participating in the protest were some of Kauai's leaders. "I'm really disappointed and utterly shocked that the owners are not willing to follow the law to stop their operations," says Kauai County Councilmember Joann Yukimura. Critics say the Superferry is breaking the law.
The Supreme Court ruled the Superferry must provide an environmental assessment. The debate between supporters and opponents is whether or not that ruling means the Superferry can still operate while the assessment is being conducted.
Among Superferry supporters is the State Administration. "Governor Lingle, and the Department of Transportation - I'm very disappointed that they're not respecting the decision that just came down by the Hawaii Supreme Court and I would hope that they would honor that so we can move forward and resolve this very difficult and complicated situation," says Senator Gary Hooser.
But Superferry officials say they are well within the legal lines. In a statement, Hawaii Superferry says "We are extremely disappointed for the passengers who were booked on the voyage to Kauai...we are sorry to see that minority dissident groups have chosen to oppose a service that the people of Hawaii have overwhelmingly embraced."
The Superferry finally docked around 7 pm Sunday.
Witnesses say protestors laid down in front of cars as the crew tried to unload the vehicles off Nawiliwili Harbor. At that point, they say the Superferry boarded passengers back on the ship. The vessel is scheduled to arrive at Honolulu Harbor around 11:00 p.m. Sunday.
The Transportation Corridor Agency is seeking to build an extension to the existing 241 Toll Road. The proposed Foothill Transportation Corridor South (FTC-South) is a sixteen-mile long toll road highway that would connect the current terminus of the 241 Toll Road to Interstate 5. The TCA is proposing six alignments for this project; four of which run directly through and along San Mateo Creek. If constructed, not only would this project directly threaten the world class surf break at and around Trestles (including Uppers, Lowers, Middles, Church and Cottons), the project would also result in the obliteration of Southern California?s last remaining pristine coastal watershed and substantially degrade habitat that is critical for the survival of at least seven endangered species, including the Southern Steelhead trout.
Wave Degradation
* This project would require substantial grading of the terrain and millions of yards of hard reinforcement (steel, concrete and other materials), that will alter the natural sediment flow through San Mateo Creek,, which supplies sand to the Trestles surf breaks.
* According to the Transportation Corridor Agency?s own engineering consultants, losses in sedimentation flow would cause ?substantial degradation to surfing resources,? which will likely result in significant degradation to the wave quality at Lower Trestles and nearby breaks (including Uppers, Middles, Cottons and Church).
Water Quality
* A recent scientific report demonstrates that when over 10 percent of a watershed is paved there are significant water quality and ecosystem impacts.
* Similar projects have resulted in generating significant increases of oils, heavy metals and other toxins. Given the proximity of the project to the watershed, this project would result in a decrease of water quality for Trestles and the surrounding breaks.
* The TCA?s assertion that they can mitigate for this run-off is dubious. The initial mitigation systems that were installed on the nearby RT73 Toll Road failed, and had to be replaced at tax-payer expense. All mitigation efforts are ineffective during large rain events.
Environmental Damage from the Toll Road
* The walk in at Trestles is half the experience. The area is home to numerous native plant and animal species, including several endangered species. This area would be profoundly impacted by such a massive project essentially cutting the San Mateo Creek watershed in half.
* The FTC-South will run directly through San Onofre Beach State Park. This 2028 acre park the 5th most visited park in the California State Parks system.
* The San Mateo Creek Watershed is one of the last large coastal open spaces in Southern California The FTC-South will forever change this last vestige of coastal wilderness, including profound compromises to the Donna O?Neill Land Conservancy.
* TCA claims that the FTC-South will provide relief of traffic congestion along Interstate 5 in fact contradict their own FTC-South traffic projections that rely on cannibalizing San Diego County bound traffic from the I-15 and feeding that Inland Empire traffic to the I-5 via the toll roads.
* FTC-South would be built through undeveloped land, which would promote development, and ultimately bring forth new traffic from urbanization.
* FTC-South will increase, not decrease traffic on the 1-5 stretch in south San Clemente where the proposed toll road will merge with 1-5, which is already at over-capacity along this stretch. Northern San Diego County will also be affected by potentially severe increases in traffic congestion.
Expense
* The FTC-South is expected to cost close to $1 billion (nearly $53 million a mile). Currently the plan is to fund the project by non-recourse bonds, as well as development impact fees that are already being added to real estate sales in Southern Orange County.
*Contrary to TCA claims, these projects are NOT SELF FUNDED! According to an October 10, 2005 article in the Orange County Register, the nearby RT73 Toll Road is ?financially struggling? and ?faces not being able to make its debt payments in about nine years.?
SUPPORT THE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION IN ITS FIGHT TO SAVE TRESTLES!
* The dramatic decreases in water quality, degradation to the wave quality at Trestles, destruction of the San Onofre State Beach Park and some of the last open space in Southern California, and harm to endangered and threatened species are costs not worth the questionable benefits of this extremely expensive toll road.
* Surfers, swimmers and other ocean enthusiasts enjoy the waters and waves of Trestles year round. There is no other place like it in California or the world. Please join in our efforts to Save Trestles for our children and future generations.
For the entire month of August Counter Culture Store at Mockingbird Station is having a donation drive called "PROJECT JUXTAPOSITION". Individuals throw away 67.9 pounds of used clothing and rags each year. Collectively, Americans discard two quadrillion pounds (that's a two with fifteen zeroes) of used clothing and textiles into the landfills each year. Fortunately, we can make sure they reach the people who need them rather than find their way into already-bulging landfills.
We are making it as easy as 1,2,3 to make a difference.
1. Drop off your old clothes in our donation bin
2. We give you a 10% discount on new, vintage or refurbished clothes
3. We make sure your old clothes make it to those in need through local charities.
Take the train, ride a bike, skate or drive a friend. We guarantee that once you revolutionize your shopping experience, you will want to teach others how they can.
Counter Culture Store 5331 E. Mockingbird Ln. Suite 110 Dallas, TX 75226
Your unique spirit and individual personality are not mistakes; there is a plan and a purpose for your life. Pay Attention, when you are being lied to. Please do not be fooled, each one of us is responsible for the decisions we make and the actions we do or do not take.
