In UNEPs New Our Planet, “A Critical Crosroads” gives insight into how the proposed 17 #SustainableDevelopmentGoals have the potential to transform #OurPlanet. Their success is however pegged on having firm commitments and follow-up action on the finances, technology, knowledge and skills required to implement them. More: http://bit.ly/1ItUJ8S
Across the developing world, small businesses are selling life-saving technologies like cleaner cookstoves that reduce indoor air pollution, and water treatment systems. Many of them need help to achieve their potential. Impact Carbon recognised that these technologies cut greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore could generate carbon finance income. By accessing and using carbon finance, Impact Carbon is able to work closely with small businesses to help them grow and expand their markets, thus making the technologies more affordable and accessible for the people who want to buy them.
Impact Carbon works in East Africa, China and other parts of the world. Uganda is its biggest market, where the five stove businesses it works with have dramatically increased sales and capacity: for example, the country’s biggest stove manufacturer has increased sales from 200 a month in 2007 to more than 10,000 a month in 2013.
OKO South Africa headed by Country Director (CD) Mawande Mkhonto and supported by Tabo Mushaukwa is today welcomed into the OdikaOdi family. We wish them every success as they help to achieve the Africa Landmark Challenge and the 2020 Vision.
South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 53 million people, is the world’s 25th-most populous nation.
South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution’s recognition of 11 official languages, which is among the highest number of any country in the world.Two of these languages are of European origin: Afrikaans developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most white and coloured South Africans, based on history; English reflects the legacy of British colonialism, and is commonly used in public and commercial life, though it is fourth-ranked as a spoken first language.
About 80 percent of South Africans are of black sub-Saharan African ancestry,[5] divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status.The remaining population consists of Africa’s largest communities of European (white), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (coloured) ancestry. Since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have had political representation in the country’s constitutional democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the “Rainbow Nation,” a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later adopted by then-President Nelson Mandela as a metaphor to describe the country’s newly developing multicultural diversity in the wake of segregationist apartheid ideology.
Cherry Jumbo CEO of Cherry Co Co Luxury Skin Care Cosmetic today announced the winner of their their bumper Valentines competition as
Ms Audrey Campbell who received £100 worth of Luxury Skin care Products .
Founded by a Cosmetic Scientist with a passion for natural wellness, herb lore and environmental health. Cherry Coco is committed to reviving and creating products made using natural raw unprocessed ingredients and hand made elixirs that rejuvenate from the outside in.
The skin is the body’s largest organ, our first defense. Its functionality is to protect us and the better we care for it the better it looks, feels and performs. We believe in creating products for maintaning and improving skin health.
As more evidence surfaces of nature’s potent healing abilities there is also greater understanding of the mind -body connection that is possible through botanical scent. Essential knowledge lives on in the apothecary traditions of Europe, native herbal medications and herb lore of ancient African countries.We produce small batches to ensure product freshness, each item is lovingly handmade using only the highest quality oils and wild harvested ingredients.
We are committed to creating unique products that beautify the skin, are pure, kind and effective without the use of harmful chemicals or preservative systems.Cherry Coco hand picks and selects ingredients that are sustainable and kind to our environment refuting ingredients such as silicones which are non biodegradable.
Our botanical and natural soaps are all plant oil based, though made without the inclusion of endangered palm oil. Our soaps are all manufactured using the cold process method and retain their natural moisturising glycerine content.
The award-winning television presenter and producer – of the soon to be aired TV series “Housewives and Girlfriends”, on Africa Magic TV channel -Rhoda Wilson has has today confirmed that her production company Rhoda Wilson Production will coming on board as Bronze sponsors of the OdikaOdi “Africa Landmark Challenge” event which will launch on April 22, Earth Day in Umuahia Nigeria.
Ms Wilson who has rightly been described as “Confident, sultry and attractive.” is originally from Nigeria, has extensive experience in TV presenting and mentioning to individuals who aspire to be the best.
Formally host of her own very popular weekly television show,The Rhoda Wilson Show on BEN TV,which regularly had viewing figures of about 1,300,000 per show Rhoda has said that her success, among other factors can be accredited to the early advice of her father who told her that women would one day change the world. In this the month of “International Women’s Month” you could say it was appropriate advice.
Rhoda’s exceptional work was recognized in 2009 when she won the “Best TV Presenter” at the BEFFTA Awards in London.
First lady Michelle Obama has been steadily in the public eye for seven years. In the United States, she is especially famous for advocating healthy eating habits, championing organic gardening, and speaking on behalf of military and working families. But there is a lot more to discover about the woman President Obama calls “my rock.”
The first lady practices what she preaches when she encourages healthy eating and fitness. According to her friends, she works out “like a gladiator,” waking up as early as 4:30 a.m. to run on a treadmill, lift weights, and do kickboxing and other activities. Watch what happened when talk show host Ellen Degeneres challenged her to a push-up contest.
Michelle Obama excelled at school and went to Princeton University and Harvard Law School before working at Sidley Austin LLP, the sixth-largest U.S.-based corporate law firm. But in 1993, she left her job to help found a national service program called Public Allies Chicago. She said she made the change because “there are few things more rewarding than watching young people recognize they have the power to enrich not only their own lives, but the lives of those around them as well.”
It’s true. In 2008, her friend Valerie Jarrett, who is now a senior adviser to President Obama, acknowledged that it was the first lady’s guilty pleasure. “Whenever we’re on the road and we’ve had a long day … we’re looking for a way to have french fries and, if we’ve been really good, then we get to have a cheeseburger to go along with our french fries!” Jarrett said.
The Washington Post reported in 2013 that Michelle Obama had been to at least 46 food and entertainment venues in Washington, which is not an easy task when you’re a celebrity. For many of these outings, she takes time away from her roles as mother and wife to spend time with her girlfriends. “Women energize me. My husband is terrific. He is my true partner,” she said. “But it’s also important for us as women to find each other. And there’s that natural re-energizing that happens when women get together and we kind of hold each other up. But that takes time to invest in your friendships and to invest in yourself.”
When Michelle met the future president in 1988, he was a summer intern at her law firm and she was his adviser. When he asked her out, she first said no, because she thought it wasn’t appropriate for them to date. When he persisted, she asked her brother, Craig Robinson, to play a game of basketball with him first. Robinson told Slate Magazine that it wasn’t to see if he was a good player or not, “but because she’d grown up hearing my dad and I say you can tell a lot about a guy on the basketball court.” Robinson reported back that he could find “no personality flaws with respect to the basketball evaluation.” Barack and Michelle started dating and got married in 1992.
How much do you think you know about the president? Learn some little-known facts that may surprise even the most knowledgeable Obama expert, including his fondness for a certain superhero.
When you are living life in an “Age of Pollution” Responsible heavy metal Detoxification is the goal of all those involved in the Wild West of Holistic Health and Self -Care Living.
Heavy metals, such as mercury, lead and aluminium, accumulate in the body over time and are suspected of triggering dangerous conditions like heart disease, thyroid problems, dementia, neurological conditions, autism, infertility and birth defects. The good news is that a heavy metal detox can remove these contaminants from your body and minimize their impact on your health.
Chelation, a controversial metal detox procedure in which metals are purged from the body, usually by way of an intravenous administration of certain drugs, has been touted as a miracle cure for many ailments. Its effectiveness as a treatment, however, has come under much scrutiny. It may be harmful, so it’s a good idea to talk with your doctor if you are considering it.
In the meantime, there are some less extreme steps you can take to reduce the amount of these heavy metals in your body.
Fish, especially ones that live for a long time, absorb mercury from the water they live in. Larger fish, such as tuna and swordfish, tend to have higher levels of mercury. Since an important step in mercury detoxification is reducing the amount you take in, it’s a good idea to limit your consumption of certain fish.
Silver-colored fillings are usually made with a mercury amalgam, which may break down over time. If you have a lot of these fillings, you may want to talk with your dentist about a mercury detox — replacing them with tooth-colored resin fillings.
While the mercury-based preservative thimerosal has been removed from most vaccines, there are still some that contain the controversial chemical, such as flu shots. But there are usually thimerosal-free alternatives available; you just have to ask for them.
Pollution in our water and air can be a major source of harmful heavy metals. Steer clear of industrial areas when possible, and drink filtered water.
As recently as the 1970s, paint was made with lead. So, if you live or work in an older structure, there’s a good chance there is lead-based paint somewhere beneath the most recent layer. Be mindful of places where paint might be chipping, and definitely keep small children from putting paint chips in their mouths.
If you are worried about lead exposure, see your doctor for a lead test. He or she can guide you to more specific metal detox treatments, if warranted.
The herb cilantro, also known as coriander, has been found to be a natural chelating agent — and one that doesn’t have to be administered intravenously. “Cilantro chelation” typically calls for a small amount of fresh cilantro, which can be made into a pesto sauce and eaten over pasta or toast, consumed each day for a few weeks. But you may want to discuss it with your doctor first, especially if you take medications or have a health condition.
More than 5 trillion pieces of plastic are afloat in the world’s oceans, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.
Ranging in size from a grain of salt to larger than a plastic water bottle, the plastic pollution in the world’s oceans weighs more than 269,000 tons—far more than all the gold ever mined in the world and far more than scientists previously estimated.
Study author Marcus Eriksen and his team from the 5 Gyres Institute, based in Los Angeles, spent tens of thousands of hours scouring the world’s oceans for plastic between 2007 and 2012. They used trawling nets to scoop particles from the ocean surface and visually counted very large pieces. The study provides a snapshot of the magnitude of marine plastic pollution and its movement around the world’s oceans, said Eriksen.
The estimate is much higher than what previous studies found.
Marine ecologist Andrés Cózar, who teaches at the University of Cádiz in Spain, calculated that as much as 40,000 tons of plastic was dispersed in the surface waters of the open ocean. Cózar and his colleagues found that only 1 percent of the plastics they netted from the oceans were larger than 10 centimeters.
“If you separate out the larger pieces, we’re in the same ballpark,” said Eriksen, whose study included larger-sized plastic.
Eriksen’s team also ventured into regional seas—the Mediterranean, the Bay of Bengal, and the ocean off Australia—that had not been included in other analyses.
“They have data in places where we had very few or no data,” said Kara Lavender Law, a physical oceanographer at the Sea Education Association who studies ocean circulation and the distribution of plastic marine debris.
The current study found that large plastics accounted for more than 75 percent of the ocean haul—an unexpected result. Because most microplastics come from the breakdown of larger plastic items, the team expected the smallest microplastics to be the most abundant. “Smaller plastics are removed from the surface very quickly,” said Eriksen. “The smaller it gets, the faster it leaves the surface.”
“It’s evidence that there is too much plastic in the ocean,” Cózar said in an email. “Only two or three generations have been using plastic materials. This provides evidence that the current model of managing plastic materials is economically and ecologically unsustainable.”
Eriksen’s team fed the plastics information into a computer model of the world’s ocean currents that assumes that plastics enter the oceans from rivers, storm and sewer drains, shipping lanes, and densely populated coastlines. The model found that the largest plastics are abundant around coastlines and then move to the subtropical gyres, where they degrade into micro plastics. These micro plastics then it seems get into the food chain as the are inadvertently consumed by sea life
OdikaOdi NGO 