Jane Goodall Institution

Below is from the Jane Goodall Institution: Ways You Can Help:


Welcome to JGI’s action center! We’re going to expand this section in coming weeks, but in the meantime we offer a few ideas to help you take positive action for people, animals and the environment.

Note: We know making a positive impact – especially when it comes to the environment – can seem like an impossible job. For that reason we’ve included some meaningful actions that are, well, embarrassingly easy. They're marked with this badge

Live Greener

Shut off the water when brushing your teeth.
This is one of Jane Goodall’s most frequent suggestions to her audiences when she’s on the road. Did you know older faucets release 3 to 7 gallons of water per minute? That could add up to more than 5,000 gallons per year flowing down the drain while you brush!

Wash your clothes in cold or warm water, not hot.
If you wash two loads per week this way, the reduction in carbon dioxide is as high as 500 pounds per year, according to the Greenhouse Network.

Cut down on your meat-eating (or better yet become a vegetarian).
Even cutting out one meal of meat per week can have an impact!

Learn more about solar energy!
The earth receives more energy from the sun in just one hour than the world uses in a whole year, according to SolarBuzz. Here is a fun resource: http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar/educational_resources.html#science

Join an online community for sustainable living!
This site links to forums on everything from hybrid cars to “tightwadding” to wind power.
http://www.ecoforums.com/

Make an organic flowerbed!
http://pennsylvania.sierraclub.org/northeastern/organic.pdf

For The More Adventurous

Landscape Sustainably!
Learn how to landscape your home to be “Fossil Fuel Free!”
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/greenacres/smithsonian.pdf
http://www.sustland.umn.edu/

Install a compost toilet!
Composting toilets have been an established technology for more than 30 years!
http://www.epa.gov/owm/mtb/comp.pdf

Shop Ethically

Buy fair-trade coffee and other “fair” food.
Fair-trade coffee protocols guarantee farmers a decent price so they can earn a living wage. According to US certifier Transfair, participating farmers can avoid cost-cutting practices that sacrifice quality. Global Exchange offers a list of retailers including Starbucks, Trader Joe’s and Safeway, plus a list of outlets by state (not all states included).

Make Your Voice Heard

Write that letter!
Don’t expect the government to take the lead. Even in sympathetic administrations, governments rarely take the lead. The most innovative and creative ideas come from we, the people. Finding your member of Congress’s contact information is easy. Just click here.

Help Chimpanzees

Spread the word
The number of humans born each day is greater than the number of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos left in the world. Many people aren’t aware that great apes are endangered – so spreading the word is critically important. Tell people that without our intervention, today’s children could come of age in a world without chimpanzees and other great apes living in the wild. But it’s not too late to make a difference. Click here to support JGI’s work on behalf of the endangered chimpanzee.

Branch Out

Turn the tide
Join a remarkable program endorsed by Jane Goodall, “Turning the Tide.” It features nine personal actions to protect the environment -- complete with calculators that tally and track individual and collective impact right away! This program comes from the Center for a New American Dream.

Use RedJellyfish Long Distance

Our partnership with RedJellyfish Long Distance helps you put the environment first! RedJellyfish provides high quality long distance service at a low price, and RedJellyfish donates 8% of its profits every month to the Jane Goodall Institute.

RedJellyfish offers clear, easy to read, monthly statements that are printed on 100% recycled paper, or you can choose their tree-free electronic billing option. The RedJellyfish calling cards are made from recycled plastic, and the RedJellyfish website is completely powered by solar energy! You'll get great rates, friendly customer service, and crystal clear connections, while knowing you are supporting a company with progressive environmental business strategies! Click here to visit RedJellyfish Long Distance

Support JGI

Join Us! A monthly gift of $15 can start three international Roots & Shoots groups, giving them the tools to create positive change in their communities. A gift of $35 provides three days worth of food, shelter, and care for an orphaned chimp in one of our JGI sanctuaries. Click here for more information.

Eco-Joes and Free Seeds

Eco-Joes has a great article: Free Flower Seeds or Free Vegetable Seeds. I have copied and pasted it here for those that may not have seen his post yet. It's a great idea.


His post:

This made the front page o’ Care2, vote for it if you please

This is what this site is all about; getting some free food, and helping the environment at the same time. Check it.

Buzzy Seeds is giving away some free vegetable seeds or free flower seeds. You pick. All you have to do is take a short survey, fill out your address, and bam, free seeds are coming your way. I chose to get some free vegetable seeds, so I can see how hard it is to grow some of my own food. Plus, I am very hungry, and flowers don’t fill you up the way verduras do.

Cap’n Planet Says: A huge chunk of your eco-footprint comes from the food you buy. Lots of food is shipped from far away, so a lot of resources are used to get the food to you. Growing your own vegetables = very local food = lower pollution.

Thank you, Mr. Planet. On to the free seeds…

First, take the survey.

When you get to choose your products, choose “Veggie Seeds” or “Flower Seeds”.

Notice that the price below it is $0.00.

After that, fill out the other things it asks you to, then checkout.

You’ll get your free seeds in a couple weeks; this concludes our broadcast session.

The Gift of Trees

The Eco-Libris is one of the best ideas I've seen in a long time. Plant a tree for every book you read. They make it a great value too - 5 trees for $5. You will also receive an Eco-Libris sticker to display on your books. It's also a great gift giving idea.

The Arbor Day Foundation has been inspiring people for years to plant trees. The Arbor Day Foundation also operates the Rainforest Rescue Charity. For every $10 contributed by public donations, 2500 square feet area of rainforest is saved in the name of the donator. Its a double win... plant a tree in your area and help save the rainforest. Another gift of love and for the environment.

Save the Redwoods League will plant a Redwood Tree and gift-givers will have a redwood seedling planted in honor of a loved one in a California state park. The price tag for this is $50 but well worth it - what a way to honor someone you love.

Another place to Honor a loved one with a tree is through the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission. Trees will be planted in the Labor San José in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for their reforestation project. Cost is only $15 per tree.

Plant a Tree USA is another great organization. Their program specifically helps and encourages farmers who are dedicated to reforestation. Plant a tree for your family, friends, loved ones, special events, and meaningful memories. Prices start at $54 for the tree package.

Jewish Nation Fund: Plant a Tree Program offers another unique way to honor those you love. $18 for one tree up to $5000 to plant a grove. Various certificates are available.

WWF's Put a Cork in it - Plant a Tree Program is $15 per tree. Your tree will be planted in the Mediterranean. It's another way to honor those that you love.

Trees for the Future starts at $40 to plant 400 trees with a certificate and a bumpersticker. That's a good value and a lot of trees planted.

Friends of Trees says for $25 they will plant a young native tree in honor or memory of a friend or loved one and send a card to the person you designate acknowledging your gift. For $50 they will plant a grove of six native trees.

Love Trees has trees starting at $20 with a certificate in honor of that special loved one. Love Trees is branch off the non-profit ChariTREE Foundation.

Trees 4 Yesha will plant a fruit tree in Yesha for $24. You will be helping the people of Israel. Certificates are available as well.

Memorial Trees will plant a tree in memory or honor of someone or your pet starting at $29.95.



An exert from Memorial Trees reminds us of how important trees are and the gifts they bring to us:

• Trees are essential to life on Earth.
• Trees are the principal generators of pure oxygen.
• Trees clean pollutants from the air.
• Trees purify the ground water.
• Trees are a source of medicine to treat many ailments.
• Trees calm the anxious and reduce stress.
• Trees stabilize the soil and minimize damage from floods.
• Trees provide shade for the young, the old, the weary, and the infirm.
• Tree shade reduces energy consumption.
• Trees are a refuge for wildlife.
• Trees beautify blighted areas.
• Trees add value to real estate.
• Trees are as important as fresh water to the earth's survival.
• Your purchase of just one tree is significant.

There are several other places to purchase a tree as a gift. Shop around and find that perfect tree for the one you love.

Greenpeace Global Warming Protest

A Greenpeace Video. More about this Here

Parental warning: Contains (very tasteful) nudity.

Six hundred people shed their clothes on a glacier in the Swiss Alps to bodily cry out for help against a planetary emergency: global warming.

The nude volunteers posed for us and renowned naked "installation" artist Spencer Tunick on the Aletsch Glacier.

Without clothes, the human body is vulnerable, exposed, its life or death at the whim of the elements. Global warming is stripping away our glaciers and leaving our entire planet vulnerable to extreme weather, floods, sea-level rise, global decreases in carrying capacity and agricultural production, fresh water shortages, disease and mass human dislocations.

If global warming continues at its current rate, most glaciers in Switzerland will completely disappear by 2080, leaving nothing but valleys and slopes strewn with rock debris.

EarthJustice

EarthJustice has some petitions that are in need of being read and signed!!

Stop Bush's Forest Giveaway

Save the Majestic Bison

Support Clean Water

Amnesty

Amnesty needs our help. Please read and sign the petitions below to help with worthy causes:

Urge President Bush to Publicly Call for Release & Reinstatement of the Pakistani Supreme Court

Call for an Olympic Year of Freedom of Expression in China

Protect the Rights of Trafficked Women in Greece

Stand Up for Rights in Darfur

Stop Military Contractors Who Torture and Kill

End Racial Profiling

Demand Macedonia Ensure the Rights of Romani Women and Girls

Take Action Center

Petitions at the Take Action Center that are in need of being signed....'

Restore a Lost Valley in Yosemite National Park

Emissions Petition: Undo Global Warming

Fossil Fuels YUCK!

I am not in the mood today to write a serious rant today so here is my silly rant for today:

Simple and clear: We need to get off the fossil fuels as much as possible. I am no expert in this area, just a concern citizen that wants a cleaner, better world. I want alternatives to gas. I want affordable green cars and fuels in our world.

Some say: "What's the big deal besides the *bleeping* gas prices?" Well think about it this way, if we have alternative fuels then that would be in direct competition with Big Oil Companies... that would bring down the cost of gas. One thing that has been lacking is some kind of direct competition with gas/oil companies. Once alternatives 'catch on' and big oil is finally on it's knees then we can have a better world.

You don't have to believe in Global Warming or CO2 problems to want a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels. I think the famous Los Angeles Smog is a pretty good example of how the fossil fuels 'clogs' the air we breath. YUCK!

I'm sick and tired of signing petitions to rid us of the dirty oil and hearing all the complaints about the high cost of fuel. Wake up World and get off the gas!!

Real information can be found at the following websites:

Global Exchange

Rainforest Action Network

The Ruckus Society

Global Oil Crisis

Exxpose Exxon

Sierra Club

Petitions from the Sierra Club. Please read and sign.

Tell Congress to Protect the Polar Bear

It Takes 2: Be a Part of the 2% Solution

Chill The Drills

Fight Logging Road Subsidies

Help Destructive Off-Road Vehicle Abuse

Protect America's Rainforests

Protect America's Wild Legacy

Grey Wolf Protections Prematurely Lifted

Protect Giant Sequoias from Logging

Protect Utah Wilderness

Protect the Grizzly's Habitat

Reinstate the Grizzly

Save Our Salmon

Save Teshekpuk Lake

Stop Attacks on the Endangered Species Act

Wilderness Revival

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Petition

The Sportsman's Pledge

Ask Your Senators to Vote for Clean Cars

Tell Your Representatives to Protect the States' Rights to Clean Cars

Fight Global Warming - Oppose Liquid Coal

Tell Congress to Support a Legislation to Stop Global Warming

Support Legislation to Stop Global Warming

Say NO to Outdated Dirty Energy

Urge Your Senators to Extend Clean Energy Tax Incentives

We Want Clean Cars

Help Families Around the World

Stand Up for the Global Poverty Act

Support Global Justice for All

Protect Appalachia's Mountains and Streams from Destruction

Protect Children from Dangerous Toys

Protect Clean Water

Panasonic is Giving Back

Panasonic is giving back

For those unaware, Panasonic is donating 5% of every purchase made on PanasonicDirect.com to the Nature Conservancy, Nation Recycling Coalition and World Resources Institution. Now we can all feel better about buying from Panasonic.

Please also visit their Panasonic Ideas for Life environmental area for money saving tips, the environment, recycling and more.

Garbage Rant

Some people need to invest in these! Garbage
Cans and Recycling Bins.




Pollution is everywhere. We have very few places on Earth left that isn't polluted. Just looking around in my own area I find the water ways, streets, parks, beaches and even homes polluted with peoples trash. Why can't people find a trash can to throw things away? I hate a litter bug. These people don't care about cleanliness - and I'd hate to see their homes! I'm sick, sick, SICK of it. Lazy people - find a trash can to throw away that burger wrapper!

One of the most disgusting things I have ever seen was on highway 65. I was driving South from Little Rock and to my surprise some dumb a$$ decided to throw a 'crap load' of dirty baby diapers all over the highway. Unbelievable! What did they do save the last months worth of soiled diapers from their child and then dumb them on the highway? That was a time I wish I had a camera - at least one on my cell phone to show everyone just how many diapers was on the highway.

I can't even go to the river or a lake with out finding some type of trash on the ground. I am also sick of fisherman that leave unwanted catches and guts from their cleaned fish on the ground for others to smell. I'm sick of seeing bottled water and coke cans littering up the areas. FIND A TRASH CAN!

I hate to see a neighbors yard where they publicly display their trash in their yards. Your not going to fix that old bike, old washer, or that old fan then find a recycling center to take it away! Junky yards are horrible - what's worse are those a$$holes that will drive by and dumb trash in beautiful lawns. This makes me so angry.

I have a bad habit of smoking cigarettes - yes I know I need to quit - but don't add me with the long list of those that throw their butts on the ground. I hate to find smokers that can clearly see the public ashtray and will not use it. I hate those that dump their ashtray from the from their cars into a public parking lot or elsewhere. I hate smokers that throw their butts out the window instead of using an ashtray in their vehicles. STOP IT!

Volunteer groups will go out to clean up trashy places and they shouldn't have to. I'm sure these people would rather volunteer their time doing other things that are important. When trashy people throw out their trash they are not only hurting the environment but wasting the times of volunteer groups.... and let's not for get the states that have to pay people to pick up trash in the public area like highways and parks: that's wasting taxpayer dollars!!

I have not one bit of love for the trashy types.... I know some personally. The more I try to explain it to them, the more they trash up the environment as a way of 'getting even' with me. What idiots. That's okay, one day they will be caught by the police or park ranger and will have to pay a hefty fine!! LOL. And lets not forget they are also making themselves look bad for being trashy, a litter bug and for being an idiot!

IFAW

Petitions from IFAW: Please read before signing.

Act Now To Protect the Polar Bears

Ask Congress to Stop Ships from Killing Endangered Right Whales

Help Stop Whaling: Japan in Antarctica

Say NO to Caribbean Whaling

Keep the Big Cats Wild

Help the Elephants in South Africa's Kruger National Park

Stop the Whaling in Japan

Stop Whaling in Norway

NRDC

Please Read and Sign these Petitions at NRDC

Tell the Bush Administration to Drop Plans for New Nuclear Weapons

Urge Your Senators to Ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty

Speak Out to Create a Protected Ocean Legacy for California

Urge Your Senators to Strengthen a Landmark Global Warming Bill

Tell Congress to say "NO" to the Liquid Coal Industry

Urge Your Senators to Make Sure the New Farm Bill Protects the Environment

Urge Congress to Clean Up Our Beaches

Urge Your Representative to Co-sponsor an Important Ocean Protection Bill

Urge the Navy to Stop Harming Whales with High-Intensity Sonar

National Wildlife Federation

Petitions from the Nation Wildlife Federation: Please Read and Sign!

Stop Congress from Plowing Over Wildlife in the Final Farm Bill

Protect Public Lands from an Outdated Mining Law

Put Polar Bears Before Big Oil

Protect Florida Everglades from Development

Ask Your Senators to Support the Climate Security Act



Please sign the Good Neighbor Pledge at the Nation Wildlife Federation: Here

Environmental Action

Environmental Action has some petitions that is urgent need of being signed.

Ask ConocoPhillips not to drill in polar bear habitat

America's Energy Nightmare

End Mercury Pollution

Fight Mountain Top Removal Mining

It's Time to Double the Standard

Fight Offshore Oil Drilling

Meredith Medland - Living Green

Meredith interviews people about living green on the beach in Santa Barbara, CA.

http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/224-living-green

http://www.3outcomes.com/

Permaculture & Peak Oil: Beyond 'Sustainability'

David Holmgren is co-originator (with Bill Mollison) of the permaculture concept and author of the recent book, PERMACULTURE: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. He talks about the need to move beyond the lulling hope that 'green tech' breakthroughs will allow world-wide 'sustainable consumption' to the recognition that dwindling oil supplies inevitably mean a mandatory 'energy descent' for human civilization across the planet. He argues that permaculture principles provide the best guide to a peaceful societal 'powering down."

Permaculture designer David Arnold

Australian Permaculture designer David Arnold shares his vision for his permaculture subdivision - Murrnong:




Thanks to Groovy Green for this.

Eco-Friendliness

20 Simple ideas to help save the environment and save you money in the long run:

1. Turn off the lights when not using them. Add night lights in important areas of your home for vision like the bathroom, kitchen and hallways if you need them. It's also adds a bit of a romantic atmosphere when the lights are off, my spice up your love life while saving money and the environment.

2. Don't wash clothes unless you have a full load. Use cold water for washing your clothes that will save you money on your gas or electric bill and help the environment.

3. Always turn on the dishwasher when you have a full load - don't wash a small load in the dishwasher. If you handwash your dishes, a larger load is better to wash at once to save on the water bill. Some recommend using cold water to wash dishes - but I disagree. Hot water is much better at killing germ and ridding the dishes of grease.

4. Wash dishes and clothes in the cool hours of the morning or evening. It will keep your house from heating up during the hot part of the day and saving you money on your cooling bills. This reduces the load on your air conditioner in the summer, and actually helps heat the house in the winter.

5. If you drink water please don't use bottled water. You are better off investing in a good travel mug to refill your cup. Bottled water is no healthier than tap water according the latest studies from many environmental groups. If you are thirst, stop by that convince store and purchase ice and fill your travel mug. [Some places do not charge for the ice and/or water]. Please read the 5 Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water at Lighter Footsteps for more information.

6. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth. It wastes up to 2 gallons of water when standing their with the tap running and simply unnecessary to have the water running.

7. Turn off any appliances that are not in use. I know too many people that will not turn off a TV and go outside to do 'other things' - this simply wastes electricity and money while hurting the environment.

8. Make sure the doors and windows are closed when running the air conditioner or heater. Bump your thermostat up 2 or 3 degrees in the summer and down 2 or 3 degrees in the winter - you'll be surprised that it will not make a lot of difference to the room temperature but will save you money on your bill.

9. Turn your thermostat down a bit on your hot water heater. You don't need it scalding hot while needing to turn on the cold water to regulate it. Simply turn down the thermostat.

10. Curb your spending habits! The more you buy the more waste is produced. Try to live as humbly and simply as possible.

11. Energy efficient light bulbs. Use them.

12. Take shorter showers or use less water in your bath. Install an energy efficient [water saving] shower heads.

13. Eat left overs instead of throwing them away. If you do not like leftovers then do not cook as much at one time.

14. Reuse and Recycle please. That jar of jelly can be reused to store other things and your old butter bowl makes a great container for those leftovers. It doesn't take that long to separate your garbage and recyclables.

15. Find any drafts in your home and fix them. Break out that caulk gun and weather stripping! It may seem like an out of pocket expense to 'plug up the holes' but you are already spending extra money every month in heating/cooling bills.

16. In the summer, keep drapes and curtains closed on the sunny side of the house. In the winter, open those drapes and curtains on sunny days to take advantage of the sun's heating power. Close all drapes, blinds or shades at night in winter to make use of their insulating properties

17. Electric cooktops are energy drains - gas is cheaper if you are able to switch over. Use the appropriate burner for your pan size. Also, flat bottom pots make better contact and conduct heat from the elements more efficiently than pots with warped or rounded bottoms.

18. Use an exhaust fan to pull excess heat and humidity out of the kitchen and bathroom in the summer. Be aware, however, that exhaust fans can rapidly pull the heat from your house in the winter.

19. Use ceiling fans. They can save energy in both the summer and winter. In the summer, fan blades should revolve in a counterclockwise direction. Since moving air feels cooler, using ceiling fans in the summer allows you to raise the thermostat temperature, reducing the workload of your air conditioner. Air conditioners use considerably more energy than ceiling fans. In winter months, set your ceiling fan at its slowest speed and reverse it in order to gently push warm air down from the ceiling without generating a breeze.

20. Take advantage of the 'free' air conditioning during the spring and early autumn. Turn off the air conditioner or heater and open the windows. It's healthy to air out the house and will save money, energy and the environment.

Helping the World

One of the best ideas to shop for your home, yourself, a loved one or for a friend is to give the gift that keeps on giving. By shopping at any one of the below links you will help with many different charity causes from animals and the rainforest to feeding the hungry or for breast cancer research. It's a win/win situation. I am on a mission to spread the word. :)

Endangered Species Chocolates

Rainforest Site

Animal Rescue

Literacy Site

Child Heath

Breast Cancer

Hunger Site

Gaiam

Green Mountain Coffee

Care2 Shopping

Charity Mall

Red JellyFish

Shop for Charity

Etsy

Pink Ribbon Store

Museum Shop

IGive


Please feel free to add to this list.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Petitions from the Union of Concerned Scientists.



Urge Administration to Ban All Nuclear Weapons

Stop Aquatic Invasives Now

Give the EPA the "Communication and Transparency" They Are Asking For

Help Improve the Promising Climate Bill

States Must Be Allowed to Reduce Global Warming from Vehicle Emissions

Time for BioEnergy to Get Smart

Farm Share Goes Large Scale with Food Recylcing

Below was taken from the Farm Share website:

Did you know that half of every crop harvested is thrown away?

If a farmer grows 100,000 pounds of tomatoes, usually about half of them (50,000 lbs) must be thrown away. This is because if a tomato is slightly misshapen, discolored, too small (or too big), or blemished in any way, it will not meet the consumer demand for a "perfect" tomato and will therefore be rejected. This is true for many fruit and vegetable crops. To prevent trucks of produce from being rejected, crops are "culled" (hand sorted) after they are picked. About half goes into the truck on its way to the store. The other half goes into the truck going to the dump, or destined to be plowed under and sprayed with insecticide. The food being thrown away is not rotten or bad in any way.

This problem is no one's "fault", and is certainly not the farmer's doing. No farmer enjoys throwing away half the fruits of his or her labor. However, day in and day out we end up feeding our landfills instead of our hungry. Thankfully, there is a solution to this dilemma. Instead of dumping, farmers can now donate this food to Farm Share!

Utilizing inmate labor and volunteers, Farm Share re-sorts and packages this abundance of surplus food and distributes it to individuals, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, churches, and other organizations feeding the hungry in Florida at no charge. This important distinction makes Farm Share critical to smaller agencies located in poorer rural areas that cannot afford to pay for food. By tapping into this near limitless supply of donated produce, Farm Share keeps its costs low, while providing fresh nutritious fruits and vegetables to the hunger distressed.

Farm Share provides food to hundreds of non-profit organizations that serve more than 7,000,000 meals monthly reaching more than 2,500,000 families each year. More than 15,000,000 pounds of fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables are shipped each year to participating agencies throughout the Eastern seaboard. Farm Share also directly distributes food to more than 4,000 registered local households -- composed of migrant workers, single mothers, elderly, disabled and other low income recipients -- directly from our packing house. Very few organizations distribute to so many individuals and organizations.

When You Support Farm Share...

* You Support Our Environment -- Surplus produce that doesn't go to Farm Share goes into our landfills or is plowed under and sprayed with pesticides as required by law.

* You DON'T Support Waste -- By using surplus produce to feed those in need in Florida, Farm Share keeps that food from going to waste. You are also providing food to those in need at the most affordable cost possible.

* You Support Efficiency -- Farm Share operates at an amazing 1.3% administration cost. No State money goes to upper level administration in ANY shape or form. Farm Share utilizes inmate labor and volunteers to get the job done.

* You Support Health and Nutrition -- By adding fresh produce to the USDA commodities that Farm Share distributes, our recipients get the added health benefits that canned and frozen foods just can't provide.

* You Support Grass Roots -- Most of the soup kitchens, homeless shelters, food banks, churches, and agencies that Farm Share gives food to are truly "grass roots" organizations run by volunteers. They have little to no money to spend on food. They cannot afford to pay the "shared maintenance fees" (calculated by the pound) charged by many agencies to help defray the costs of administration and transportation. Groups that charge by the pound for the food they distribute are not as reliant on State funds and private donors as Farm Share as much of their costs are passed on to their recipient agencies.

* You Support Your Local Charities -- Farm Share distributes to over 650 agencies throughout all 67 counties in Florida. Farm Share never charges these agencies for food in ANY way.

* You Support Our Farmers -- Farmers who donate their surplus produce to Farm Share can receive a tax deduction from the IRS. They also don't have to pay the dumping fees to send it to the landfill or the cost of plowing it under and spraying it with pesticides.

* You Support Our Elderly -- Over 70% of the USDA commodities distributed in Florida go to our elderly population. Farm Share distributed 2.6 million pounds of USDA commodities in Florida last year alone.

Did you know that most food donated in large food drives is not given away for free to organizations distributing your donation to the hungry?

The difference between Farm Share and other groups is …

* Farm Share distributes food at no charge and without fees of any kind, to end recipients or to agencies such as soup kitchens, homeless shelters, food banks, churches, etc. Many large groups collect food donations from the public and charge a per-pound "shared maintenance fee" to your local church, soup kitchen, etc. for this food. These fees add up to hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) of dollars per year. If the agency cannot afford the shared maintenance fees, they do not get the food. Smaller grass roots agencies that cannot afford the shared maintenance fees get left out in the cold. Farm Share gives food to our recipient agencies without fees of any kind.

* Farm Share operates the only charitable produce packinghouse in the Eastern United States. This means that while most groups focus on canned and processed food donations, our mission remains focused on re-packing fresh nutritious fruits and vegetables that would otherwise be thrown away. It costs more to handle this kind of food, but fresh produce is simply more nutritious than canned, and there is a nearly unlimited supply of it being thrown out every year. Farm Share receives food in bulk and has the resources to sort, pack, store and ship tractor trailer loads of fresh food.

* Farm Share has a public/private partnership with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (which provides a warehouse facility, support staff, equipment, services, and State oversight) and with the Florida Department of Corrections (which provides up to 29 inmates and 2 corrections officers daily for sorting, packing and distributing donated food).

* Farm Share's administrative costs are kept surprisingly low because of our basic mission philosophy of recovering food that would otherwise go to waste. Through partnerships with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Department of Corrections, Farm Share saves money on warehousing and labor. Farm Share is located at several of the State Farmers Markets in Florida. The headquarters, a 53,000 square foot packinghouse, is located at the Florida City State Farmers Market (in the heart of Miami-Dade County's agricultural area). This provides easy access to produce farmers, packers, brokers and wholesalers who freely donate fresh fruits and vegetables, saving money on transportation costs. By utilizing the supply of bulk produce donations (42,000 lbs at a time) from Florida farmers, Farm Share does not need to spend money on soliciting and collecting individual donations from hundreds or thousands of donation sites.

* Farm Share has the capacity to store more than 12 tractor-trailer loads of refrigerated foods and 7 tractor-trailer loads of frozen foods as well as dozens of tractor trailer loads of dry foods.

Visit www.farmshare.org for more details.

Save Our Enviornment

Important petitions to sign at Save Our Environment. As always, please read the petition before signing it. If you are unsure about an issue please research it before signing.

Urge your Governor to stand up for states' rights to fight global warming

Make Clean Wind Power Happen

No Dirty Coal-Fired Power Plant in Meigs County

Save Our Wild Salmon

Say NO to Liquid Coal

Stop Over Fishing

Keep Our Water Clean

States Must Be Allowed to Reduce Global Warming Pollution from Vehicles

Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth have several petitions that are urgently needing more signatures. Please look these over careful before signing. Thank you.

Stop Firestone's abuse of Liberia and her people

Get Toxic Chemicals out of Cosmetics

Global Warming - Put a Cap on it

Make Amtrak part of our energy-efficient transportation future

Keep the Amazon rainforest off the chopping block

Demand that Ford make Fuel Efficiency its Number One Priority


Another Petition that is linked to several places including FOE [Friends of the Earth]:

Tell ExxonMobile's New CEO to Change Course