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(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) December 9, 2009 - The "Plant a Tree with Florence I.T. Every Hour" campaign for the month of December, 2009 is simple: Florence I.T. clients this month simply continue what they are doing already, using Florence I.T. for their I.T. support. For EVERY HOUR spent on services Florence I.T. will plant ONE TREE in the client's name. There is no limit, so prepayment of time may appeal to some clients if they wish to make a larger impact. "This is, quite simply, one more easy thing we can do." said President of Florence I.T., Matt Lampiasi. He went on to say  "The program is being offered because we believe urgent action is needed to reverse the effects of climate change. Instead of it just being about our company, we are doing what it can for the environment, we want to continue to tie the rewards to customer action." 

About Florence I.T.

Florence I.T. began offering I.T. consulting, Value Added Reselling and I.T. support with a strong social and environmental focus from the start in early 2005.  We donate a large portion of our yearly pretax income to local nonprofit and community programs, usually around 15%.  As a home based virtual business, we employ (and deploy, for clients), remote access technologies which have clear environmental benefit. Our home office employs the aid of a grid-connected solar electric system  that covers most of our yearly power requirements. Client locations are intentionally focused to the immediate geographical area to minimize travel.  We use LED and CFL lights, hardly any paper, responsibly recycle, and use and offer low power computing solutions whenever possible. In addition, we use a small "off-grid" solar setup that runs the Florence I.T. web server, completely on solar power, independent of the electric grid. For more information on our services, environmental or social initiatives, please visit our solar powered website at florenceit.net.

 About Mokugift

A social venture focused on customer experience and tangible, positive benefit to the environment and society, Mokugift makes it easy and rewarding to plant trees, for $1 apiece, through online “gifting.” Giving a mokugift tree is similar to sending an e-card, and recipients can proudly display their trees online at Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo!, and 50 other popular Web sites.

An official partner of the United Nations Environment Programme's Billion Tree Campaign, mokugift collaborates with award-winning nonprofit agroforestry organizations such as Trees For The Future and Sustainable Harvest International to plant trees in twelve countries: Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burundi, Senegal, Zambia, India, the Philippines and Haiti.  Using environmentally sustainable methods, farmers in these countries plant mokugift trees to restock existing forests and enable more diverse, productive and economically sustainable land-use systems.

For more information on mokugift, please visit http://www.mokugift.com

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) December 8, 2009 - In a new joint effort, Mokugift and Justin.tv are joining forces to promote a campaign to help stop global climate change via tree planting.  The goal is to gather the momentum of the broadcasters and members of Justin.tv to plant at least 1 million trees by Earth Day 2010. Broadcasters on Justin.tv will be able to add a special mokugift widget to their channel page that will enable viewers to plant a tree for $1 each.  The widget will show the total number of trees planted via each broadcaster’s widget.  Viewers will also be able to share their tree planting activity via Facebook and other social networks to inspire friends to join the fight against climate change.  Participants will be able to follow their progress through the campaign page showing the up to date total across all Justin.tv broadcasters and also a leader board for the top broadcasters.

The Justin.tv tree planting campaign is launching on December 8th, during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.  World leaders are convening in Copenhagen to negotiate and agree upon how world governments will cooperate and make the critical changes we need to make now in fighting climate change before we pass the point of no return. Deforestation is responsible for about 15% of global carbon emissions.  Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) has been talked about for years but the summit at Copenhagen is the first opportunity to see it implemented on a global scale. REDD would allow countries to trade on the carbon value of their forests. If successful, it could be a relatively inexpensive way to quickly reduce deforestation, cut emissions and preserve the habitats of some of the most endangered species on the planet.

OneClimate, a Justin.tv broadcaster, will be covering the Copenhagen climate conference at http://www.justin.tv/petersanderstead, starting Monday the 7th at 6pm Central Europe time, 9am Pacific time. During this continual coverage, there will be shows at 3am, 5am, 7am, 9am, and 11am Pacific time. Tune in for the latest including interviews, details on the science, live video feeds of the conference and demonstrations. Viewers will have the opportunity to comment and ask questions, so stop in and be a part.

Mokugift and Justin.tv have provided the tools, now we need everyone to participate. Come join Justin.tv tree planting campaign in our goal to plant 1 million trees by next Earth Day.  Get your widget today at http://www.justin.tv/mokugift  Then, view the live coverage by OneClimate at http://www.justin.tv/petersanderstead, your very own front seat to the climate conference.  

About Justin.tv

Founded in October 2006, Justin.tv is the largest online community for people to broadcast, watch and interact around live video. With more than 41 million unique visitors per month and over 500,000 channels broadcasting live video, Justin.tv is the leading live video site on the Web, enabling users to create real-time connections with others around the world. Headquartered in San Francisco, Justin.tv is funded by Y Combinator, Alsop Louie Partners and Draper Associates.

About Mokugift

A social venture focused on customer experience and tangible, positive benefit to the environment and society, Mokugift makes it easy and rewarding to plant trees, for $1 apiece, through online “gifting.” Giving a mokugift tree is similar to sending an e-card, and recipients can proudly display their trees online at Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo!, and 50 other popular Web sites. 

An official partner of the United Nations Environment Programme's Billion Tree Campaign, mokugift collaborates with award-winning nonprofit agroforestry organizations such as Trees For The Future and Sustainable Harvest International to plant trees in twelve countries: Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burundi, Senegal, Zambia, India, the Philippines and Haiti.  Using environmentally sustainable methods, farmers in these countries plant mokugift trees to restock existing forests and enable more diverse, productive and economically sustainable land-use systems.

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(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) Boston, MA - December 7, 2009―Two award-winning socially responsible enterprises, Dancing Deer, the women-led natural baking company and Equal Exchange, the worker-owned Fair Trade pioneer have joined forces to solve your gifting andholiday party needs--all while supporting some great causes.  The "Taste of New England Gift Baskets" feature the award-winning Molasses Clove Cookies and other tasty treats from Dancing Deer complemented by some of Equal Exchange's most popular organic, Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolates. The gift baskets also include two other local, independent enterprises; locally produced honey from Reseska Apiaries ofHolliston and trail mix from Fastachi ofWatertown.

The CEO’s of Dancing Deer and Equal Exchange, Trish Karter and Rob Everts, have been professional friends for years and often noodled the challenge of how to work together and help each other build their businesses which have so many parallel values.  Both companies have won manyawards for their socially responsible business practices and have been lauded for having two of the most democratically organized workplaces. Both are members of Boston's Sustainable Business Network, and Trish and Rob have shared in a CEO roundtable with other local mission-driven entrepreneurs. So when Dancing Deer decided to bring out a gift basket line, the opportunity to collaborate was obvious.

It’s been a tough year in the food business and particularly in the world of gifts as consumers and corporations have ratcheted back on spending. However Dancing Deer and Equal Exchange appeal on two levels―great product and a commitment to environmental sustainability and social justice.  This might be considered good marketing and strategy, which it is, but this double bottom line approach is driven by the convictions of the founders and employees of these organizations.   Equal Exchange supports small-scale organic farmers around the world through its Fair Trade program.  Dancing Deer dedicates one of its product lines (the Sweet Home Project) to funding scholarships for homeless mothers by donating 35% of the retail price on those gifts in addition to its broader double bottom line mission.

Rob Everts said about the collaboration: “Given all the values our companies share in common plus Dancing Deer’s hard-won reputation for both delicious food and serving the community, we’re really pleased to finally work together and have our products alongside theirs.”
 
Trish Karter returned the compliment by adding: “Equal Exchange has done some really important work in the Fair Trade movement, their products are terrific and I love their broader mission and values”. 

About Dancing Deer
Dancing Deer is a company of people who are passionate about food, nature, aesthetics and community. Known for yummy, all-natural cakes, cookies, brownies and baking mixes, the company has won many national awards and accolades for its distinctive products and innovative business practices. All employees are stakeholders in this women-led enterprise. Sold in gourmet, natural food and conventional grocerystores nationwide, the company also ships directly to consumers (www.dancingdeer.com 1-888-699-DEER) and offers creative marketing programs to corporate customers. When people are happy it shows in the food!
 
About Equal Exchange
A pioneer and U.S. market leader in Fair Trade since 1986, Equal Exchange is a full service provider of high quality, organic coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa, healthy snacks and bananas. Major customers include Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, Hannaford, Ten Thousand Villages, schools and places of worship nationwide. 100% of Equal Exchange products are fairly traded, benefiting more than 40 small farmer co-operatives in 22 countries around the world.  In keeping with its Fair Trade mission and belief in economic democracy Equal Exchange is a worker co-operative, owned and governed by its approximately 110 employees. http://Shop.EqualExchange.com. 

Judging from the number of holiday gift guides it’s in this season, a colorful, dynamic deck of cards that encourages year-round intentional acts of kindness from Boom Boom! Revolution (http://boomboomcards.com) is proving to be one of the hottest present ideas for 2009. 

Retailing for just $9.99, Boom Boom! Cards provide an online and offline “pay it forward” social experience in the spirit of generosity and compassion. Each deck contains 26 beautifully designed cards which suggest actions such as thanking a mentor, stopping gossip, picking up litter, offering genuine compliments, acknowledging exceptional effort or holding the door open for someone. Take a look at what one person learned about the value of forgiveness http://boomboomcards.com/card/83/2388 . The deck is registered online with a unique tracking number and the actions are then paid, or “played” forward. The online social networking component creates a global community where members can connect through sharing experiences, offering comments, collaborating around challenges, a global tracking map, as well as video and photo posts.  It’s “pay it forward” for the 21st century! Plus, a portion of the purchase price of the cards is donated to a designated charity chosen by the customer…with Boom Boom! Cards you get to be nice, twice! 

“Like a boomerang, we believe that whatever thoughts, actions and words you put out into the world will eventually find their way back to you, but not before covering a lot of ground along the way,” explains founder Mary Beth Campbell, about the evolution of the company. “The quickest and simplest way to communicate that karmic notion is by saying, ‘Boom Boom!’  You get back what you give.” 

A huge hit with celebrities at the Emmys and the Teen Choice Awards earlier this year, the “Kindness Kits” are available in both teen and original (geared for adults) editions. The teen pack is great for schools and community groups, empowering students to become “Agents of Altruism.” Parents can engage with kids while doing the cards and make it a meaningful family learning experience.

About Boom Boom! Revolution: 

Co-founded by Santa Cruz, CA social entrepreneurs Mary Beth Campbell and Hélène Scott just a few months ago, the company creates fun, engaging products that build community, improve humanity and champion the belief that doing good is not only cool, it’s the thing to do. To see the ongoing adventures of more than 2250 everyday "Agents of Altruism," check them out on their website, on Facebook http://facebook.com/boomboomcards,  or on Twitter: @boomboomcards.

"The campaign takes the form of--you guessed it--a Facebook Platform application, in which members can choose their favorite of more than 500,000 nonprofits. Naturally, then, they're encouraged to use the hallowed "social graph" to encourage their friends to do so as well."

That’s right. Are you pissed off, over it, fed up, incensed? Well, we want to know about it. PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, the first cosmetics company to give donations to urgent human rights issues LOVES RIGHTEOUS ANGER…yes, we do. Righteous anger is what has transformed all sorts of despicable things throughout human history.

So, we want to know what you are pissed off about, what you are doing about it, and what ideas you have on how to transform it. Send us a short-ish video using speech, song, poetry, drum-beating, plate smashing and/or any other creative methods your emotions can conjure and tell us what you are mad as hell about that will inspire others to get angry and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT with you. Of course it would help if you included our company’s name, PEACEKEEPER, in the video. After all, we aren’t going to wait for the next generation to call B***-S*** by its real name. OUR time has come right now!
 
The winner of the best “PeaceKeepers Rant” video will win $1,000 and “We’re Over It” bragging rights! Two other winners will receive a gift basket of PeaceKeeper products valued at $300. So Speak up. Use Your Voice. HEAL THE WORLD. E-mail us your video today.
 
DEADLINE is January 31, 2009. Send your video to info@iamapeacekeeper.com.
PeaceKeeper reserves the rights to use any and/or all videos submitted at any time, and by submitting your video you are agreeing to waive any request for fiscal remuneration.
The winner of the video contest will be asked for one interview and photo session. No cursing outright, if you don’t mind! Modified cursing is always encouraged!

Seventh Generation, the nation’s leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally-safe household and personal care products, announced today a new partnership with noted advocate Erin Brockovich and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. Together they’re launching the Million Baby Crawl, a grassroots effort to raise awareness about the nation’s badly outdated chemical laws and encourage parents and others everywhere to ask Congress to pass new stronger regulations that will protect the health of all Americans.

Synthetic chemicals are currently regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a decades-old law that experts say has utterly failed to keep the nation’s environment and its citizens safe from materials that cause cancer and a host of other serious illnesses. Under the outdated TCSA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority to demand the information it needs to evaluate a chemical’s risk, and neither manufacturers nor the agency are required to prove a chemical’s safety before it can be used. In fact, in the 33 years since the TCSA was enacted, the EPA has required testing on only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds now in use. 

 “It’s time for commonsense limits on toxic chemicals in our homes, workplaces, and in the products we use,” said Andy Igrejas of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition. “We must act together to see that new legislation is passed and families are protected from unsafe products. The Million Baby Crawl will take much more than baby steps toward making these things happen.”

Congress is writing a new proposal to reform TSCA, updating last year’s Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. Scheduled for a Fall 2009 introduction, the policy will address these and many other deficiencies by establishing tough new safety standards for each chemical on the market and requiring manufacturers to prove that their chemicals meet these standards before they can be used in the products people buy. The bill would give the EPA new authority to restrict any substances that fail to pass the test.

To rally support for the Kid-Safe Chemical Act and raise awareness of the urgent issues it addresses, Seventh Generation, Erin Brockovich, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families have launched the Million Baby Crawl, an online initiative designed to educate parents, empower them to work on the legislation’s behalf and literally help them create infant avatars. The result will be a virtual march, or crawl, to Washington, DC, where they’ll “rattle” legislators for toxic chemical reform.

“I am an advocate for awareness, the truth, and a person's right to know. I believe that in the absence of the truth, all of us stand helpless to defend our families and our health, which are the greatest gifts we have,” said Erin Brockovich, famed environmental and consumer advocate and mother of three. Perhaps best known for the Oscar winning story of her first fight against energy giant Pacific Gas and Electric company, Ms. Brockovich continues to be focused on the research of environmental issues and remains dedicated to providing information and support services to communities in need. “In many instances, our issues may seem to fall on deaf ears, but I’m living proof that when we speak loudly enough, change will occur. I’m urging everyone to join me in the Million Baby Crawl to help make that difference and make sure all our voices, young and old are heard.”

To learn how you can get involved locally to support stronger standards on toxic chemicals and make a baby of your very own that will crawl to Washington, D.C. to help fight for a healthier nation to grow up in, please visit www.MillionBabyCrawl.com. Follow the Million Baby Crawl on Twitter @mbcrawl.

“We assume our homes are safe havens, but the fact is that the vast majority of the chemical compounds found in the products we use there have never been tested. And in most cases manufacturers don’t even have to tell us on product labels what those toxins are. This is a dangerous recipe for harm that virtually every family is exposed to every day,” said Seventh Generation co-founder and Chief Inspired Protagonist, Jeffrey Hollender. “We’re on a mission to come together and change that once and for all.”