From Book

Going green used to be straightforward. Organic tomatoes, a cloth tote bag and a Sierra Club membership were all it took.

Lately, though, would-be greenthusiasts find themselves beset. New brands keep crashing the green party. Unexpected joiners like Chevrolet, pioneer of the iconic and enormous Suburban SUV, clamor for green consideration. Eco-conscious commerce even extends to Christmas, with how-to's on green holiday parties and guides to sustainable gift-giving.

In an increasingly crowded marketplace with few firm guidelines, decoding "Earth friendly" has never seemed so difficult.

"This is leading to a growing cynicism among consumers about green claims," said Hank Stewart, vice president of strategic communications at the New York-based ad firm Green Team. "We're seeing a lot of confusion about what's legitimate and what's not."

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission announced an earlier-than-expected revision of its 9-year-old "Green Guides," but the first hearings on those don't start until early next year.

What's an eco-conscientious consumer to do?

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Green products have sprouted on store shelves faster than the ability of most shoppers to separate green fact from green fiction. Seven in 10 American consumers cast a skeptical eye on green claims, reports marketing research giant Ipsos Reid.

The FTC sets some guidelines for claims like recycled content, recyclability, degradability and ozone safety. But the commission last updated its "Green Guides" in 1998, long before the rise of carbon offsets. Responding to the green barrage of claims like "renewable" and "sustainable," the commission decided to revise the guides a year earlier than planned.

"People want to buy better products," said Scot Case, vice president with TerraChoice, an environmental marketing firm. "But the problem is that many manufacturers don't yet have better products to sell, so they're putting meaningless claims on the packaging."

His firm examined more than 1,000 products that made green claims. TerraChoice published its findings in "Six Sins of Greenwashing," enumerating the ways products apply a veneer of "greenwash" over a not-so-green product. The six sins: hidden trade-offs, absence of proof, vagaries, irrelevance, fibbing and the sin of the lesser of two evils.

"It has become too corrupt," said James B. Twitchell, a professor of literature and advertising at the University of Florida. "Green has become puke green."

Twitchell likened "buying" green to trying to buy your way to heaven. Buying a phosphate-free cleaner takes less effort than biking to work. Green marketing isn't selling an environmental revolution, he said. It's selling environmental absolution.

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Getting to the goods behind the green can be tricky. Take Chevrolet's 2-month-old ad campaign "Gas Friendly to Gas Free." The campaign features a child hugging a tree. Can't get greener than that. Or can you?

The campaign brags that Chevy offers seven vehicles that get 30 mpg or better on the highway. True. But the automaker also offers seven vehicles that get 20 mpg or less on the highway. Its hydrogen fuel-cell powered Equinox and the Volt, a plug-in electric hybrid, aren't yet on the market.

Terry Rhadigan, Chevy spokesman, defends the campaign as signaling a new direction for Chevy. "We do not think it is a passing fad," said Rhadigan. "It's a new way of doing business."

Case, of TerraChoice, said a green brand doesn't mean a green product. Buying the Chevrolet Suburban, with its top 19 mpg highway rating, isn't a green choice just because Chevrolet is testing fuel cells on other vehicles.

"If consumers read a product and they can't answer the simple question 'What makes this product green?' then it's probably greenwashed," Case advised. "Don't buy it."

Of course, as Twitchell pointed out, not buying it may be the greenest thing you can do.

Chevy's "Gas Friendly to Gas Free"

A Chevy Green Claim: The hybrid, two-wheel-drive 2008 Chevy Tahoe gets 21 mpg city, and 22 mpg highway, the same city mileage as the four-cylinder Toyota Camry.

The Goods behind the Green:

-The two-wheel-drive hybrid Tahoe outperforms the traditional Tahoe by 7 mpg city and 3 mpg highway.

-The hybrid Tahoe's mileage does equal the four-cylinder Toyota Camry - but only in the city. On the highway, the Camry gets 31 mpg, 9 mpg more than the Tahoe.

-With the Camry hybrid, the gap widens, with Camry getting 33 mpg city and 34 mpg highway.

Source: Chevrolet, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Is this product really green?

-Avoid products that make vague claims, like "Eco-friendly," without providing details.

-Look for products the carry either the EcoLogo or Green Seal approval.

-Don't be afraid to ask questions. Ask a sales representative, or call the phone number listed on the product.

-Watch for products claiming to be free of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which have been banned for nearly 30 years.

Source: TerraChoice

Peer Pressure

I read http://www.madd.org/tuhijo/en_act_friends.htm this website. This introduces children’s peer pressure. Why do children have peer pressure, and if they do what will they do and how can parents help them?
As teens grow, their bodies begin to go through rapid physical, emotional and social changes they will know a lot of things and sometimes they don’t know what that is and if they do that, what will happen? Some people do that and they will follow them to do that, because they will think this very modern or cool in the school. Children always think girls must be beautiful, and if she can find a nice boy other boys will like her. Boys always think I must look cool that will let girls like me so they will do wrong things. For example: they will drink because they don’t know if that is ok? Just know a lot of people drink, so they will try.
There are a number of reasons why teens give into peer pressure. They are still in the process of developing their own values, ideas and views on what is acceptable. They go to school every day they feel tired and have a lot of homework; some parents want their child to be smarter and smarter so on weekend they will study so they just think I work a lot, I feel tired, but study is not good, so this will let them think a lot. Now parents establish strong communication patterns and standards during the early years, teens are less likely to give in to negative peer pressure.
What can parents do to help a child deal with peer pressure? I think parents must talk with the child a lot know what they think and want know them a lot, and tell them what is wrong and how they can do well. This is very important, so parents must be more careful because children don’t know anything a lot of things are new for them so they want to go to try and this will let them make some mistakes. Now a lot of parents have a lot of jobs they work very late and this makes them have not enough time to take care of their children; at the end they will go to wrong way
Maybe parents have a lot of jobs to do, but must remember children are the world’s future so we must help our children and tell them which way will be good for them can make them not go the wrong way.

The Amish

This Website introduced about The Amish lifestyle and about the Amish origins and the Amish Agriculture. And Amish are first from Switzerland, and there are approximately 150,000 Amish in North America. The largest group is in Holmes County, Ohio, with significant populations in Pennsylvania, northern Indiana and Iowa. Others are located in the eastern and mid-western states and Ontario, Canada. At the agriculture the Amish are primarily farmers. Some, however, are carpenters and cabinet makers, blacksmiths, buggy and harness makers, all geared toward supporting the Amish lifestyle. On there farms, they are without electric and telephone lines, and many of their conveniences were used long time ago. They use Wood or coal fueled stoves that provide heat. Cooking stoves are powered by propane, kerosene or wood. Kerosene or clear gas lamps provide light.
These tell us about the Amish’s life and Amish lifestyle. These look very old, but this is a culture about Amish, and their different lifestyle lets us think more and more. They use all that things are very old, but these don’t have environmental pollution, and we must protect this culture.

Tornadoes

I watc Website that introduces tornadoes, why do we have tornadoes , if it happens now what you must do can let you safe. And in the USA, which always has a lot of tornadoes and a lot of things about it, that's very interesting and also helpful.
I think having tornadoes is about weather, some countries have tornadoes. For example China and Japan have no tornadoes or just a few, so they often think there are none or it doesn't matter. In the USA, some of states have them, so if no one died in a tornadoe, that's Ok, because we can't change our earth, but we can make sure no one died.

Sperm Bank

Sperm Bank
I read about the Sperm Bank and the donors whose in this bank. I just find out about how about this bank and how it works. A lot of things tell about some of women’s thinking. They hope to save sperm and the science and technology in it makes sure this is safe for women.
Why we have these banks, this web site tells us, is because of four reasons: First, Sterility of their partner by vasectomy or other surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. Second is Genetic reasons (i.e both partners are cystic fibrosis carriers). Third is a single woman. And the other is same sex couples. Because a lot of women want to have baby, but without a partner. They often think they can’t find a nice partner, if she has no good guy she will be worried about her future so maybe she will a choose the sperm bank to let her continue with he life. So they need this kind of bank and if they are gay they need a baby so they just have this way that they can babies.

this is me

Hi this is my new blogger welcome anybody come to see this!