Think the bailout should help green industry? Or that green industry can save our economy? You're not alone. Read the article from Van Jones, who has written a new book, The Green Collar Economy, in which he states that he has a "green cure for the dilemmas we face and the financial messes we are in".

Read this article and share your thoughts!

-Jess 

I'm feeling slightly outraged by this. The AP reported a few days ago that new mandates have come out requiring female green card applicants as young as 11 to receive the 3 shot Gardasil vaccine before becoming a citizen. The vaccination process takes 6 months and costs hundred of dollars, which would be on top of the over $1000 required in application fees for citizenship. This requirement goes against the beliefs of many cultures along with being argued as a violation of rights (I agree with that!)

HPV is not an airborne virus but is spread only by sexual contact. Why require this of would be citizens when it's not (rightly) required of citizens? Is Merrick (the creator of Gardasil) cutting a deal with the government on this one? 

I'm stewing on this one!

-Jess 

I haven't seen these bags on store shelves and don't think I will be anytime soon! Perf Go Green line of trash bags claimed to be biodegradable but new testing has shown they are not. Perf Go Green bags are made from recycled plastic, which are more eco-friendly than conventional bags, however they do not biodegrade in the correct sense of reabsorbing into the earth in a good, sustainable way.These "bags 'biodegrade' only by dissolving into still-existent tiny plastic particles that can then move in groundwater".

Nice try Perf, but try again! 

-Jess 

Like the chicken and the egg and drilling for Alaskan oil, dressing dogs in clothes is an issue that people are divided on. But I do truly believe that short haired dogs could use the extra warmth when in climates they are not bred for (i.e. chihuahuas in Montana). And I also believe in the annual Halloween costume. But that's just me.

Anyways, one of my favorite Locallectual companies, West Paw Design, has just launched their line of dog apparel, starting with a sweater. An eco-friendly sweater, to be exact. The Reknitz sweater is made for small dogs and is made in the USA from reclaimed cotton fibers, saving water, along with not requiring fertilizers, insecticides, dyes, or farmland!

Reknitz's cotton yarn is derived from pre-consumer textile table remnants, that are cleaned and separated into raw fibers. What's eve more exciting is that the fibers are not re-colored - so all the team at West Paw has to do is produce the yarn and make your sweater! So much more eco-friendly than starting from scratch!

I don't know if Mona will ever need a sweater here in Virginia, but if she does, I know what kind she will be getting!

-Jess