Elizabeth Mortimer

February 8, 2008

Green Becomes Fashionable
This year New York City's famed Fashion Week received a green makeover. The company behind the transformation was the 100% wind-powered cosmetics icon, Aveda. The week was kicked off with a runway show where designers made their garments wholly out of sustainable textiles, organically-grown natural fibers, and newer materials such as bio-plastics. The runway was even constructed with a special wood that was later returned to be used to build furniture.

Jasmin Malik Chua, Aveda Makes N.Y. Fashion Week Greener, Feb. 6, 2008, http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/aveda_fashion_week.php.

Jasmin Malik Chua, FutureFashion: Fashion Week's Green Kickoff, Feb. 6, 2008, http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/futurefashion_2008.php.

Global Warming and the Forgotten Population
The world has been up in arms about the issue of global warming for longer than some like to acknowledge. One part of the world's population that hasn't voiced their opinion on the issue was that group who falls below the poverty line. However, Britain announced this week that they intend to invest the equivalent of $39.25 million over the next ten years to determine where global warming will hit the hardest. British leaders stated that the nation is investing the money because poor countries will be the hardest hit. These poor nations will be hit hard because of their inability to cope when crop growth is altered. Secretary of State Douglas Alexander is one of the first to speak out on global warming as being a global social justice issue.

Gerard Wynn, U.K. to Spur Research into Climate Impact on Poor, Reuters, Feb. 6, 2008, http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/30722.

Americans Not Using the Beauty America Offers
A new study by Patricia Zaradic and Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois has collected data of various nature activities in various countries over the past seventy years. The study revealed that since the 1980s there has been an eighteen to twenty-five percent decline in nature activities on a per capita basis. The only outdoor activity that increased in the past seventy years was the number of people taking day hikes, which were only a small percentage of the total nature activities studied.

Julie Steenhuysen, Americans Spend Less Time on Nature Activities – Study, Reuters, Feb. 6, 2008, http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46798/story.htm.

Spring in Britain is Changing

The warmer temperatures in Britain seem to have fooled animals into thinking that spring came early this year. The average temperature in the U.K. for January was two degrees higher than usual and the animals took notice. The Woodland's Nature Trust also took notice and now fears that if temperatures drop before spring's official arrival in March that many of the species will be in danger and that the food chain will be adversely affected.

Georgina Cooper, Spring's Sprung Early in Britain, Reuters, Feb. 6, 2008, http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46795/story.htm.

Australia Reveals Photos of Japan's Whaling Science
While there is a moratorium on the practice of whaling, Japan is allowed one "scientific" hunt each year. On Thursday, Australia released photos of hunt participants killing what appeared to be an adult mink whale and her calf in the Southern Ocean. The photos have only fueled the debate on the practice and Japan accused Australia of using "emotional propaganda" to aid its possible challenge to the practice in international legal tribunals.

Rob Taylor, Australia releases Japanese whaling pictures, Reuters, Feb. 7, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSSYD10798520080207?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0.