Ted is always looking for ways to minimize his ecological footprint. Professionally, Ted is working to gain the skills necessary to turn his passion for sustainable development into action, as an entrepreneur or financing sustainable businesses.
Ted studied economics and international business at Saint Louis University’s campus in Madrid, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was honored as the Distinguished Student in International Business for his class. As the founder and president of the SLU Madrid Business Club, Ted focused the club’s activities on sustainability.
While working for commercial real estate multi-national Jones Lang LaSalle’s Madrid office, Ted strove to implement sustainable practices both within the firm and for its clients. He proposed and designed an Environmental Sustainability Action Plan for JLL Spain. Green Building and Environmentally Sustainable Development remain a passion for Ted: he believes that the intersection of sustainable infrastructure and sustainable attitude is where we’ll find a sustainable society.
Ted currently works for a private equity firm in Madrid, learning skills that he hopes to apply to finance Environmentally Sustainable Development in the United States and around the world.
Cherl Petso is the Associate Editor at Disaboom.com, an online magazine for people with disabilities. Her writing expertise includes articles about the environment and sustainable living, and vegan/vegetarian issues. A vegetarian for 16 years and a recent vegan, Cherl is passionate about animal rights and issues. She enjoys writing about simple ways to lessen the impact on the Earth.
Cherl recently moved to Denver, Colorado from Bellingham, Washington. She enjoys hiking and hanging out with her puppy.
Marie Oser is a best-selling author, columnist, and host/producer of VEG TV. A vegan lifestyle expert, and environmental advocate with a focus on nutrition and its role in disease prevention, Oser specializes in creating original gourmet recipes with a solid nutritional bottom line.
Many prominent medical and nutrition professionals endorse her work, including Dr. Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and principal researcher of the groundbreaking CHINA STUDY, and Neal Barnard, M.D. founder and president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC.
Marie is president of VEGTV, Inc., a video production company producing content for TV and new media. VEGTV streams hundreds of lifestyle videos to more than 1,000 sites globally. In her role as Director of Product Development at Smart Planet Kitchen, she has created, Marie Oser’s Lean & Green, a new line of vegan and Fair Trade Certified products. Marie has appeared on CNN, ABC, National Public Radio, QVC, WUSA, WNBC, KCAL, KOVR, Home & Garden Television (HGTV), FINE LIVING, TECH TV, and Discovery Channel.
Vegetarian since 1971; vegan since 1990, Marie left a career in TV advertising to pursue her interest in food, health, and nutrition. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, she studied psychology at St. Joseph’s University. Marie is a gourmet cook and organic gardener living in California, writing her 5th book and hiking every day with Travis, her Yellow Lab companion.
Loretta White is a writer, educator and scholar who gained huge diversity of experience within varied industries; energy, government, high tech and more. The last fifteen years she brokered deals with the top multinational companies globally, her Rainmaker skills are unsurpassed and she remains an authority on BD, BI, sustainability and the Global Marketplace.
Frugality was the voice of her elders who endured wars, rationing and Depression, raised to respect, love and to co-exist with nature through sustainability, self reliance, need and RRR practices. Loretta’s juxtaposition of ideas, deep love for the planet and her Yankee sensibilities are the foundation of a lifestyle that is in partnership with nature. Loretta indulges her passions for renewable energy, organics and being green on her 17.5 acre farm in central Massachusetts.
Recently Ms. White has lead an Assoc. of Caregivers providing support to those caring for parents, disabled, and others.
Loretta is invested in the community of our species and our planet and her diverse background in technology and green living gives her a unique perspective on how to live with nature and with our own gifts of technology.
Ms. White’s work has been published by Corporations, magazines, readers digest and many others.
Tracy is the CEO and Founding Partner of Technical Green - a green industry career site focused on clean tech and green research and development.
Tracy's professional experience are in the recruitment advertising and non-profit sectors and she has for many years maintained a sustainable lifestyle.
Heather O'Neill is the founder of Eco to the People, a green living blog.
Before founding Eco to the People, Heather O’Neill wore so many hats in the field of journalism that even the Queen Mother would envy her collection. She has worked as the managing editor of a beauty trade magazine; as a copy editor for an online tech magazine; as the associate editor of a city magazine and as a newspaper reporter and columnist, and as the senior editor at the popular online newsletter ecofabulous.
Her work has appeared in many publications, including Parenting, Alternative Medicine, Natural Solutions, Marin Magazine, Greenwich Magazine and HOME.
Heather earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from California College of the Arts. She lives and works in San Francisco.
According to the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), cotton producers around the world use $2.6 billion worth of pesticides. That represents more than 10 percent of the world’s pesticides and nearly 25 percent of the world’s insecticides.¹
Conventional Cotton farming uses many of the most hazardous pesticides on the market, often broad-spectrum organophosphates, pesticides originally developed as toxic nerve agents during World War II.
Massive pesticide spraying causes massive pest outbreaks.² The boll weevil has been a major cotton pest longer, and has caused greater cash losses, than any other insect in the history of agriculture. Since the mid-twentieth century, all attempts to eliminate boll weevils with pesticides, including DDT, toxaphene and methyl parathion have failed.
Many of these efforts have led to major ecosystem imbalance and crop failures. Advocates of continued spraying acknowledge that it could cost as much as $650 million to eradicate the boll weevil and that, even such expenditures would have very little effect.³
Organic cotton is grown using methods and materials that have minimal impact on the environment. Unlike conventional chemical agriculture, organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture.
These days, organic cotton is showing up in everything from personal care products to home furnishings, all kinds of apparel, toys, diapers and even stationery.
The greening of the apparel industry is a trend driven by consumer awareness of health and environmental concerns and the issues surrounding ethical production practices. Organic apparel and home consumer goods are the second fastest-growing category of all organic products, with sales jumping from $85 million in 2003 to $160 million in 2005. In 2006, sales of organic linens and clothing reached $203 million in the US, a twenty-six percent increase over 2005.4
The organic movement has made a significant impact on the Food market sector and is making inroads into sustainable apparel and home goods. Manufacturers and niche retailers Nike and Patagonia have joined and mainstream retailers such as Wal-Mart and Nordstrom’s in actively promoting stylish eco-conscious goods.
A growing number of designers and manufacturers are marketing goods with sustainable practices, which could include Fair Trade ethical labor practices, certified organic natural fibers, use of low-impact or natural dyes, and minimal or environmentally appropriate packaging.
A few years ago Wal-Mart became the biggest purchaser of organic cotton, launching a full-on organic offensive in 2006. However, supply did not seem to meet their demand. The up-front investment required to convert crops to organic is difficult for many farmers. They need to be in the game for three years before their crop can be certified “organic” and profits begin to kick in. Transitional cotton is cotton that has been grown organically, but for less than three years.
According to Wal-Mart spokesperson Tara Raddohl, “In order to encourage farmers to switch to organic cotton farming, Wal-Mart purchased more than 12 million pounds of transitional cotton from approximately 1,000 farmers at the same premium cost of certified organic cotton. “We heard from our supplier and other partners… that this was necessary in the market,” Raddohl said. ”It is about carrying on what has been our legacy: making items accessible to a broad spectrum of consumers. Our research found that folks said if it (organic clothing) were available and affordably priced, they would be likely to buy it.”
PANNA promotes elimination of hazardous pesticides and offers solutions that protect people and the environment.
Kevin P. Shea, “The Last Boll Weevil”. Environment Vol. 6 No. 5.
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