Seattle moves holiday fireworks to protect baby bald eagles

Fourth of July isn’t a great time for animals. Fireworks and their accompanying sonic-like booms create terrified four-leggeds both in and outdoors. Suburban Seattle has taken the uncharacteristic action of moving its floating launch pad for next week’s July Fourth fireworks display to avoid frightening a pair of baby bald eagles nesting in a tree on the shore of Lake Washington.

SFO’s latest art exhibit – art made from garbage

Travelers pass by this artwork of Eric Otto, using recycled spray and house paint on found objects.

Employee-owned,Francisco-based Recology – the largest organics compost facility operator by volume in the United States – announced today the launch of a web page featuring San Francisco Airport’s (SFO) Museum’s exhibition of work from the Recology Artist in Residence Program at the United Terminal. The Art of Recology highlights this innovative art program that was founded to challenge the way we think about waste, consumption, and art.

50,000 bees dead after pesticide use in Oregon

With the ever growing concern about the devastation of the bee population, this story from today’s news takes it from bad to worse.

An estimated 50,000 bumblebees, possibly representing more than 300 colonies, were found dead or dying in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Wilsonville, Oregon. Authorities confirmed Friday that the massive bee die-off was caused by the use of a neonicotinoid pesticide, dinotefuran, on nearby trees. Then on Saturday, it was reported by The Oregonian that what could be hundreds of bees were found dead after a similar pesticide use in the neighboring town of Hillsboro.

Keep summer skin soft with Vermont Soap’s organic moisturizers

Sunshine and outdoor fun are the season’s watchwords. But your skin can be a summer casualty. Vermont Soapworks, whose products I’ve written about in the past, has two great moisturizers that can bring summer skin back to smooth silky touchability.

To have beautiful young looking skin into your middle age and beyond, it’s important to put natural oil on your skin from time to time, said Larry Plesent, Vermont Soap’s founder, owner and chief formulator.

Two of his newest products are Unscented Green Gold Herbal Moisturizer and Choco-Luscious Skin Smoothie.

For more on these effective organic moisturizers and this top quality company, see http://bit.ly/12eyeS4.

New York residents try to “buy back” their pro-fracking senator

If the politicians won’t stand up to the oil industry about fracking, consumers will. Case in point: Residents of New York state’s “Southern Tier” delivered a $202,000 giant fake eight by three foot check to Senator Libous’ (R-NY) Binghamton district office today to “buy their senator back” from pro-fracking business interests and from big oil and gas lobbyists. That’s the same amount of money Sen. Libous took in campaign contributions from fracking oil and gas interests in the last two years, according to the good government group Common Cause.

Electrolux announces the 2013 Design Lab Semi-Finalists

The Cellular Pillow refreshes and decontaminates the air while you sleep

It’s always fascinating to see what creative minds can come up with given the opportunity. And the Electrolux Design Lab 2013 competition really lets innovation – and the imagination – run wild.

The Paint Cover helps keep paint fresh

Stopping in the middle of a project means dealing with messy, drippy paint brushes. Take a break and you could come back to a dried up brush. The alternative has been rinsing multiple times, wasting paint and wasted water, to say nothing of having to regularly replace paint brushes gone bad.

New York City firefighter Sal DePaola knows this problem well. After years of being bothered by having to constantly buy new paint brushes for his painting business, DePaola came up with a solution – a brush cover with an air-tight seal.

The idea languished for years because DePaola thought someone else would eventually do it. But since no one did, in 2011 he had an engineer draw a mock-up of what became the Paint Brush Cover.

Combating Climate Change – a new look with Al Gore and Jeff Skoll

Former Vice President Al Gore at the Google Hangout 

A fascinating online meeting billed as Combating Climate Change took place Tuesday June 11th. Sponsored by The Climate Reality Project (the non-profit founded by former Vice President Al Gore), it featured Gore and Jeff Skoll, the Executive Producer of the film An Inconvenient Truth. In 2006, this eye-opening film launched a worldwide conversation, some would say controversy, regarding the effects of climate change. Now, on  the film’s seventh anniversary, these two came together, with moderator Dr. Kiki Sanford to give an update on what was discussed in the film.

Supreme Court says genes are not patentable

In what is likely a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has announced its ruling that companies cannot patent human genes, a decision that could profoundly affect the medical and biotechnology industries.

This unanimous decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, said that laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas are not patentable. this broad ruling could have huge implications.

For more on this story see http://wapo.st/150rWmK.

Micro Solutions offers easy way to recycle toner and ink cartridges

As more Americans recycle, there are still many everyday things that could be recycled, or recycled to a much greater degree.

Ink cartridges are a good example. Almost 2 billion ink and toner cartridges are used worldwide every year. Here in the U.S. at least 350 million of them get thrown out annually. Approximately 1,000 tons of them wind up in landfills or get exported to poor countries overseas.