Consumo verde

Marine life and vital coastal habitats are straining under global use. The ocean, once considered inexhaustible and resilient, is finite and fragile. Sailors for the Sea is galvanizing a unique community that has not previously had an Ocean Conservation organization to represent them. By working with the boating community to protect and restore the Earth’s waters, Sailors for the Sea is addressing a community that is already passionate about the ocean. Our five core programs and projects are innovative and unique, bringing education and action to the forefront of our mission.
● Clean Regattas is an effort by Sailors for the Sea in conjunction with yacht clubs, sailing programs and individual regattas to reduce the impact of these programs and events on their local waters.
● The web-based program Ocean Watch Essays consists of current essays on ocean conservation issues, and serves as a resource for engagement and stewardship activities.
● Certified Sea Friendly, which will make its debut in 2010, is a voluntary, LEED-style certification program for the marine manufacturing industry. It will make construction, maintenance and operation of vessels more environmentally friendly.
● The Around the Americas expedition is a circumnavigation by sail of North and South America to raise awareness of ocean health issues, perform scientific research, and educate those they meet along the way.
● We are co-sponsors of the powerful documentary entitled A Sea Change. The documentary educates its viewers about ocean acidification, and poses the question what would the world would be like without fish.

This is a unique idea because unlike most environmental organizations, we are not about planting trees, and we are not only about protecting them either, we are about educating people in a creative and non-threatening way. This idea does not require or even request that people give their time or money to the cause, its simply a campaign to enrich the citizens of NYC, and to hopefully inspire them to reconnect to their natural "roots". I believe that we care for the things that we feel most connected to. Such as, we tend to protect those of our own race or heritage, which i believe proves that we are innately good natured as humans, we simply need to be reminded of the fact that ALL living beings are connected- black, white, plant, fish, mammal, insect. The roots of this campaign lay in the belief that when we really come to see- through art, poetry, and profound text- that we are innately connected to trees and nature, then we will naturally want to protect it.

THE PROBLEM

Several problems currently affect the ethical market.

1) Terrible Inconvenience

In a large urban center, when a person wants to buy fair-trade coffee, organic baby clothes, and sweat-shop free running shoes, they have to travel to three independent stores. Even worse, in smaller cities, these goods and services are simply not available. While several brick and mortar enterprises have tried to consolidate the market in one place, nobody has been able to do it well.

2) Lacking Awareness

A second challenge is that the majority of the already committed ethical consumers are only familiar with a handful of brands. This is why a few product categories dominate the market. Most people know about fair-trade coffee and organic foods. Less widely known are fair-trade FIFA soccer balls, designer cork hand-bags, vegan high-tops – thousands of ethical products in high demand.

3) Desperate Dispersion

The pain, however, is not reserved for buyers alone. Today’s ethical market is still widely dispersed, and ethical brick and mortar sellers struggle to generate sufficient traffic and sales to scale their distribution channels.
The clever vendors launch their own online sales sites, but quickly learn the difficulty and expense of running a successful online store.

OUR INNOVATION

1) Market Consolidation

Through a proprietary, custom-built selling platform, we provide companies that produce ethical products the opportunity to load, market, and sell their products to hundreds of thousands of ethical shoppers in one place.

2) Shopping by Ethical Categories

For ethical buyers, we provide a relevant shopping experience that allows them to search for, learn about, and purchase products that are aligned with what they believe in. Furthermore, by grouping products according to ethical claim, ethically-minded consumers will expand their understanding of the ethical marketplace and find more products that fit their shopping values.

'Sustainability' is rarely discussed as it affects the food chain: from preparation to production to packaging and consumption and, finally, the health effects on the consumer. This project will have a measurable, long-term effect on the way area children in poverty view their consumption of snack foods, on the snack foods they choose to eat, and on their health outcomes. It will also require institutional buy-in from leading community NGOs that have enormous influence on community health outcomes and health policy.

The world is not flat. We have the ability to connect with peers across the globe in a matter of seconds. The world today is fast and connected. As social networking sites become increasingly ubiquitous, they are starting to occupy a significant amount of day-to-day life. As more people move into the realm of social networking, the need for more targeted networking sites is becoming apparent. Marketplace is an online networking platform solely dedicated to the needs of the New York City arts community, setting it apart from other networking sites. Marketplace will add value to this community in the following ways: enhanced ability to connect with other arts professionals, increased materials exchange between members, formation of sub-communities, i.e. dance, theater, performing arts, after-
school etc. and a heightened awareness of the importance of reuse.
Facebook and Twitter are becoming more important marketing tools for organizations and businesses across the board. The fear is that these channels are becoming overloaded with self-promotion and random information. In other words, it is increasingly difficult to use these tools in a targeted manner. As its own self-contained network, Marketplace promotes the flow of ideas, advice, and opportunities throughout an existing community of arts professionals.
Materials for the Arts (MFTA) is the oldest reuse program in NYC dedicated to brokering materials to not-for-profit arts and cultural organizations from individual and business donors. Marketplace now expands upon this model to include services and intellectual capital. Through membership in MFTA, this community already has a network to obtain valuable materials to support their programs and performances. Marketplace provides them with the opportunity to advance and increase these services.

It is unique because not a lot of parents know that there is a green alternative when using diapers. So many diapers and plastic bags are filled in landfills and are not biodegradable which fills up the earth with toxic products. This law is unique because it gives parents an opportunity to learn more bout preserving our earth while teaching children of the next generation to recycle, reduce and reuse.

First, my idea expands the health education intervention, Abriendo Oportunidades (AO) to include income generation. Many health education interventions overlook important ecological factors, such as opportunities for employment. Although AO fellows are eager to learn job skills and chart out their own life path, they are hampered by the inability to obtain employment after finishing their fellowship year. Creating the cooperative Semillas de Luz would offer AO fellows long-lasting employment options after their fellowship year.

Second, Semillas de Luz would support the increasing environmental awakening taking place across the globe through its production of reusable grocery bags. Across the US, the use of disposable grocery bags is being replaced by reusable grocery bags. Cities such as San Francisco and Washington, DC are stimulating this trend through policies that penalize individuals who use disposable bags and reward individuals who use reusable bags. The textiles created by indigenous communities are vibrant, beautiful, and sturdy—characteristics that are essential in creating both a fashionable and highly marketable product.

Finally, we would evaluate longitudinally the impact of combining income generation and health education. This rigorous evaluation would be helpful to similar ventures across Guatemala, Latin America, and the globe. Although fair trade and socially responsible business models have gained in popularity over the years, there is limited evidence highlighting lasting effects on individuals and communities. Such an evaluation would provide insights to similar projects on how to improve their efforts as well as credibility to addressing maternal health through income generation.

Medicinal plants are on a rise on the market. Consumers are directing themselves toward natural medicines that are proven to be less aggressive than chemical treatments. The project for Tamaula would be to start the culture of Aloe plants and cultivation of Nopal/Cochineal in Tamaula.
Aloe or savila in Spanish, has many medicinal properties. It can be used to make over thirty different products including skin ointments, shampoos, soaps, skin creams, nutrition aids, etc. Cochineal can be cultivated on nopal plants and are used to naturally color various foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles and hand crafts among other things. Nopal is food, for humans or feed for livestock, as well as a medicinal plant.