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Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit group helping economically depressed artists generate sales from products created with local materials, also ensures the environment benefits from its endeavors.

The organization’s first project, started in Honduras more than a decade ago, involved recycling corn husks that even the pigs wouldn’t eat, said President Clare Smith. The husks were used to create wreaths and flowers that were then adorned with clay cherub figurines.

From these raw materials grew a thriving industry employing more than 600 villagers. Eventually, an export company owned by the local Hondurans was formed.

“The environment is a consideration in all our projects — it’s always a stipulation,” Smith said. “People are a part of the environment, so we try to integrate the two so everyone benefits.”

In Bangladesh, Aid to Artisans is developing a project to make paper products out the water hyacinth and another weed that clog many of the country’s rivers. However, the group must be careful not to create too large a demand for the paper.

“You have to be sensible,” Smith said. “While these plants now clog many rivers, if you had a big run on the paper, you could cause problems because a certain amount of the plants is needed to purify the water.”

Because of the delicate balance between creating economic opportunities and protecting the environment, Aid to Artisans develops relatively small-scale projects. Projects are currently under way in Jordan, Ghana, Mexico, Hungary, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Guatemala, Ecuador and Indonesia.

Aid to Artisans first sends designers to work with the local people in developing marketable products, then brings the products to the New York International Gift Fair, held twice a year, to take orders. The next step is to locate appropriate importers for the various product lines to create steady demand.

In 1990, the Mexican government created a reserve in a cloud forest along the Pacific coast, angering a local community which could no longer expand its coffee plantations by cutting down the forest. Ecologists who came to tell them about the law were threatened.

Aid to Artisans helped the community start painting T-shirts with images of birds and animals common to the cloud forests. A market for the shirts was created and now the community makes a living without continuing to destroy the cloud forest.

“We believe that what we do has to be suitable to both the people and their environment,” Smith said. “There’s an infinite number of things we can do to help save the planet — little by little.”

For more information about the group or to become a member, write to: Aid to Artisans, 80 Mountain Spring Rd., Farmington, CT 06032. Or call (203) 677-1649.

Earth Fact: Through the Aid to Artisans project in Honduras, more than 200 different products have been brought to the U.S. market.

Technorati Tags: environment benefits, save the planet, protecting the environment, cloud forest

A new website is to be the first tool in a wide-reaching campaign aiming to change attitudes towards waste in Northern Ireland.

Both Biwater and Cascal have been nominated for this year’s Global Water Awards that will be announced at an industry awards ceremony to be held in April.

Scientists from IBM and Stanford University claim to have made a major breakthrough in the reuse of plastics.

A British made Verderflex peristaltic hose pump has certainly proved excellent value for money for Radscan Intervex, a Swedish energy and environmental technology company.

The Welsh Assembly has published a report looking at how the country’s farmers can help cut emissions of greenhouse gases.

A leading lawyer is to head up an independent inquiry into the legal and financial risks posed by the proposed Poolbeg incinerator that could be built on Dublin’s outskirts.

A British made Verderflex peristaltic hose pump has certainly proved excellent value for money for Radscan Intervex, a Swedish energy and environmental technology company.

Men who allowed their land in Northern Ireland to be used as dumps for illegal waste from the republic have been hit with hard penalties under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The byproducts of treating waste using anaerobic digestion will no longer be considered waste, Scotland’s environmental watchdog has announced.

Progressive retailers and food manufacturers already making inroads on cutting packaging waste have made a commitment to up their game.

Waste should be used to reduce costs and save money, says Irish firm.

More than 100 volunteers - including staff from Tesco, Waitrose and Asda - got stuck in to remove countless plastic bags and other rubbish littering East London’s foreshore.

A WEEE recycling centre has opened and according to the owners it’s got the biggest capacity for waste in Europe.

To many children, pizza ranks as their favorite food on Earth. Now an environmentally correct pizza aimed at helping them save the Earth is available at natural food stores across the country.

Tree of Life, the nation’s largest distributor of organic foods to the natural food industry, introduced its new Pizza Power Pack in March. Pizza is the second product marketed under the company’s Small World brand, following the success of its Animal Grahams organic cookies.

Small World pizzas are made entirely with organic ingredients, said John Rowland, product development manager. Packaging used for the product is a recycled paperboard made from old newspapers and printed with soy-based inks. Also, the St. Augustine, Fla.-based firm donates 2 percent of all wholesale dollars to the Rainforest Action Network.

To help educate their young customers, as well as parents buying the product, the company includes an ecosystem card in each package of pizzas. Each fact-filled card features a color photo of an ecosystem and map of the world showing where it exists. Each card also explains what ecosystems are, how they work, why they’re in trouble and how kids can help.

“The idea is to educate children about Earth’s ecosystems. And the wonderful thing is the kids eat it up,” Rowland said. “They are very much in tune with the environment — much more so than adults. It has amazed us how ecologically minded they are.”

Small World Animal Graham cookies, introduced in 1990, set the tone for the pizza packaging. Each box of cookies contains an endangered-animal card instead of an ecosystem version. Each animal featured on a card matches one of the 10 cookie shapes. The cards also tell children and their parents how to learn more about organizations working to protect endangered animals.

Two percent of the wholesale dollars raised through the cookie sales is donated to environmental groups like the the African Wildlife Federation. And like the pizzas, Small World cookies also are made entirely with organic ingredients.

“By using organic supplies, we’re helping support sustainable agriculture and eliminating the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides in the ingredients we use,” Rowland said.

Pizza was chosen to follow up the Small World Animal Grahams because the company already distributed the main ingredients — organic bread, cheese and tomatoes, he added.

“We knew kids liked pizza and we had all the ingredients,” he said. “It was a natural fit.”

More Small World foods are in the planning stages. Anyone interested in the products should visit their local natural food store. If they don’t carry the Small World brands, ask them to call Tree of Life.

Earth Fact: There are approximately 9,000 natural food stores in the United States.

Technorati Tags: ecosystems, organic foods, environmentally correct pizza, packaging, sustainability

The first study into the rubbish generated by the pre-packed food industry is being launched by the Government’s waste watchdog.

Waste industry trade association AfOR is teaming up with edie to promote the 2010 Awards for Environmental Excellence.

While the phenomenon is well documented in the Pacific, the Atlantic has its own lesser-known vast patch of plastic debris floating on its surface.

Material collected for recycling is not all the same, and there’s money to be made from ensuring we’re recovering the best quality waste.

A man who dumped waste and set fire to it has been hit with more than £12,000 in court costs and fines.

Ireland looks set to miss its legally-binding EU waste targets and faces ’significant challenges’ in meeting its carbon-cutting targets.

High street retailer Marks and Spencer is to work with local authorities to reduce their waste in what the chain has called a ‘pioneering’ agreement.

Devon County Council has started a two month consultation on a planning application for a waste incinerator.

IRT Consult Ltd a family run company based in Ireland, are providing a unique VOC Gas monitoring service which utilises a specialist infrared camera to visually identify Leaks, Emission sources and fugitive emissions.

A website allowing Londoners to highlight well-loved corners of the city - and those that have been left to go to seed - has been launched in the capital.

A man has escaped with a suspended prison sentence after dumping waste, which caused an oily leachate.

A ship wrecking firm is being ‘closely monitored’ following a fire while it disposes of a French aircraft carrier laden with mercury, PCBs, lead and asbestos.

Darcy Spillcare Manufacture is the first UK company to introduce a bund water control unit dewatering system into the marketplace that is completely intrinsically safe and ATEX Approved.

A simple soil test could improve the growth of your vegetables and possibly the health of your children. The Chaney-Mielke soil test will help parents determine if the soil in their yard contains enough lead to threaten the health of their children.

After using leaded gasolines and paints in our society for years, lead particles have settled out of the air and chipped off buildings, contaminating portions of the soil, said Rufus Chaney, a research agronomist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Automobile exhaust alone has caused the inner-city areas to have high lead content in their soils,” he said. “We’re talking about tens of millions of homes potentially being at risk. And children are the people who need to be protected from high lead contents in the environment because this situation can cause lower IQ’s and behavioral problems.”

Children five years and younger are especially at risk to lead poisoning due to the rapid neurological development at this phase in their lives. It’s also the age when children tend to put dirt and unsanitary items in their mouth.

One of the biggest lead threats to children may be found in vegetable and flower gardens, Chaney said. The soil in these areas can potentially expose children to dangerous levels of lead.

While lead paint used inside homes is still a greater risk to children, he said lead content in soils also should be considered. Soils near the edges of homes and buildings are often the most hazardous because rain will rinse dust particles containing lead off the walls. Lead-based paint also can chip from older buildings, collecting near exterior walls, he added.

The soil test developed by Chaney and his partner, Howard Mielke, is available for a $10 lab fee from local county extension agents or soil-testing labs at universities. (If these sources are unfamiliar with the test, have them call Chaney at (301) 504-8324.)

All soils will test positive for some amount of lead, Chaney said, but if lead levels prove hazardous, there are corrective steps that can be taken. In some cases, the soil can be made safer by just tilling the top layer under under. In other cases, a sludge compound can be added to the soil to absorb the lead, which also will make the soil more fertile.

Earth Fact: Under the latest standards established by the Centers for Disease Control, millions of children in America have dangerous levels of lead in their blood.

Technorati Tags: lead poisoning, soil test, environment

Students are being targeted by a recycling campaign urging them to do the right thing with their drinks cans.