Eco-news, events, children's author...

-- Positive Eco- News --

You may recall an earlier post on May being Youth Month. In honor of this I'd like to celebrate a project through The Ecocap Movement, a Japanese nonprofit organization that focuses on donating polio vaccines to children in developing countries. The most intriguing aspect of this program for us, because of our passion for celebrating the concept of seeing "waste as a resource", is that they finance this operation through the collection and sale of plastic bottle caps to recycling companies. Who would have thought that plastic bottle caps could prove to be so valuable? According to the Japan for Sustainability newsletter (www.japanfs.org) "Every 800 caps pay for one vaccination, which costs 20 yen (about U.S.$0.20)." To date, this organization and their partners have collected over 396 million caps.

Those of us who are avid recyclers will know that when we take our plastic bottles (milk, juice, pop, water, iced tea and other beverages) to the depot we are asked to remove the plastic lids and recycle them separately. This procedure is most popular in bottle return depots, where people receive refunds for certain returnables (liquor bottles, pop cans, etc). Sadly far too many of these caps are mixed with other garbage and in time, they will release carbon dioxide and contribute to soil contamination. Caps are most often sold to companies who see this waste as a resource and turn them into into a variety of products including concrete panels, ballpoint pens and chopsticks.

-- Prize Draw This Week !! --

We are looking for 3-4 winners this week!! - * This week's prize draw includes the science fiction novel Beyond Mars - Crimson Fleet and 5 science-fiction art posters - all signed by the author. Also we are offering another prize for Timothy Fleming's historical-fiction CIA thriller novel Murder Of An American Nazi.

Email: LDBRUMMET@YAHOO.COM with “prize” in the subject line. Deadline: Sunday morning - May 17th.

-- Authors Read Radio --

Darcie Mae has appeared on Authors Read sharing excerpts from the Sammy & Robert’s Animal Adventure series and her Mother Mouse series on Oct 10, Nov 10, 2008 and Jan 24, 2009. Today, Darcie will be reading from her latest installment in the Mother Mouse series... which comprises of 2 main stories, she'll be reading: Mother Mouse Teaches Opposites.

-- Eco-Event --

Between May 11 and 14: SWANA Northern Lights Chapter Conference @ Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Center in Winnipeg, MB (Canada) www.swananorthernlights.org

Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio shows & free resources & articles at www.brummet.ca