The King of Atlanta, The Champion of Sustainability: Meet Lewis Perkins

Sustainability is vital in order to stay afloat in a rapidly changing world. Not only are serious changes imperative, being able to predict upcoming trends can help anyone progress forward in today’s society. No one knows this more than THE champion of sustainability himself, Lewis Perkins.

Prior to starting his consulting group, New House LLC, which works with Fortune 500 companies as well as mid-size businesses to develop strategy and solutions to maintain their competitive edge, Perkins dabbled (and continues to do so) in consulting and working closely with various non-profits and foundations to improve their marketing strategies.

Perkins has also served as a board member of GOAL: A Girl’s Journey of Growth, which promotes self-esteem, self-awareness, and respect for individual differences in women and girls alike. Additionally, Perkins volunteered at many other charitable organizations such as Eve Ensler’s V-Day, Men Stopping Violence, and The Captain Planet Foundation.

Currently, he is an advisory board member for Sustainable Life Media and The Green Chamber of The South. With all of his demanding engagements, one would assume that this guy’s “little black book” is jam packed!

When he’s not kicking his feet up in his current home town of Atlanta, Georgia, Lewis Perkins is busy jet setting to various cities, speaking to the public regarding methods to remain a stalwart in such a capricious time and market. And we all know that the final answer to this sustainability question comes down to one thing: Go green people! Have YOU helped save the world today?


For more information, visit: lewisperkins.com

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Clothing AND Care: By Invitation

Not only is it making strides on the runway, CAbi is making changes in women’s lives all around the world.

The upscale women’s clothing company has helped to empower and elevate impoverished women world wide via the Heart of CAbi Foundation. For the second time around, CAbi is funding micro-loans for women living in poverty, irregardless of their location.

Recently, CAbi’s Heart of CAbi Foundation partnered with Opportunity International to enable women to meet their families’ needs for food, shelter, and education on a global scale. To date, over $20,000 has been donated solely by CAbi customers and the number continues to grow exponentially!

Established in 2005, The Heart of CAbi Foundation had one goal, and one goal only: to fulfill its mission to provide poor and disenfranchised women around world a greater opportunity to excel in their dreams and ambitions through donations of CAbi clothing, financial support, and various volunteer efforts.

Through its humanitarian efforts, CAbi clothing is an easily recognizable franchise all over the planet. Financial support and over one million articles of clothing have been given to organizations that are dedicated to impacting the lives of those in need where ever the cause may lead. American Red Cross, Child Hope International, Food For the Poor, and the International Princess Project are among just a fraction of the generous foundations in which CAbi has helped to sponsor.

Whether you’re in the mood for a shopping party with your closest friends, or just need to buy a classical blazer for an upcoming board meeting, CAbi has got you covered. Furthermore, you can rest assured that not only are you investing in top-of-the-line material for your backside, CAbi is making donations from your purchases to cover that of the less fortunate women among us. CAbi is giving a whole new look to the phrase, “Girl Power!” Have YOU helped save the world today?


For more information, visit: cabionline.com

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Chicago is Setting Goals Higher Than Its Sears Tower

Traffic: The one word that sparks the most the most irate, intense, and annoyed emotions (also known as “road rage”). Some cities have learned how to deal with the incessant problem through the use of metros such as Washington DC, and others, such as Los Angeles, just altogether fail at providing a solution to overpopulated highways. However, the city of Chicago has come up with a new innovative transportation method to keep the highways happy and its people healthy.

The whole idea is pretty straightforward: one card that grants access to the trains, buses, and a local car-sharing program. The Smart Card is Chicago-based nonprofit I-Go Car Sharing’s idea to extend public transportation to include public cars.

According to a recent study, most of the cars that inhabit the windy city sit parked ninety-five percent of the time! This statistic provided the motivation for I-Go CEO Sharon Feigon to promote the Smart card idea. "We have to make better use of our assets," says the CEO. "We want to integrate the public-transit systems and car sharing any way we can, and sharing one card is a good way to demonstrate that these different ideas are linked."

The pilot program started over a year ago with over five thousand Smart Cards and more than two hundred “shared” cars. Now, the idea has flourished and inspired other cities all over America to follow suit in creating new ways to link different forms of public transportation to promote efficiency in addition to being eco-friendly.

What’s next on tap for the home of “Da Bears?” Shareable plug-in hybrids that can power up at kiosks with real-time info on buses and trains. How’s THAT for a game-changer, America? Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: www.fastcompany.com

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“Here He Comes To Save The Day”: Superman Lengthens His Legacy Through Charity

It’s a bird! No, it’s a plane! No, it’s SUPERMAN!

Even after his death, Christopher Reeve, America’s superhero, is continuing to live up to his superhuman responsibilities.

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury through generous funding of innovative research in addition to improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information, and advocacy.

The Foundation’s beginning stems back over two decades when the American Paralysis Association was formed by a group of people that refused to accept the notion of spinal cord injuries being irreparable, in 1982.

Following his horrific equestrian injury in 1995, Christopher Reeve sought out the guidance and help from this organization which ultimately not only inspired Reeve to continue living, but motivated him to create a foundation that helped others in the same life-threatening predicament.

Sadly, Reeve met his demise on October 10, 2004. However, his legacy is now being carried on through his foundation and the many people who’s lives he has changed. Before he passed, Reeve noted, "When the first Superman movie came out, I gave dozens of interviews to promote it. The most frequent question was: What is a hero? My answer was that a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences. Now my definition is completely different. I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. They are the real heroes, and so are the families and friends who have stood by them."

Whether the victim is in need of some financial aid due to the lifestyle change, or just need to seek answers or advocacy from the emotional and physical trauma in which a spinal injury has caused, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is here to allow those effected to move forward. Unlike Superman, this generous foundation isn't here to just fleetingly save the day; rather, it seeks to improve these peoples’ lives by trumping any borders or limitations in which society has placed on those injured. Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: christopherreeve.org

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Missing a Mirror? Look No Further Than Sicily

Sicily has just announced the creation of the world’s first Molten Salt Solar Plant. The purpose of this innovative plant is to produce power from the sun, but at night-time.

The road to achieve such a ground breaking achievement as the Molten Salt Solar Plant was long and confusing one, similar to its name. However, because of its creation, more options have become available to feed the world’s growing need for power.

Since molten salt is able to reach very high temperatures (over one thousand degrees Fahrenheit) in addition to its ability to hold more heat than the synthetic oil used in other CSP (concentrated solar plant) plants, the plant is able to continue to produce electricity even after the sun has set.

While photovoltaic solar panels work by directly producing electricity from sunlight, rendering them inefficient at night. CSP plants, on the other hand, use mirrors to concentrate sunlight and produce high temperatures in order to drive a turbine to generate electricity. Although CSP plants have been in existence for many years, the Archimede plant in Sicily is the first instance of a facility that uses molten salt as the collection medium.

The Archimede plant has a capacity of five megawatts with a field of 30,000 square meters of mirrors and more than three miles of heat collecting piping for the molten salt. The overall cost to build such an avant-garde plant is staggering. The plant took over 60 million Euros to build, which proves that the costs to find greener technology certainly doesn’t come cheap.

From solar powered vehicles to using molten salt and mirrors, the world is constantly striving to fulfill its needs for more power and more energy. The Molten Salt Solar Plant is hoping to help address the energy crisis, in leaps and bounds. This goes to show you that some of the world’s most likely problems, yield the most unlikely answers. Have YOU helped save the world today?



For more information, visit: inhabitat.com

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Nourishment on Wheels, Fresh Off the Farm

There is a new type of bus driving around our children’s neighborhoods. But this isn't your local yellow school bus summoning the kids to school each morning. Rather, this innovative bus is delivering much more to our youth that just a mode of transportation: it’s giving them a fresh, balanced diet-fresh off of the local farm.

Behind the register (and the wheel) is Mark Lilly, former restaurant manager who thought up and acted on the idea of delivering fresh farm goods to impoverished city areas.

Inspired from tending to his mother’s kitchen garden while she traveled overseas, Lilly had his “eureka moment” in June 2009, when he witnessed an informative and motivational documentary regarding the hazards of industrial food production, known as Food, Inc. Immediately upon viewing the piece, Lilly thought of all the ways he could make a difference in people’s lives. His dream has now materialized into a $3,600 school bus. And the rest is history.

Lilly remade the vehicle, using reclaimed barn wood and burlap, into a moving farmer’s market; but one that would help those most in need. Lilly now spends his days driving up and down interstate 95 visiting urban neighborhoods of Richmond, Virginia where nearly 4,000 families live more than a mile from a grocery store and often don't have access to a vehicle to get there.

According to a USDA survey, these barren urban areas, also known as “food deserts,” affect about twenty three million Americans; of these, nearly seven million are children. Not only is it hard to get to the store, affording nutrient-rich foods that are freshly grown off the farm are far too expensive for these families to afford.

So, how does this former restaurant manager turned charitable care-giver afford to donate such organic delicacies? Along with the money he acquires from selling his produce in more affluent neighborhoods, Lilly molded partnerships with many farmers who share the same views as he.

Eating the best produce and following a healthy nutritious diet shouldn't be exclusive to certain sectors within society. Now, with Lilly and his frequent bus stops, many people have the option to eat like kings, without necessarily spending like them. Lilly is showing another side to the benefits of this modern-day “meals on wheels.” Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: people.com

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Peet’s Is Not Your Average Cup of Joe

America is fixated on attaining its energy from the almighty coffee bean. From fast food chains, grocery stores, cafes, or Starbucks, over half of the population is running into these locations for their morning “kick in the butt!” One coffee chain, however, is paving a way not only to greener business, but to greener growing.

Peet’s Coffee and Tea started off as a small coffee roasting company created in 1966 that prided itself with specialized coffee beans and complimentary customer care. Since its beginning, Peet’s has sought to uplift everything in which it’s engaged, from its coffee growers to its customers.

Peet’s supports organizations and programs that educate growers on improving their coffee quality; that way, we all win! In addition to progressing their quality of coffee, Peet’s also strives to improve its farmers quality of life.

Since 2000, Peet’s coffee has been actively involved in Technoserve’s East Africa Initiative. Technoserve is a company that empowers people in poor rural areas through business training. Additionally, Peet’s has become highly involved with KIMSSA (Kidane Mehret Self-help Association) which is an Ethiopian tutoring and vocational school for underprivileged children, which coincidentally is also run by one of their long time coffee suppliers. The Butterfly School is another one of Peet’s benefactors since the coffee company has helped fund the creation and activities of the school that is located in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea.

In addition to funding socially responsible and beneficial institutions and projects, Peet’s also follows a strictly green regimen when it comes to the creation of its coffee. The coffee beans are roasted in the nation’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified roasting facility, developed by the US Green Building Council. This means that they reduce their energy use by forty percent due to their innovative heat exchange technologies and HVAC systems. Furthermore, their water usage is reduced by eighty-seven percent because of their efficient landscaping and irrigation systems.

Whether it’s a mocha latte, Frappacino, or just a plain old cup of coffee, Peet’s is now providing a way for Americans to enjoy their daily beverage guilt-free and consciously-safe. After all, who said quality and quantity can’t go hand in hand? Have YOU helped save the world today?



For more information, visit: peets.com

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