Rizco Design

Almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. That’s one in eight of us. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.

Mohawk Fine Papers was one of the many amazing sponsors of last night’s, charity: water 2009 Charity: Ball, where 1,200 people gathered at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC with host, Adrian Grenier, to raise funds to provide clean drinking water to villages within Uganda, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia. One of many highlights is the “Water Catwalk” where attendees were encourage to walk 52 feet carrying two jerry cans that weight 40 pounds each. Africans walk 300 times that distance daily (3 miles) to gather enough water for cooking, cleaning and drinking. Time spent on this daily task would prevent you from earning an income or getting an education. If you are a woman, it puts you at greater risk of rape and assault.

… So yes, I joined my Mohawk rep, Cindy Salant, in handing over our drinks, shoes and handbags, and walking barefoot in our semi-formal dresses – a minimal effort in comparison to the journey that Africans make. Our reward was to learn and experience how fortunate we are to have clean drinking water.

High compliments to Viktoria Alexeeva Harrison, Director of Design & Branding, for the incredible visual displays and to Founder, Scott Harrison for turning big ideas into actions that touch so many lives … and for being so humble along the way.

For more information and to donate visit www.charitywater.org.

Read the rest of this entry »

This just announced, credited Uk.reuters.com

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan launched a satellite on Friday to monitor greenhouse gases around the world in the hope that the data it gathers will help global efforts to combat climate change.

The satellite, called “Ibuki” or “vitality” in Japanese, will enable scientists to measure densities of carbon dioxide and methane from 56,000 locations on the Earth’s surface, including the atmosphere over open seas.

That would compare with just 282 land-based observation sites as of last October, mostly of which are in the United States, Europe and other industrialized regions, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has said.

Japanese officials hope the data will add credence to existing research on greenhouse gases, including reports by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of hundreds of scientists.

“It would contribute to raising certainties in IPCC research that greenhouse gases are increasing,” said Yasushi Tadami, deputy director of research and information at the Environment Ministry’s global environment bureau.

“It will also advance research on the mechanism of carbon cycles.”

Equipped with two sensors, the satellite will track infrared rays from the Earth, which will help calculate the densities of carbon dioxide and methane because these two greenhouse gases absorb the rays at certain wavelengths.

NASA is sponsoring its own Orbiting Carbon Observatory to be launched this year to collect measurements on carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Both satellites come as about 190 countries try to craft a broader climate treaty by December to replace the Kyoto Protocol that binds wealthy nations to emissions targets between 2008 and 2012.

Read the rest of this entry »