On May 31, 2008 Consciously Rebuilding kicked off the 1st of a series of Healthy Living Workshops.
The second portion of the event was dedicated to networking with 17 attending organizations that provide over 1500 programs throughout the parish, state, region and nation. In addition, over 20 organizations that could not send representatives had materials and resources present. Approximately 70 people attended, representing all ages and demographics, to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities that address healthy living—social, environmental, physical and mental health, housing, senior services, and education.
We were privileged to have 15 volunteers from Fox Leadership, who all attend the
On behalf of First Book of Greater New Orleans, 200 books were giving out to children in attendance and local children of the community. Recycline, donated 100 Preserve toothbrushes that combine health and environmental stewardship as the toothbrushes are made from recycled plastic. Once the toothbrushes are done being used, Recycline provides postage for them to be mailed and the plastic portion is recycled into plastic lumber for park benches and decks. Consciously Rebuilding provided 100 compact fluorescent light bulbs that use up to 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs. Whole Foods Market donated two cases of organic apples and oranges. A local produce market donated 2 veggie trays to also promote healthy eating and nutrition. On behalf of the City’s Office of Health Policy, 200 condoms were available along with resources on HIV/AIDS awareness.
On a personal note, what really made the event special was the fact that people wandered from the streets to enjoy the food, and were surprised to see all of these organizations there ready to offer services. There was a young lady who walked up to the event and picked up everything from every table, and chose to stay for EVERY presentation. That alone would have sufficed for me, but then 8 people showed up after all was packed up and wanted to at least go home with children’s books and we gladly gave them the books and toothbrushes. It was an official success for Consciously Rebuilding, Inc.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!
2 comments:
As someone who sells light bulbs for a living, I am constantly bombarded with questions about how much energy is actually being saved by using compact fluorescents and whether they live up to all of the hype that they receive. It seems to me that a lot of the negative things said about incandescent bulbs and their energy usage is borne out of a poor understanding of basic physics. The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just changed from one form to another. So many people speak of incandescent bulbs “wasting” energy as though they are defying the laws of physics and destroying energy. I live in a fairly cool climate and during the winter I use an electric heater to heat the particular room that I am in. If I use an incandescent bulb and 90% of its energy usage is for the production of heat, then it is simply generating heat that I would have to generate anyway with my 1000W heater. It’s June here and we are still dealing with cold and rainy weather, so there is a significant portion of the year where the heat energy produced by incandescent bulbs indoors is useful and not “wasted.” For me, it is an obvious choice given the mercury content and poor light quality that comes from compact fluorescents.
What Consciously Rebuilding advocates for is individual paths to consciousness and achieving Healthy Living within their own means. We take an holistic approach to our advocacy, therefore we look at the net effects of change. If someone cannot afford CFLs at the moment, but does their part to use light bulbs wisely, we applaud this effort. Every little bit counts, and we appreciate your efforts to address environmental and economic issues. Thank you for the comment.
Also when we supply CFLs to our community members, we also supply information on where to take the used CFLs. As a community based organization we also offer to take the bulbs for those who are unable to properly dispose them.
Take care and good luck
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