Living Greener Everyday

Reaching out to people with disabilities

But while hundreds of The Arc's clients go to work every day at the agency's Hampton and Gloucester facilities and in the community, president and CEO Kasia Grzelkowski would like the nonprofit to be even more well known. Since she began her job in 2006, Grzelkowski's been working hard to get The Arc more exposure. Besides running nine residential homes and offering activities and learning opportunities, The Arc helps infants and toddlers with development delays and disabilities and runs a variety of job programs. More than 1,600 people on the Peninsula, Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck are served by The Arc of the Virginia Peninsula — many of whom are placed in jobs specially matched to their skills. Individuals do everything from wiring electrical panels and breaking down computers for recycling to delivering mail and stocking commissary shelves at Langley Air Force Base.

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Pollution of Pigeon River protested at Canton mill

CANTON � More than 100 people marched around the sprawling paper mill Saturday in protest of the waste the plant releases into the Pigeon River. With the mill�s wastewater discharge permit up for renewal, organizers of the �Love Your River Rally� said they hope that regulators can be convinced to place stricter limits on the chemicals released. Evergreen Packaging now operates the mill, which was formerly owned by Blue Ridge Paper and Champion International. .

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Saving our environment

Whether you are politically left, right, or center, this is an uncontroversial conclusion: we have to take care of our natural resources for life to continue on this planet. Here are a few simple things you can do every day which not only have environmental benefits, but will actually save you money! • Recycle plastic, glass, paper, metal. • Turn off unnecessary lights. When bulbs burn out, replace them with energy-efficient bulbs. • In public bathrooms, don't dry your hands with paper towels. Dry on your clothes, or use a blow dryer if you really need to. • For cleaning, use sponges or cloth more than paper towels. • Avoid paper plates, plastic utensils, Styrofoam cups. Use cloth napkins, not paper. • Don't buy scratch paper; use scraps, receipts, blank sides of used printer paper. • At the store, avoid paper and plastic bags.

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Ten conservation groups form coalition to save the Santa Ritas

• Cielo Madera Estates, a 180-home subdivision proposed for an area at the foot of Madera Canyon, west of Green Valley. Concerns: The development could fragment wildlife habitat; overburden roads, other infrastructure and emergency services; create light pollution, interfering with operations at Whipple Observatory atop Mount Hopkins; and affect groundwater quality and quantity. .

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Cheap, Clean Drinking Water Purified Through Nanotechnology

ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2008) — Tiny particles of pure silica coated with an active material could be used to remove toxic chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and other hazardous materials from water much more effectively and at lower cost than conventional water purification methods, according to researchers writing in the current issue of the International Journal of Nanotechnology. .

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Energy crisis upsets platinum market

Electricity shortages in South Africa led to record-breaking prices for platinum last week as two of the world's leading producers forecasted that energy rationing will reduce production in 2008. South Africa has been plagued by energy problems for months, but major blackouts lasting up to several hours started sweeping the country in January. To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right). Comments Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email redesign@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published. .

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Air pollution alert remains in effect this morning

An air pollution advisory remains in effect this morning for the Twin Cities area along with St. Cloud, Duluth and the Brainerd Lakes area, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said. The advisory is likely to be canceled this afternoon as a thick blanket of fog burns off and north and northwest winds pick up and push fine particles trapped in the atmosphere out of the area. At 6 a.m. today, the Air Quality Index in the Twin Cities registered 121, putting it in the unhealthy for sensitive groups, which include people with heart or lung disease, children and athletes. An Air Quality Index under 50 indicates the air is good for outdoor activity. To help reduce air pollution, the MPCA said people should limit their driving, not let their vehicles or other engines idle, turn off as many electric devices to reduce demand on (and pollution from) power plants, and postpone unnecessary fires, which add soot particles to the air.

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Bomb explodes outside Greek Environment Ministry

ATHENS, Greece-A bomb exploded outside Greece's Ministry of Environment and Public Works on Sunday, causing slight damage, officials said. No injuries were reported. The bomb went off at 4:50 p.m. (1450 GMT) and smashed some windows at the ministry. Twenty-five minutes earlier, an unknown man had called daily newspaper Eleftherotypia to warn of the impending explosion. "A bomb will go off in 25 minutes," he said. "This is not a hoax, inform people immediately." The ministry's general secretary for Public Works and a few employees working at the time were evacuated by police. Police officials, who found the remains of the bomb at a nearby trash can, said its makeup was similar to that of other bombs detonated by terrorist organizations "Popular Revolutionary Action" and "Revolutionary Struggle." The latter has targeted ministries before and on January 12, 2007 fired a rocket at the U.S.

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Marin City man honored for work with Conservation Corps

A Marin City man is one of six people across the country awarded the 2008 Corpsmembers of the Year award. Matthew Rainey, 22, works with the Marin Conservation Corps, a 26-year-old San Rafael organization that provides academic support, job skills development, employment training and other services to youth. Selected from more than 21,000 members nationwide, corps members of the year "have performed at high levels of excellence, delivered valued contributions to their communities through service and through their actions have also demonstrated qualities of character that make them outstanding representatives of corps members from across the nation," according to the organization. Each recipient receives a scholarship valued at up to $1,000. "Honestly, it was really big for me," Rainey said.

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Death by Car Bomb in Damascus

The RNC reported raising $11.8 million in January, a figure that dwarfed the $5.8 million in receipts for the DNC — even though the latter total also was a one-month high for the Democratic committee in the current election cycle. These numbers were contained in updated campaign finance reports filed by the committees Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission... Nonetheless, the RNC began February with $21.8 million left to spend and is debt-free. That figure assures Republicans that the committee will be able to make a maximum investment in its highest-priority role, helping promote the campaign of its presidential nominee — a title that Arizona Sen. John McCain now is strongly favored to win. The cash reserve that the RNC brought into this month exceeded the $19.2 million limit that a national party committee is permitted to spend on “coordinated expenditures" to assist its presidential candidate.

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