Boulder, CO (PRWEB) April 9, 2008 — The Pedestrian Shops is celebrating its B’ Earth day again this year with a shoe drive to benefit people in need. Pedestrian, Boulder’s comfortable shoe stores were selling shoes 38 years ago, on the original Earth Day in the spring of 1970.

New or slightly used footwear is being collected at the Pedestrian Shops locations, at 1425 Pearl on Boulder’s Downtown Mall and south of McGuckin Hardware in The Village, from Friday, April 18, through Monday, May 5. Customers who bring in a pair of shoes qualify for a 10 percent discount on any purchase, including footwear already sale priced.

“A purchase isn’t necessary. We’re just really happy to get good used shoes from people who want to help someone in need,” said Lauren Polk, general manager of the Pedestrian Shops.

This is the Pedestrian Shops’ (comfortableshoes.com) 40th shoe drive. It has been conducting annual Thanksgiving and Earth Day shoe drives for 20 years. More than 30,000 pairs of reusable shoes have been collected by the Pedestrian for distribution by the First Presbyterian Church Deacon’s Closet and other community partners.

Pedestrian is known for its selection of the world’s most comfortable brands of shoes and its commitment to defining success in social and environmental as well as economic terms. Green business practices are especially important to Pedestrian. Apart from shoe sales, Pedestrian considers its greatest success to be the recent activation of its 10.32-kilowatt solar power plant, which produces carbon-free energy equal to nearly 50 percent of the energy necessary to power its headquarters location on Boulder’s downtown mall. The plant will prevent 28,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the Earth’s atmosphere each year. More examples of the Pedestrian Shops’ social and environmental programs can be found and commented on at comfortableshoes.com/blog .

“We believe we’re the world’s first solar-powered shoe store and we know we sell the world’s most comfortable brands of shoes,” said Richard Polk, president of Pedestrian Corporation. “I’m really excited by the notion that we now can sell shoes without leaving a carbon footprint.”

The Pedestrian Shops encourages its customers to enjoy life and take a walk.

Huntington Beach, CA (PRWEB) April 7, 2008 — Imagine an advertising firm committed to help reduce waste. Bolt Advertising, an advertising and brand agency in Huntington Beach has just announced the launch of their new website showcasing the agency’s philosophy to create growth for their clients with information on how to reduce waste in printed advertising materials. www.boltadvertising.com includes creative samples and support materials including package design, brochures, and direct mail pieces. Bolt’s website also includes case studies on recent projects, a media room for news stories as well as links to the firms blog.

“Our objective,” explains Bolt Advertising’s owner Mark Buxton, “is finding creative, effective solutions that focus on expanding market share, and reducing our client’s negative environmental impact. We like to keep communication fresh combined with a purpose. Our new website keeps our clients updated and focused on growth.”

Bolt Advertising’s new website also presents environmental technology solutions in the advertising, design and printing industries. The website emphasizes the firms environmental business advertising and green branding consulting. FSC certified printing and recycled printing using environmental papers is also featured.

Bolt Advertising, located in Huntington Beach, California is a creative advertising and brand agency that emphasizes creativity with a purpose. Bolt develops sales and communications support materials while using a variety of environmentally safe print technologies by further consulting businesses on green advertising solutions.

Contact information is located at the firms website www.boltadvertising.com or contact:

Bolt Advertising, Inc.
119 11th St. Suite #3
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
714-849-2848
mark(at)boltadvertising.com

Jacksonville Beach, FL (PRWEB) April 7, 2008 — Founder Shivani Gupta is committed to producing the purest garments possible for Sama Baby by partnering with like-minded vendors from the garment manufacturers to the organic cotton farmers.

“Our partners in India are as dedicated as we are to being sustainable throughout the whole process,” said Shivani, upon recently returning from India. “The factories we use are powered by solar panels and supplement their power needs with wind turbines and windmills. This investment in and use of alternative energy sources is significant not only to India, but to the rest of the world as well.” Shivani said, “We sincerely believe that if we think globally and act locally we can make a difference in the world.”

At Sama Baby, our goal is to follow the highest standards for organic cotton garments; from the cotton growth to the garment development process. We use eco-friendly dyes and dye processes, we do not use softeners or other chemicals in the end stages nor is the garment bleached before the dying process. And unusual to the clothing industry, we use biodegradable bags to store the fabric before it is made into garments.

Also, our organic cotton farmers in India use organic vegetables as their rotation crop in the cotton fields, and these vegetables are then served in the canteens and lunchrooms for the employees. Using organic vegetables in the crop rotation replenishes the soil, feeds the workers and is good for the environment.

Our company has also committed resources to help improve the quality of life for the farmers and workers in India. Our partners focus on educating them on organic techniques that can save their farms and give them a healthy and sustainable livelihood. The farmers and factory workers have, in turn, started educating their families on the benefits of organic living, such as, encouraging them to eat foods at home which are grown organically.

All of our products are fair trade certified. We make sure that workers in the factories, on the farms and throughout the supply chain are paid a fare wage. In addition, our partners educate mill workers, so they can move up into management positions and learn valuable and marketable skill sets; this is very useful when they are ready to move on to other careers.

We also support various non-profit organizations in India and the US. Child Relief and You (CRY), is an organization that works towards restoring to underprivileged children their basic rights to — survival, participation, development and protection. Ekal Vidyala is an organization that is educating children in rural India one village at a time. We are continuously in search of worthy causes to support.

Sama Baby is a company with a conscience. Our mission is to clothe babies in soft, healthy and luxurious fashions while being mindful of our large but fragile world. It is not easy, but everyday, from design to manufacture to the point of sale, we strive to balance what is possible against what is important.

Some manufacturers are happy to advertise their printers as requiring only “toner cartridge” changes in its useful lifetime. This is an interesting claim, and raises the question “what is a Toner Cartridge?”.

Such advertising implies that there is no need, therefore, to replace drums, belts or fusers, for example. But of course, the term “toner cartridge” is used colloquially to describe a “print cartridge” – and thereby the claim for planet-friendliness becomes very opaque indeed.

Why? Because a print cartridge will include up to 3 different replaceable elements. It might be true that the unit to replace includes only toner: but often (and usually in the lower end cost range of laser printers) , there will also be a developer. This developer is a magnetic roller which transfers toner to the Organic Photo Conductor (OPC) drum. In some models, the cartridge can also include the OPC itself.

Thus any statement of the type “… you need only replace the print cartridge and nothing else”, seems to infer that you need not replace the drum, maintenance, fuser, cleaning or transfer kits. It also infers that there is only one print cartridge – but how often is this the case? Certainly in the case of a single pass color laser printer, there are actually FOUR cartridges (CMYK). Users of some printers will replace four drums every time they replace four cartridges, whether they are aware of it or not. On the other hand, Kyocera is an example of a manufacturer which has only toner in the toner cartridge, with the developer and OPC as separate units. Most manufacturers, and models within each manufacturer range, offer solutions which operate between these two extremes.

It has often been shown that printers with a two-part supplies configuration tend to be less expensive to run than those with an integrated drum. Certainly an arrangement which separates the two is more environmentally friendly because the drum part needs to be changed less often, therefore producing less waste.

In addition to the toner/OPC arrangement, a single-pass color laser printer (unlike mono laser printers) is very likely also to use a belt of some description. This takes the form either of an Image Transfer Belt (that transfers the image from the OPC drums to the paper) or an electrostatic Paper Transport Belt (that moves the paper in front of the OPC drums). Even though there is no need to replace a fuser unit or apply maintenance or cleaning kits, an electrostatic paper transport belt cannot last indefinitely. Depending on the volume put through the machine, it may need replacing before the user is ready to get rid of the printer. And if this belt is not replaceable, it would classify the printer as a ‘disposable device’, which is perhaps not particularly environmentally responsible.

Thus, when looking at selling points for lower-end laser printers, buyers should be wary of the full significance of replacing “only” the Toner Cartridge. This selling point has a variety of meanings for the eco-conscious, which require close scrutiny to ensure a complete understanding of the true environmental impact of such a replacement.

The comments in this article are by no means a call to avoid attractive, low cost color laser printers. They are rather a caution to ensure that they are bought with an understanding of their true potential impact on the environment, and the steps to take to minimize this. Such an impact requires a look beyond advertising hyperbole.

Jimi St. Pierre writes for several Office Equipment suppliers in the UK, including Officemagic. You can find out more about Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Compliance on Officemagic’s comprehensive office equipment website at: =>http://www.officemagic.co.uk/