SPECIAL SALUTE of the MONTH (FEBRUARY 2009)   


We thank the followingand those unknown persons, groups,agencies, organizations and governments for their loving and selfless actions that bring meaningful comfort and assistance to others.May your lives be graced by the Divine with evermore joy and fulfilling reward.

President Lula da Silva of Brazil
Brazil's President Lula da Silva pledges an additional US$62 billion for the country’s Growth Acceleration Program, meant to boost infrastructure while creating more jobs.

Canada
Canada allocated US$820 million for environmentally-friendly projects over the next five years in public transportation, water sanitation, and sustainable energy.

The Covanta Energy company
US-based Covanta Energy company plans to construct an approximately US$575 million facility to convert waste to energy in Wales in the United Kingdom.

European Union and India
The European Union pledges €300 million to be invested in sustainable energy projects in India.

Algeria
Algeria allots up to US$83 million to reduce illiteracy to 10% by 2013 and achieve 100% literacy by 2016.

President Barack Obama of the US
US President Barack Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help boost the economy and green investments, and passes a US$75 million housing plan to help homeowners.

Tuareg members
500 soldiers and 78 officers from two Tuareg groups relinquished their weapons in accordance with the 2006 Algiers Accord during a ceremony at the Kidal airport in northern Mali.

Leonard Abess, Jr.
Leonard Abess, Jr. of the US sold his bank and shared US$60 million profit amongst his 399 employees and 72 former, rewarding their years of good service.

Sudan
Sudan has launched the largest demobilization program ever, “Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration,” to reintegrate 180,000 soldiers into civilian life over the next four years.

Islanders in the North Sea and the European Union
Eleven islands in the North Sea, supported by US$4.5 million from the European Union, are participating in the “Cradle to Cradle Island” project which will introduce sustainable energy and other green solutions.

United States Army
The United States Army donates approximately US$6 million to Iraq, launching 24 solar projects in Baghdad and installing medical clinics.

New South Wales
The New South Wales government in Australia has launched a US$540,000 campaign to aid quitting smokers.

Bình Định Province of Âu Lạc (Vietnam)
Bình Định province of Âu Lạc (Vietnam) sponsors students from Laos who will be given US$80-US$100 monthly and enrolled in undergraduate or postgraduate programs at Âu Lạc’s Quy Nhơn University.

The Co-operative Food
The Co-operative Food, a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, launched “Plan Bee” that includes the banning 8 specific pesticides from being used on its own brand of fresh produce and will donate over US$220,000 for research on safeguarding life-sustaining bees.

Russia and President Barack Obama
Russia welcomes the announcement of plans by US President Barack Obama for the two countries to reduce nuclear weapons by 80 percent.

Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College in the United Kingdom is offering a scholarship of about US$2,100 to a vegetarian student who demonstrates leadership potential, good character, athletic abilities and good grades.

Mayor Hau Lung-bin of Taipei, Formosa (Taiwan)
Mr. Hau Lung-bin, the Honorable Mayor of Taipei, Formosa (Taiwan), donates 10 percent of his monthly salary to those in need.

Chloe Tsangaris
Six-year-old Chloe Tsangaris of Australia, raised more than US$2,000 which was donated to Wildlife Warriors Worldwide.

Canada
Canada plans to increase the number of Iraqi refugees to the country to 3,900 in 2009.

Zambia’s Food Reserve Agency
The Food Reserve Agency in Zambia has distributed subsidized corn to a number of millers across the nation, enabling them to sell ground maize at a more affordable price.

Ecuador
Ecuador initiated a conservation project that employs 15,000 local and indigenous people to help conserve 165,000 hectares of Amazon forest.

Britain
Britain’s alcohol mortality rates have decreased over the past several years as a result of campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of alcohol.

Queensland and Western Australia
Various indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia, revised their laws regarding alcohol, and Western Australia’s ban on take-away alcohol has immediate reports on the improvements in quality of life.

Tibet
Tibet’s green efforts, many of which are solar powered, have resulted in 85% of the demand for vegetables being met locally, and nutrition has improved significantly for the children.

The Philippine Department of Education
The Philippine Department of Education sponsors a program to serve 300,000 families, which provides a small monthly stipend to underprivileged children, who are required to attend school regularly.

Bolivia
Bolivia’s new constitution, approved by voters, provides for the nation’s 36 indigenous communities to each establish their own territory, official language and community justice system.

West Bengal, India
India’s West Bengal state announced plans for organic cultivation of at least 20 percent of the region’s arable land by 2012.

Turkey
Turkey reports a decrease in cigarette consumption by 1.1 percent in the last six months as a result of the smoking ban in January 2008; another smoking ban for enclosed public spaces will be effective July 19, 2009.

Mayors of European cities, Ukraine, Turkey, New York, Argentina, New  Zealand
The mayors of over 350 European cities in 23 countries - with the support of Ukraine, Turkey, New York, Argentina, New Zealand - have signed a climate change agreement with the pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20 percent.

India, Kheti Virasat Mission, and Go Organic!
In India, a paper published for the Punjab state Farmers Commission, the Punjab organization Kheti Virasat Mission, and the Philippine consortium Go Organic! all advocate farmers to grow produce organically to preserve biodiversity, and protect humans and animals from toxic chemicals.

The Philippine Army
The Philippine Army has launched an agricultural project to introduce organic farming to less privileged residents in the Negros Oriental province.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has launched “The Great British Refurb” where every single residence in the country will be audited and retrofitted for enhanced energy efficiency by 2030.

Guyana and Norway
Guyana and Norway establish a partnership to lessen deforestation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, where Norway will provide performance-based compensation for Guyana’s efforts toward forest preservation.

India’s indigenous people
Approximately 20,000 indigenous people from over 200 villages in India gathered to form a 17-kilometer human chain along the foothills of Niyamgiri Mountain to protect it from bauxite mining and aluminum refinery operations.

Computer and Electronics Young Clubs
Free classes offered by the Computer and Electronics Young Clubs in Cuba over the past 11 years have resulted in over 2 million fellow citizens being taught computer skills.

Cool Earth
Cool Earth, a UK-based nonprofit organization devoted to preserving the Amazonian rainforest, offers carbon offsets to US residents through a US$50 donation to sponsor a half acre of endangered rainforest in Brazil, Ecuador, or Peru.

Tunisia
Tunisia’s investment in green energy over the past 20 years have led to a minimizing of overall imports of petroleum.

Cambridge University’s scientists
Scientists at Cambridge University in the UK have invented an affordable light bulb that lasts 60 years and can reduce energy use by 75%.

Australia
Australia is planning a new law that would immediately revoke the license of anyone caught driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Former US President Bill Clinton and Los  Antonio Villaraigosa
Former US President Bill Clinton and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a collaboration between the Clinton Climate Change Initiative and the city to replace residential street lights with energy efficient bulbs that will eliminate 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions / year, US$10 million annual savings expected.  

India and local NGOs
India and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seek to restore the disappearing wetlands in the Kashmir Valley and elsewhere in the region.

Saint Lucie County, Florida, USA
Saint Lucie County, Florida, USA, decides to use plasma arc technology to vaporize waste, and the resulting gas will provide power for both the plant and 3,600 homes; the byproduct slag will be used for road construction.

Pond Conservation and Tubney Charitable Trust
Supported by Tubney Charitable Trust, Pond Conservation is launching the Million Ponds program to restore ponds and their freshwater inhabitants across the United Kingdom.

Tamil Nadu, India
The state of Tamil Nadu, India, reported at the International Congress on Global Warming that the state’s tree cover had increased to almost 33 percent due to efforts to reduce the impact of climate change and a tree cultivation project launched in 2007.

National Trust
The conservation charity National Trust is providing land for 1,000 garden allotments to go to individuals or community groups throughout England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to grow fruits and vegetables.

European Union,
Stockholm, Sweden and Hamburg, Germany
The European Union presented the cities of Stockholm, Sweden, and Hamburg, Germany, with the new European Green Capital award of 2010 and 2011, respectively, for their outstanding measures to create clean, green urban areas.

Residents of Seal Cove, Newfoundland in Canada
When residents of Seal Cove in Canada, heard the cries of dolphins trapped by ice in the local harbor, they spent hours carefully clearing a path to support the marine mammals’ safe return to sea.

Todd Dietz, Rick Hines, and the Indianapolis Fire Department
Todd Dietz spotted 2-year-old Biscuit, a Great Pyrenees, trapped on ice in the middle of a river, called the Indianapolis Fire Department, and firefighter Rick Hines was able to pull Biscuit to safety.

Sidney the Jack Russell terrier and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
Sidney the Jack Russell terrier, a former street dog and recipient of Hearing Dog of the Month for January 2009, trained by the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, become indispensable to hearing-impaired Emma Seeds in England.

Armenia
Armenia offers producers of organic products certification and labeling through the Ecoglobe organization beginning May 5, 2009.

World Wildlife Fund
Scientists at World Wildlife Fund monitored the journey of Ana the sea turtle from Indonesia to Australia to enable the organization to design networks of marine protected areas.

Jon Dee, Professor Arjen Hoekstra
Jon Dee, the Australian founder of Planet Ark, recommends water footprint labels on food, designed by Professor Arjen Hoekstra of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, to show how much water is used to produce different foods.

Christopher de Leon
Christopher de Leon, a highly celebrated award-winning Philippine actor, has joined the Conservation International Philippines to protect the diverse ecosystem of the Verde Island Passage and other national ocean sites.

Worldwide Fund for Nature
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) launches a "Green Spring Festival" environmental campaign in China during the Lunar New Year with the www.20to20.org website that offers eco-friendly and energy saving tips.

Neil Diamond
American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond was named the MusiCares Person of the Year in honor of his 50-year career and his many charitable donations.

Hong Kong and Shanghai (HSBC) Bank and World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines
The Hong Kong and Shanghai (HSBC) Bank and World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines sponsored the HSBC Eco-Kids project to teach Philippine students about climate change.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman in Brisbane, Australia participates in planting the 500,000th tree as part of a goal to green the city with two million trees by 2012.

Fourth graders at Hampstead Academy
Fourth graders at Hampstead Academy in New Hampshire, USA, organized a special vegetarian lunch as a fundraiser for the Rainforest Alliance Network to raise awareness and stop the destruction of the Amazon to raise cattle for human consumption.

The Kann  Tekapo, New Zealand
Tekapo, New Zealand has a tradition since 1965 of turning down its night lights to minimize light pollution in order to better observe the stars in the sky.

 

The Kann  family
The Kann family farm in Florida, USA uses hydroponics technology to successfully produce annually hundreds of pounds of organically grown food.

Sarah Lim
Financial professional Sarah Lim spends her lunch hours in Malaysia rescuing stray dogs and helped 70 of the canines find permanent homes.

The Hokkaido Guide Dogs Association
The Hokkaido Guide Dogs Association established a center in 1978 in Sapporo, Japan, that has helped care for over 200 retired service canines who enjoy their remaining years there.

Mother Nature Network
Mother Nature Network, a new US-based website, strives to provide dependable eco-news for its readers.

Dogs in Maryland, USA
Dogs in Maryland, USA, donate blood to the Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank to save canine lives in case of emergencies.



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AWARD OF THE MONTH (FEBRUARY 2009)
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SPECIAL SALUTE of the MONTH (JANUARY 2009)
 
AWARD OF THE MONTH (JANUARY 2009)
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AWARD OF THE MONTH ( DECEMBER 2008)
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AWARD OF THE MONTH ( NOVEMBER 2008)
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