Green Nail Polish Remover

Last weekend I ventured out to Kaight, a green botique in New York that has very chic green clothing and accessories, all organic of course. And came across Priti soy nail polish remover and Priti polish.#547. I had no idea how toxic and awful nail polish and remover was for the environment, inside a typical bottle you'll usually find toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DHB) and formaldehyde- all known carcinogenic ingredients. It's those little things that add up. Love the nail polish remover, which feels better on the nails than a typical remover, which according to the company is "is 100 percent biodegradable, non-toxic, and non-carcinogenic, but it is also housed in an apothecary style bottle that is completely recyclable".

State of the Planet 2010

The Copenhagen Climate Summit has ended but climate negotiations still wage on. Today at Columbia University in New York, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, The Earth Institute and The Economist Magazine organized economists, scientists, political and business leaders in cities around world. Beijing, New Delhi Monaco, Nairobi, Mexico City, and London, all played a part through the technology of live video webcast in the State of the Planet Conference.

Four breakout sessions drove the days events dealing with what it would take to complete a climate deal, how to achieve Millennium Development Goals, what a green recovery would look like, and how an international system can be built to deal with transnational issues.

Keynote speakers included Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-Moon who asked for a green recovery and Felipe Calderón of Mexico, who outlined 7 steps to completing a climate agreement for COP-16 in Mexico in November of this year.

All of the video from the day's breakout sessions can be watched online at State of the Planet.org.

One of the most lively moments of the day came from a London feed when Sir David King, Director of the Smith School on Enterprise and the Environment, from Oxford Unicersity predicted the date of peak oil. "The world's oil reserves are exaggerated". Sir King said. Adding "The International Energy Agency had earlier predicted 2020 as the date when demand for oil would outpace supply, it's more like 2014"

Many of the Summit's participants came together on the common ground of the need for a green recovery, seeing the financial environmental and energy crisis as intertwined.

Some participants pointed to hope in renewable energy as part of a solution to the climate crisis. "The great hope of the sun, that means photovoltaics," said Walace Broecker a Professor at Columbia University who is best known for coining the term global warming.

Other's talked about updating the electrical grid, and adding other renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, and nuclear power, as well as the idea of taxing financial transactions to pay for a green recovery, as well as the possible necessity of geoengineering if the world can't figure out a way to keep greenhouse gas emissions in check.

Women in the World Summit

This being the first “Women in the Wold Summit” put together by The Daily Beasts' Tina Brown, one is probably wondering what it is that is being brought to light? To put it simply, it's the forgotten stories of women in this world, but mostly by the mainstream press.

Headlines in America generally don't discuss the Middle East unless it's a really big suicide explosion, where the body count is above a dozen minimum, or a new offensive tactic put on by the military, you might hear a newsreader on a morning show read a headline that a suicide bomb explosion killed 32 in Pakistan this morning. Or US military troops have stepped up a military offensive in Marja. But very seldom do we in America get the headlines of what is going on with the women inside a country of nearly 28.5 million people.

Yes, we are told that women are going back to school in Afghanistan, but we aren't told that literacy rates are only at 11% in Afghanistan, 33% in Pakistan, and that only includes not just the ability to read and write, but also the simple act of signing one's name.

Yes, we are told that things are still bad, but we aren't told that since the US troops have entered things haven't gotten much better. See the United States has in the past, and some may argue today still pursues a policy that has funds the warlords, that refuse to impose any kind of new reforms that would give additional rights to women, and many of new efforts have been in vain.

Yes we are told that Pakistan is unsafe, but rarely are we told how unsafe it is to be a girl, that it is not uncommon to be sentenced to death for rape, and your testimony counts for only half a man's in court.

So what do the women of Afghanistan and Pakistan want? They want equal representation., and not just for women's rights, but according to Suraya Pakzad, Executive Director, Voice of Women“Women should be at the table for making laws, at peace negotiations, at the origination point for the laws.” Right now there are peace negotiations taking place Afghanistan and they want there seat at the table. They want the US to ensure through aid, that they have representation. Afghanistan, a nation of nearly 28.5 million people has a population of gross inequality.