Opened in June 2009, McKesson's newest pharmaceutical distribution center (DC) is the company's first to receive LEED new construction certification. Among its environmentally friendly features are its use of recycled building materials, low-flow water fixtures, natural landscaping, motion-controlled lighting and parking for fuel-efficient vehicles.
The new DC is larger than average, with 280,000 sq. ft. of space on the main floor and an additional 60,000 sq. ft of floor space on a second-story mezzanine. It serves more than 1,500 customers.
The DC showcases technology designed to improve the efficiency of warehouse operations. It includes two A-frame units, which enable automated picking of fast-moving products.
It is also the first McKesson DC to use a “Pick-to-Light” system, which guides order fillers down the line by lighting the appropriate product shelves.
“The Pick-to-Light system will make our picking more efficient,” explained Ammie Rabicke, Chicagoland’s director of Operations. “Because it’s so easy to learn, this will be a good place to start new hires.”
Ammie continued, “We’re all extremely excited to move into the new DC, with new technology that will help us provide even better service to our customers.”
Many conservationists have been talking about how commercial fishing practices have all but destroyed many of the most significant fish populations on the planet, like the snapper and giant bluefin tuna, however not as much attention has been drawn to the way outdated fishing techniques are negatively impacting other marine species, like sea birds.
According to a recently formed coalition of conservation organizations that includes Britain's own Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, seabirds like the Albatross and and petrel are frequently becoming the innocent victims of a fishing practice known as long lining, or trawling.
Although they are slightly different in execution, both long lining and trawling involve dragging lines and/or nets behind fishing boats for long distances. Because these lines carry fish bait and bits of discarded fish flesh on the boat decks, they act as magnets for seabirds who treat them like their at-sea buffet.
Fishing boats that are deploying long lines of baited hooks can often spell the end for these seabirds, which swoop down to obtain the tasty morsel, only to become ensnared on the hook and plunged under the water where they soon drown.
Thankfully, there are easy, inexpensive solutions to this problem. The hard part arises in getting fishing boats to adopt them.
Visit http://su.pr/6yePAV to learn what you can do to help!Many conservationists have been talking about how commercial fishing practices have... more
The Cross-Country Bicycle Ride that's collecting different environmental perspective along the Southern Tier of the United States finds itself leaving Tempe, AZ heading for New Mexico.
First stop is at the San Carlos Apache tribe reservation, home of the 10th largest Indian reservation in the United States. There is something about a Native American perspective that will be crucial to a documentary series collecting environmental perspective. Meet the Tribal Chairman on the Apache Rez and hear what he thinks and where we are headed environmentally.
After 1 month on the road the bike ride that left from Newport Beach arrives at the New Mexico State Border. Jeff and Mike meet up with an old friend for a day of riding. Luckily their friend Zain is a Doctor of Pain Management and he came prepared to heal the aching bodies that are pulling 75 pounds of weight on a trailer attached to a bicycle across the country.
After crossing an 8000 foot peak in freezing conditions the bicyclists meet up with two people who show them 2 different approaches to building an environmentally friendly home.
Nestled in the hills of the Gila National Forrest is the Black Range Lodge a cozy bed and breakfast where aside from the beautiful setting guests come hear to learn about building a house out of Straw Bales. Catherine Wanek, the owner of the Black Range Lodge shows us how people can build with straw bales and tells us why this approach could be so beneficial to people, communities and the planet.
Episode 2-2 wraps up the straw bale segment and heads to Las Cruces NM to learn about building with another environmentally friendly material, Adobe. Just like a straw bale Adobe's homes are super insulators. Pat Taylor who restores historical Adobe buildings, teaches us some simple approaches to making adobe.
Jeff and Mike cross the border into the massive state of Texas. The bike riders take a deep breath and take an in depth look at Air Quality. That should be easy to do in El Paso, TX because 2008 marked the first year that they hit the air quality goals set by the EPA. El Paso and it's border city Juarez have worked together to clean up the air quality. How did they do it? You'll meet Jesus Reynoso and Bob Currey to learn about Air Quality and Health, major contributors to bad air pollution, and what you can do to clean up the air that we are all helping to pollute.
Episode 2 closes with a segment about the Poo Poo Choo Choo rolling into Sierra Blanca, TX. That's Right! In the 1990's the Clinton Administration banned dumping toxic waste in the Ocean. The unintended consequences of this good action was that the toxic waste had to go somewhere. As a result this meant that states could now transport toxic waste domestically.
Nearly 2100 miles away from Sierra Blanca, TX a train carrying toxic poop left on a journey to deliver its load into the backyards of the residents of Sierra Blanca. Hear from 2 local people that tell us how things were for them back in the 90's when Poo Poo Choo Choo dumped 250 tons on them per day.
Project: Southern Tier 2-2 from Jeff Hyland on Vimeo.
A WHACKO-TV News crew flew out to the mountains to take a look at how the Christmas tree farmers bring in their annual money crop. Boy, were we surprised to run into a highly organized group of animals who protested the whole Christmas tree thing. We should all be glad they don't have the right to vote.A WHACKO-TV News crew flew out to the mountains to take a look at how the Christmas... more
Let's be honest for a second folks, sooner or later you ARE going to flip your kayak. Maybe that little bobble or wobble lets water in over the side and it's all downhill from there as more rushes in.
-You probably need kayak flotation bags to prevent your kayak from sinking -
Being pro-active instead of re-active in the sport of kayaking is essential.Let's be honest for a second folks, sooner or later you ARE going to flip your kayak.... more
IGCC plants have been deployed worldwide and have demonstrated the capability to significantly reduce emissions. The technology converts solid fuels, such as coal, into a cleaner burning hydrogen-rich fuel, which then is used by a gas turbine combined-cycle system to generate electricity, providing a cleaner, economical coal-to-power option. IGCC also significantly reduces criteria emissions—sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, mercury and particulate matter, and decreases water consumption by up to 30 percent (as compared to a conventional coal plant).
The Cross-Country Bicycle Ride that's collecting different environmental perspective along the Southern Tier of the United States finds itself leaving Tempe, AZ heading for New Mexico.
First stop is at the San Carlos Apache tribe reservation, home of the 10th largest Indian reservation in the United States. There is something about a Native American perspective that will be crucial to a documentary series collecting environmental perspective. Meet the Tribal Chairman on the Apache Rez and hear what he thinks and where we are headed environmentally.
After 1 month on the road the bike ride that left from Newport Beach arrives at the New Mexico State Border. Jeff and Mike meet up with an old friend for a day of riding. Luckily their friend Zain is a Doctor of Pain Management and he came prepared to heal the aching bodies that are pulling 75 pounds of weight on a trailer attached to a bicycle across the country.
After crossing an 8000 foot peak in freezing conditions the bicyclists meet up with two people who show them 2 different approaches to building an environmentally friendly home.
Nestled in the hills of the Gila National Forrest is the Black Range Lodge a cozy bed and breakfast where aside from the beautiful setting guests come hear to learn about building a house out of Straw Bales. Catherine Wanek, the owner of the Black Range Lodge shows us how people can build with straw bales and tells us why this approach could be so beneficial to people, communities and the planet.
Episode 2-2 wraps up the straw bale segment and heads to Las Cruces NM to learn about building with another environmentally friendly material, Adobe. Just like a straw bale Adobe's homes are super insulators. Pat Taylor who restores historical Adobe buildings, teaches us some simple approaches to making adobe.
Jeff and Mike cross the border into the massive state of Texas. The bike riders take a deep breath and take an in depth look at Air Quality. That should be easy to do in El Paso, TX because 2008 marked the first year that they hit the air quality goals set by the EPA. El Paso and it's border city Juarez have worked together to clean up the air quality. How did they do it? You'll meet Jesus Reynoso and Bob Currey to learn about Air Quality and Health, major contributors to bad air pollution, and what you can do to clean up the air that we are all helping to pollute.
Episode 2 closes with a segment about the Poo Poo Choo Choo rolling into Sierra Blanca, TX. That's Right! In the 1990's the Clinton Administration banned dumping toxic waste in the Ocean. The unintended consequences of this good action was that the toxic waste had to go somewhere. As a result this meant that states could now transport toxic waste domestically.
Nearly 2100 miles away from Sierra Blanca, TX a train carrying toxic poop left on a journey to deliver its load into the backyards of the residents of Sierra Blanca. Hear from 2 local people that tell us how things were for them back in the 90's when Poo Poo Choo Choo dumped 250 tons on them per day.
Project: Southern Tier 2-2 from Jeff Hyland on Vimeo.
It now seems clear why the staff to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin didn't want anyone to bring recording devices or cell phones to her speech Friday night.
Even news outlets like Politico -- which have prominently featured Dick Cheney's terror jeremiads -- would have been likely to lampoon her.
But the ban on recording devices didn't stop them. Politico says they bought three tickets to Palin's Wisconsin speech and then penned a write-up. Their review was somewhat grim, taking aim at Palin's frequent use of the words "bogus" and "awesome" and delivering a strange anecdote about dollar coins.
"Palin had remarks prepared but frequently wandered off-script to make a point, offering audience members a casual “awesome” or “bogus” in discussing otherwise weighty topics," Politico's Jonathan Martin wrote in his review.
He quotes Palin as saying, “It is so bogus that society is sending a message right now and has been for probably the last 40 years that a woman isn’t strong enough or smart enough to be able to pursue an education, a career and her rights and still let her baby live.”
"Other Palin touchstones included: praise for the military, jeers for the “the liberal media” and a general manner of speaking that often veered into rhetorical culs-de-sac," he continued.
Palin didn't draw supporters to their feet: "While she drew applause during her remarks, Palin’s extemporaneous and frequently discursive style was such that she never truly roused a true-believing crowd as passionate about the issue at hand as she. Not once during her address did they rise to their feet."
They did stand at the end, however.
She then got a standing ovation from most of the crowd, but a few had begun to leave before she even finished and within seconds of her concluding, scores more got up and put on their jackets as they walked away.
In addition to the suggestion that government officials would consider hastening the death of the infirm or handicapped, she began her remarks with a puzzling commentary on the design of newly minted dollar coins.
Noting that there had been a lot of “change” of late, Palin recalled a recent conversation with a friend about how the phrase “In God We Trust” had been moved to the edge of the new coins.
“Who calls a shot like that?” she demanded. “Who makes a decision like that?”
She added: “It’s a disturbing trend.”
The decision to put "IN GOD WE TRUST" on the edges of presidential dollar coins has received little attention from the press, but was reversed in 2007, before President Barack Obama took office. Sens. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Robert Byrd (D-WV) sponsored legislation to move the motto back to the front face of the coins.
"It is important that our national motto, 'In God We Trust,' is prominently displayed on all of our currency," Brownback said. "We should not relegate our heritage to the side."
Some of Palin's recent speeches have also received lackluster reviews. At a recent speech in Hong Kong (which also banned the press) some delegates purportedly "walked out in disgust."http://rawstory.com/2009/11/palin-speech-abortion-opponents-mocked-describes-weighty-to... more
Overfishing of bluefin tuna, in conjunction with an inept agency commissioned to protect them, is rapidly driving the species toward extinction with as much as 90% of the population already gone.
Canada’s boreal forests soak up as much as 22 percent of all carbon stored on the Earth’s land surface; making conservation of these forest an environmental necessity.
The creation of a sustainable future will require the development of conservation practitioners with a strong foundation in science, leadership, and management. In addition, these practitioners will need to engage in cross-disciplinary problem solving, to understand cross-cultural and cross-boundary issues, and to be comfortable operating adaptively in an environment of increasing complexity and uncertainty.
Through the Conservation Leadership through Learning (CLTL) initiative, we are pioneering a new model for graduate education that will prepare the next generation of conservation leaders. CLTL merges transdisciplinary University education with real-world action to create on-the-ground benefits for conservation and communities. The result is a highly integrated learning experience developed by Colorado State University’s Warner College of Natural Resources and the School of Global Environmental Sustainability in partnership with El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in Mexico.
Accepting Applications Now - Start Date August 23, 2010Conservation at a Crossroads -
The creation of a sustainable future will require... more
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been working for years to improve the health of the planet's oceans, and today it has announced new collaborations to spread the word through chefs, seafood buyers and others.
The aquarium, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, released a report today on the state of the oceans. Prospects for the oceans are improving with a growing consensus to manage wild and farm fishing, the report says. But it also sets out significant problems that remain for the oceans and cites the human demand for seafood as the primary factor in the oceans' decline.
It also released a "Super Green" list, developed with the Harvard School of Public Health and the Environmental Defense Fund, of seafood that is healthy for people and the planet. On the list are some albacore tuna caught in the U.S. or British Columbia, wild-caught salmon from Alaska and pink shrimp from Oregon, among others.
Another of its efforts is a commitment by some of the country's top chefs -- including Suzanne Goin of Lucques in Los Angeles, Susan Spicer of Bayona in New Orleans, and the Food Network's Alton Brown -- to serve only sustainable seafood and work to persuade other chefs to do the same.
The aquarium is partnering with Santa Monica Seafood, the largest seafood distributor in the region, to help spread the word to its 1,500 chef customers and others, as well as to the people who sell them seafood and to the company's sales force.
The aquarium's report said the world seafood supply was 110 million tons in 2006 -- eight times what it was in 1950, with Asia accounting for more than half the global catch. And in the next year, it said, people will eat more farmed seafood than wild for the first time.
Today's announcement comes a week after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a sustainable-seafood bill into law to encourage sustainable-fishing practices in the state and help fishermen market their catch.The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been working for years to improve the health of the... more
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan said Monday it has caught 59 whales - one short of the maximum allowed by international guidelines - under a research program that critics say is a cover for commercial whaling.
The annual expedition off the port city of Kushiro ended over the weekend after harvesting 59 minke whales, the Fisheries Agency said in a statement. A maximum of 60 is allowed under the research program authorized by the International Whaling Commission.
The Shark Task Force continues to follow the story of Lemon Sharks in Florida. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is considering prohibiting the take of Lemon Sharks in Florida waters. In October, people on all sides of the issue gathered to speak out.
The Shark Task Force will continue to follow this story as officials consider what to do.
The FWC is scheduled to review the issue in December in Clewiston, FL.The Shark Task Force continues to follow the story of Lemon Sharks in Florida. The... more
Local conservationist and pilot Bruce Gordon gave up on politicians when former Speaker of the House Tom Foley fell asleep in his co-pilot seat.
Gordon had been giving the congressman a bird’s-eye tour of tree stands killed by mountain pine beetles when he nodded off.
“This big fat guy fell asleep right in the airplane,” Gordon said Monday.
So the longtime Aspenite has since turned his attention — and his six-seater Cessna — to a younger, more engaged crowd. On Monday morning, Gordon and two other volunteer pilots took to the sky with 50-some local teenagers, flying above beetle-killed lodgepole pines on the flanks of Mount Sopris.
The sky tours kicked off the fifth annual “Flight Across America” for EcoFlight, a local non-profit conservation tour outfit. It included students from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School along with Basalt, Bridges and Glenwood Springs high schools. This morning, EcoFlight is flying four students to Jackson, Wyo. to tour the forests there infested with the white bark pine beetle.
“There is a debate going on in my plane every day,” Gordon said as he navigated his jet several thousand feet above Thompson Creek.
--excerptLocal conservationist and pilot Bruce Gordon gave up on politicians when former... more
Asian demand for bluefin tuna, sharks' fins and ivory will come under scrutiny when 175 member states of the UN wildlife trade agency meet to consider trade restrictions, according to documents seen by AFP.
Proposals to restrict or ban international trade in those three products are due to be studied when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) holds its next triennial meeting in Qatar next year.
Monaco has tabled a ban for trade in tuna, while the European Union and the United States have proposed limits on the global trade of several shark species, the documents showed.
Meanwhile, Tanzania and Zambia are asking for a trade embargo on ivory to be lifted, allowing them to sell controlled quantities of elephants' tusks.
The consumption of sharks' fins -- a Chinese culinary delicacy -- is expected to be among key issues on the table at the Qatar meeting, officials said.
The United States and Palau had put in proposals to restrict international trade in white tip sharks and hammerhead sharks, while the European Union has proposed protecting porbeagle sharks, also known as Lamna nasus.
White tips and hammerheads have been "over-exploited" for their fins, said Washington in its submission.
Likewise, the EU warned: "Unsustainable target fisheries for Lamna nasus in parts of its range have been driven by international trade demand for its high value meat."
For environmental group Oceana, the moves marked a "realistic first step" in the promotion of sustainable trade in sharks.
"This could be the turning point for sharks. If countries join together now we can promote the sustainable trade of sharks worldwide," Courtney Sakai, Oceana senior campaign director told AFP.
Oceana also pointed to Monaco's request for a ban in bluefin tuna trade.
"This is the last chance for fisheries managers to show they are competent to manage these magnificent and valuable fish. If they fail, Asia may see its supply cut off, perhaps for years," said Michael Hirshfield, Oceana?s chief scientist.
According to the proposal put to CITES, bluefin tuna stocks are so fragile that the species should be classified as being at threat of extinction.
Monaco argued that tuna spawning stock in the Mediterranean has declined by more than 74 percent between 1957 to 2007, the bulk of it in the last decade.
Tuna stock in the west Atlantic has also plunged by 83 percent between 1970 to 2007, it added.Asian demand for bluefin tuna, sharks' fins and ivory will come under scrutiny when... more
Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to introduce different ideas about conservation in the US.
This is one of 4 videos that Ian is sharing with Current TV that documents his trip photographing national parks across the country, as he presents viewers with the good, the bad and the ugly of life as a nature photographer. This video focuses on Yellowstone Country.
Ian's environmental photography has appeared in Time Magazine, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, National Geographic, Outside Magazine and many other publications. His book, "The National Parks: Our American Landscapes" will be released on August 1, 2009.Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to... more
It was only a matter of time, but Aleksandr Orlov will be made into a cuddly talking toy in time for Christmas. The meerkat who fronts the comparethemarket.com ads will be going on sale in Harrods in December.
The toys will be sold at £19.95 each, and the London Zoo will receive a donation to support their conservation work with each sale.
SimplesIt was only a matter of time, but Aleksandr Orlov will be made into a cuddly talking... more
The state of Florida is reaching out to protect Lemon Sharks. The Shark Task Force reports that's because there's a lot at risk. If not protected - experts say the population of Lemon Sharks could be devastated in just two years - and that could have a very bad impact. To find out more check out www.sharktaskforce.com, or sign the petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/551674949The state of Florida is reaching out to protect Lemon Sharks. The Shark Task Force... more
