Today is blog action day 2008 and the topic is poverty. So what can you do to help fight poverty? Here’s 88 ways you can do something about it right now.

Eat meatless meals 2x a week. Donate that grocery money to a local food bank. – TarotByArwen

Be homeless for a day/night. – Lex

Stop putting off adopting a child through an organization like Compassion International (or adopt another one). – Lex

Make a loan on Kiva, or buy a couple gift certificates and give them away to friends. – Lex

Get a group together to go door-to-door collecting canned foods for your local soup kitchen/shelter. – Lex

Take a homeless person to dinner and actually sit/talk with him. – Lex

Stop being lazy. Find a way to do your job better so that you can save an hour a day, or be that much more productive. – Alex Shalman

Stop buying junk to make yourself look pretty and donate it to homeless people and hungry people. – Craigsnede

Make flyers to stick in the local library. – Craigsnede

If you have a musical instrument you no longer use, donate to the still-struggling musicians and students in New Orleans, who are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. A few great organizations that will accepts musical instruments are Tipitina’s Foundation (www.tipitinasfoundation.org) and The New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund (www.nomrf.org/donations.html).

For the complete list follow this link:


http://site.blogactionday.org/poverty/fight-poverty/

Helping out your own community is probably one of the best ways you can help out. Here’s a list of Arizona charities.

Watch this video for a little inspiration.

A big part of sustainability is building community and that includes  getting out there to support local business and local services.  The fashion industry is not often equated with much of anything nice other than looking good.  It is particularly not known for being sustainable, but here is your chance to look great, support locally owned businesses, and contribute to a life saving cause. Paradise Valley Community College is holding an upcoming event to provide you that opportunity. They have put together an event called Fashion of Compassion, showcasing fashions from local boutiques with the proceeds going to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

It can be tough to find local clothing stores and the allure of convenience of big names and mega malls can be too much to resist when you don’t know where else to go. This is your chance to get informed on who is out there locally.  Just browsing through their websites (links below) there’s a lot to look forward to.  A worthy cause, supporting local business, with loads of fun fashion, sounds good to me! Be sure to tell your friends, the more people who attend, the more donations to the hospital and the more publicity for these local boutiques!

[Visit LocalFirstAZ.com to view more local boutiques]

PVCC Fashion of Compassion Evening Sept. 17

Alpha Omicron Chi, Paradise Valley Community College’s chapter of the international honor society Phi Theta Kappa, presents The Fashion of Compassion event from 5 to 9 p.m., Wenesday, Sept. 17 in the Center for Performing Arts on the PVCC Campus at Union Hills Boulevard and 32nd Street. Proceeds benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Following the opening reception, Alexis Vance of Fox 10 News will emcee the fashion show from 6 to 7 p.m. Students and staff will model clothing from shops participating in the on-site bazaar including Roka Boutique, Spoken Boutique, Estilo Boutique, Red Haute Boutique, Rowdy Boutique, Wink Boutique, Strawberry Mondays, Prima Divaz, Grandma’s Lullaby Loft plus Bella and Gracie’s.

Laurie Bachand, PVCC President of Alpha Omicron Chi, says that in addition to the fashion show and clothing bazaar, there will be a silent auction for packages such as Dinner at Earl’s and a Harkins movie; horseback riding in Sedona with Red Rock Western Jeep Tours; gift certificates from Tesori Jewelers, Electric Lady Land, Divaz Boutique, T’s Accessories and Brass Heart; and hair styling with products from Carolyn’s Hair Salon.

Also, please bring your gently used CDs and DVDs to donate to the hospital’s play rooms. Keep in mind they are for youths up to age 17.

Tickets for the fashion show are $10 each, available at the door and include light refreshments from 5 to 6 p.m. provided by Bruce Brown Catering. Tickets are also available on campus in the Kranitz Student Center and by calling the CPA box office at 602-787-7738.

With so much focus on the presidential election it seems that local affairs are getting overshadowed.  Local issues are important and need to be addressed so today is the day to make your views count.  It is time for the primary elections here in AZ.  I didn’t know where my polling place was so I had to look up this info anyway and thought I might as well look up a few more and share them just in case. Follow the link for your county to get to the elections page where you can find locations of polling, the new i.d. requirements, and a list of candidates.

• Apache
• Cochise
• Coconino
  
• Gila
• Graham
• Greenlee
• La Paz
• Maricopa
• Mohave
• Navajo
• Pima
• Pinal
• Santa Cruz
• Yavapai
• Yuma

Maricopa County:

Proof of Citizenship – I.D. Requirements at the Polls
For a list of acceptable forms of identification, go to:
http://recorder.maricopa.gov/pdf/outreach_eng.pdf

Are You Registered to Vote? Check Here:
https://recorder.maricopa.gov/earlyvoteballotnet/voterreglookup.aspx

Do You Know Where Your Polling Place Is? Check Here:
http://recorder.maricopa.gov/pollingplace05/pollingplace.aspx

With the strain on household income continually increasing and energy cost on the rise it is easy to feel helpless.  Obviously that gets us nowhere so what can we actually do? Until a few days ago I had no clue until a segment came on NPR that enlightened me. There is a group of elected officials we all need to know about! The Corporation Commission. It is a panel of 5 individuals who do everything from set the price rates for your electricity, natural gas, phone, private water companies as well as inspect railroad tracks and license security brokers.  There is an upcoming election so if you care about the cost of energy and our sources of energy you should pay attention to who is running for the three open seats on the Corporation Commission.

What’s at stake? The Renewable Energy Act: the current regulations in place that require 15% of our electricity come from renewable resources by 2025.  There are a lot of people vying for your vote on both sides of this issue so here is a bit of information to help you make your decision and get the ball rolling for your own research into the candidates. The primary election is Tuesday, Sept. 2nd.

Fowlkes (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: would replace it with incentives for utilities to use renewable energy and focus on competition between providers

Hobbs (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: supports allowing utilities to spread their investment over a longer period of time

Swapp (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: favors a free-market approach and focus on competition over regulation

Wong (Republican): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: “the long term impact of solar and renewable will be constant while fuels like natural gas and others will continue to spike up”

Allen (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: says the technology to make this change does not exist and worries these regulations will have too great a cost on low income people and seniors

McClure (Republican): Undecided on the Renewable Energy Act: would not try to repeal or expand it “never second guess the future”

Robson (Republican): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: (I was asked to change this and clarify that Robson and Stump hold the same views, I must have misunderstood what they said so please listen to their interviews on the NPR stories at the bottom of this post to discern for yourself where they stand, thanks and I apologize for the confusion.) considers it to be a goal and if it can be met it should stay in place. It should be reviewed on an annual basis and what challenges it brings about.

Stump (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: (see above) should be a goal not a regulation so market conditions and technology dictate the success of the goal

George (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: advocates solar for long term but in the mean time suggests stressing efficiency for individuals – installing smart meters, etc

Kennedy (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: focuses on the importance of solar power but wants to make sure seniors and low income people will benefit rather than have added costs

Newman (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: wants to “bring clean energy to the table” and implement the renewable energy act to represent consumers and be fair to the utility companies

Kelty (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: sees the primary role of the Corp. Comm. as protecting the consumers, “we cannot afford the cost of inaction”

Click on the candidate names above to be taken to their websites.

Click here to listen to the NPR breakdown of the Democratic Candidates

Click here to listen to the NPR breakdown of the Republican Candidates

Click here to view the Arizona Republic Candidate Q & A (not all candidates included)

Click here to read “Candidates’ Expenses Questioned” from the AZ Republic

As Congress looks ahead to its August recess, thousands of workers in America’s wind and solar energy companies are looking ahead to something very different — possible layoffs.

It’s time to pick up the phone.

It’s stunning that layoffs could happen in such a high growth sector. But it’s what we can expect if Congress fails to extend the tax incentives that are key to getting these new industries established.

Please call your Senators right now at the numbers below.

* Make sure they know you are one of their constituents.
* Ask them to support the tax incentives for renewable energy in bill S. 3335.
* Tell them it is essential that these incentives pass before the recess. Waiting longer will cause a significant loss of momentum for these industries.

You can reach your Senators at these numbers:

Senator McCain: 202-224-2235
You may also contact Senator McCain through his website by clicking here.

Senator Jon Kyl: 202-224-4521
You may also contact Senator Kyl through his website by clicking here.

America can lead the way in producing electricity from sources that do not contribute to global warming. Doing so would revitalize our economy, make us more secure and help solve the climate crisis. We need the Senate to act.