Goal For The Green

Relax and enjoy the beauty of nature, and the world we live in! 🙂

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Clean the World Foundation Inc., has only been an official organization since February, 2009.  Already, they are well on the path of doing great things!

Their campaign states that, by recycling soap and shampoo from hotels and motels, they are able to make it possible for people in developing countries, to clean themselves.  This not only reduces the risk of disease, for those people, but also reduces waste in landfills.

CTW, states that 9,000 children die everyday, from diarrheal disease, and respiratory disease.  This is often caused by a lack of hygiene, as well as, unsanitary conditions, and often a lack of water.   Studies have shown, that the 9,000 figure can be reduced by as much as 60 percent, just by hand washing alone.

The Clean the World team sanitizes, steams, packages, and sends the soap to homeless shelters, and overseas where thousands of children die from diseases stemming from poor hygiene.

Co-founder Shawn Seipler says, “If we can stop that soap from hitting landfills, recycle it, and get it to the 9,000 children who will die today, because they don’t have soap, and lack of hygiene, then we’re gonna do what Clean the World set out to do.”

Clean the World, picks the barely-used soap bins up from Hotel Biba, and other participating hotel/ motels each week. Then, back at their plant in Orlando, their team sanitizes, steams, packages, and sends the soap to homeless shelters, and overseas where thousands of children die from diseases stemming from poor hygiene.  They have already sent more than 150,000 bars of soap, over by boat, to Haiti.  In case you didn’t know, Haiti, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Hotel Biba General Manager Jennifer Reichert says, “Generally we collect one bar from the shower, and one bar from the sink from each guest per day. It’s a lot of soap.”  Hotel Biba, has 40 guest rooms, and typically up to 160 soap bars are used each day.

The program seems to benefit a lot of folks. The hotel maids who collect the soap, feel like they’re making a difference.  Men from a local shelter  get jobs disinfecting the soap. People in Haiti, and other overseas countries receive the soap, who otherwise,cannot afford it.  They are already helping save many lives, and keeping soap out of landfills.

Members of the non-profit organization hope more hotels request their service, as I’m sure they have, and will continue to do so.  If you travel a lot, check with your hotel/motel to see if they are participating in this program. If they are not, please encourage them to do so.  CTW, is saving lives and definitely working toward a better tomorrow for many people.

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My daughter sent me this the other day.  It got me thinking, as it is meant to, how lucky we are, to be able to share our thoughts and beliefs freely.  I, for one am thankful and grateful, that we have freedom of speech and religion, and are free to share our thoughts and concerns, without going to war about it.

While, I did not see this segment on CBS Sunday Morning, I felt it was very much worth sharing.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu .. If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country.. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities, and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But, there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from, and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s  daughter, was interviewed on the Early Show, and Jane Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Hurricane Katrina ).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing, and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’

In light of recent events… Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago), complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself.  And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped, and we might damage their self-esteem ( Dr. Spock ‘s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about.  And we said okay.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with, ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it….. No one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

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