What is Opportunity 2010?
Clean Air Lawn Care is the nation’s leading full-service sustainable lawn care company. Through Opportunity 2010, Clean Air Lawn Care is giving away a once in a lifetime opportunity—a chance to start your own Clean Air Lawn Care business. Kelly Giard, CEO/founder of Clean Air, was named Entrepreneur Magazine’s Emerging Entrepreneur 2009 and is ‘paying it forward’ to an entrepreneur of 2010 by giving a franchise to a deserving person who has the passion to be successful but perhaps not the means.
Why?
Our country is emerging from an economically difficult 2009. There are many hard-working Americans who are currently recovering from unexpected events. At the same time, we are undergoing a climate crisis and a need to re-examine our values as a nation toward living and working sustainably. Opportunity 2010 is designed to give a 2nd chance to someone who has the skills, passion and determination to be successful and do something positive for themselves and their environment, but who doesn’t have the means.
Who is the Ideal Candidate?
The ideal candidate will be business-savvy, environmentally minded, and passionate about improving his/her life and the environment in their community.
AND this candidate would have had a challenging year in 2009, financial or otherwise.
AND The successful candidate will have $15k liquid ($65k net) to put toward start-up costs.
Clean Air is taking online submissions until February 9th, and then will choose semi-finalists to submit a video story. From there, 5 finalists will be chosen for an online public vote. Dates for choosing the winner are below
For more information on the contest, you can go to: http://cleanairlawncare.com/opp2010.html.
Deadline for Submission: February 9, 2010 midnight MST
15 Semi-Finalists Chosen: February 11, 2010
Semi-Finalists Video due: February 16, 2010
5 Finalists Chosen & Announced: February 19, 2010
Public Video Vote begins: February 22, 2010
Public Video Vote ends: March 16, 10 midnight MST
Winner Announced: March 18, 2010
Hi folks, here’s another cool product from KEEN geared toward mountain bikers: The Coronado Cruiser ($80 MSRP). Although it’s not really a technical riding shoe, this is one of those products that is great to just kick around in. As its name implies, this shoe is for cruising (stylin’ while ridin’) and it kinda brings me back to the days before complicated, high tech bike equipment.
The Coronado Cruiser combines breathable canvas, soft leather, and recycled rubber to make a relaxed summer shoe. The sole is made up of two different compounds: the outer sole is harder, longer-wearing, and non-marking while the inner sole hides a panel of soft rubber under the ball of the foot to help your foot grip the pedals.
One of the coolest things about the Coronado shoes is that they’re made from recycled materials. With an eye toward the environment, Keen has chosen to use recycled rubber in the soles and recycled aluminum in the hardware. Even the packaging material is recycled. How’s that for corporate responsibility?
Taking these to the street on both my mountain and DJ bikes I found these shoes to be pretty grippy on flat pedals. Now these are not a shoe to hit the slopes with, but on those lazy days when you’re just riding around for fun, these fit the bill nicely. Still, there’s a bit of added room in the protected toe box and the area under foot is reinforced for stiffness which translates into greater pedaling efficiency.
Check out KEEN and their expanded Spring/Summer 2010 Pedal Shoe Collection. These shoes meet the basic needs of cyclists with stylish, comfortable shoes, socks, and bags that are ready to roll. The Pedal Collection includes KEEN cycling favorites, as well new styles that will enhance the biking lifestyle and should be available in stores now.
Features
- 3/4 length plate for increased energy return and support
- Non-marking rubber outsole
- Soft rubber forefoot pod for pedal grip
- Vulcanized eco-friendly construction
Thanks to the folks at KEEN for providing the Coronado Cruiser shoe for review.
On Thursday January 28th, The Freshwater Trust (TFT) hosted its annual Salmon Watch Appreciation Event for teachers, volunteers and program partners. This event is a thank you to TFT’s 200+ volunteers and a way to recognize highlights from the Salmon Watch education program which serves over 5,000 students across the state of Oregon every fall.
This year as our “keynote” for the evening, TFT invited 5 exceptional students from New Urban HS, David Douglas HS and Multnomah Youth Cooperative to share about their experience in Salmon Watch and Student Stewardship Projects on a student panel so volunteers could hear first hand, how they have been able to make a positive contribution through this program. Over 75 of our partners, volunteers and teachers attended to socialize, network and hear directly from the students about their connection to the natural world.
The January issue of Footwear Plus features the Hoodoo High Lace and the Auburn Boot. Kelly Wallrich, VP of Product and Design, says “The key is to create footwear that can be comfortably worn out with friends or up on a mountain. A great functional boot can cover a range of consumers.”
Thought you’d be interested in seeing a photo of Kevin Mawae’s HybridLife. Kevin is the All Pro center for the Tennessee Titans and sporting the Newports H2’s. He is helping to build a playground through the NFL’s giving back initiative Play60.
Before Kevin competed in the 2010 Pro Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 31, some of the NFL’s biggest stars came together as one team Thursday, Jan. 28, in the largest community program in the league’s history. Following morning practices Pro Bowl players, coaches and Bank of America community volunteers spent the afternoon working to improve the South Florida community as part of the first-ever “NFL PLAY 60 Community Blitz” in celebration of the Pro Bowl.
John C. McGinley plays Dr. Perry Cox on ABC’s Scrubs. Here is a screenshot from the most recent episode. Apparently, Dr. Perry Cox likes the Yogui in Graphite.
This once professional kayaker turned documentary filmmaker teaches us how to see our planet as a -natural playground’-and urges us each to protect it.
It’s a classic tale. Boy grows up immersed in nature. Boy feels overwhelming duty to help protect it–and inspire others to do the same. If only everyone could be such an outdoors enthusiast, like Seth Warren, who professionally kayaked for ten years before deciding to capture his natural playground (as he likes to call it) on film.
In 2007, he directed Oil + Water, which followed the longest-ever petroleum free road trip and now, most recently in Nature Propelled, Seth draws the connection between the planet’s natural elements, renewable energy, adventure sports, and how people can harness these three to power-up their lifestyles for the better.
In addition to bringing his message to the big screen, Seth travels North America in his veggie-fueled vehicle; Baby, teaching the public and youth about how live more sustainably. This mobile advocacy project of his is called the Elements Tour. And when not busy with this, you’ll likely find him out in the elements: skiing, surfing, kayaking, hand gliding, and practicing his most recent passion–paddle boarding.
The project began as a challenge. Carl Morgan’s son Justin, recalling how he used to have to crank up a nasty hill outside their Bainbridge Island, Washington, home every day, asked his dad, a retired electrical engineer, if he could build something that would take care of the pedaling for a lazy biker. The “yes” arrived about a year later- an electric-motor-powered tandem bicycle featuring a gleaming robot named Joules.
Morgan spent months modeling how to transform a motor’s spin into pedalpushing legs. The motor inside Joules s torso turns a series of linked belts and chains that transfer power from one area of the robot to the next. Each upper leg pivots at the hip, raising and lowering its knee and forcing the lower legs to turn the pedals. He also added “bones” (rods on the outside) for needed stiffness.
Morgan was nervous when he climbed in front for the final test, but Joules easily cruised to the top of the hill. The bike could probably do more, even hit 30 mph, but Morgan says he doesn’t plan to find out: “Abject cowardice on my part means we’ll never know for sure.”
KEEN CEO and President James Curleigh speaks about KEEN’s first seven years, how it all began and the meaning of HybridLife during a KEEN-sponsored ‘Editor Event’ on Day 1 of the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City, Utah.
