Lifestyle Hub

Solar farm helps reduce Hawaii’s carbon footprint

A new 500 kilowatt solar farm in Kona will power 250+ homes on the Big Island, reducing oil imported to Hawai’i by 2,000 barrels annually. The concentrating solar power collectors, which are located at a 4 acre farm in the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i in Kona, are twice as efficient as photovoltaic panels, and cost less to manufacture.

Rising obesity is both costly and deadly

A recent study predicts that the effects of increasing obesity in the US are forecast to outweigh any benefits from continued reductions in smoking rates over the next decade.

Tasty Bites Goes ALL VEGETARIAN!!!

We are real excited as Tasty Bite, a delicious Indian, Thai and Pan-Asian ready to eat packaged food company recently discontinued the only flavor they had with animal products in it – a product that contained fish sauce. We suggested they consider dropping it, they thought about it, and came back to us telling us that they had decided to drop it. Wow, great decision. They told us they and their team feel really good about this. No wonder Tasty Bite made the list of best companies to work for in India.

Save the shearwater! .... eat the cows?

State officials are asking O'ahu residents to turn down their lights at night for the next few weeks to help native seabirds find their way out to sea for the winter.

The blog is back!

Along with the relaunch of the website my blog is back!

Down to Earth launches its revamped website

Welcome to our revamped website! Our website team has done a great job of redesigning and upgrading the look, feel, and content of the website, and it is built around our new logo with our new name, "Down to Earth ALL VEGETARIAN Organic & Natural", our "Love Life!" slogan, and our key message:

"The single most important thing an individual can do for their health, for the environment, and for the sake of the innocent animals is to adopt a vegetarian diet."

Back to the Peacock!

On December 1, 2009 the Honolulu Advertiser provided an update on the case of the woman accused of brutally bashing a peacock with a baseball bat back in May 2009. You may recall that after bashing it she left it to die while it piteously cried for over an hour. She explained that the bashing occurred because she couldn’t take its noise anymore. Her attorney is now seeking to have the animal cruelty charges against her dismissed on the basis that peacocks “are detrimental to human life."

Animal Shelter operator files lawsuit

In an update about the Leeward Coast animal shelter which was accused of animal hoarding and cruelty to animals, the owner has filed a lawsuit against the Hawaiian Humane Society and several other local and national animal welfare societies. The following is from the Honolulu Advertiser story on the lawsuit: The surviving owner of the Leeward Coast animal shelter where more than 400 dogs, cats and birds were housed in a no-kill sanctuary has filed a lawsuit against several local and national animal welfare organizations, including the Hawaiian Humane Society.

French study finds organic foods are healthier

There has been a debate for many years about whether organic foods are healthier and more nutritious than non organic foods (i.e. foods sprayed with poison). Last month a UK study found that there was no evidence of nutritional superiority of organics.

Vegetables not as nutritious as they were 40 - 50 years ago

The following if from Natural Foods Merchandiser's blog: Store-bought vegetables are not as good for you as they were 40-50 years ago. According to the USDA, fruits and vegetables were packed with far more nutrients back then than they are now. Experts attribute the nutritional drop to hybrid breeding of crops, designed more for size and color and ability to survive transport, than nutritional value.