Used nappies will be turned into garden furniture, roof tiles and railway sleepers under a new recycling scheme being trialled in Scotland.
Each year some 160 million nappies are sent to Scottish rubbish dumps.
But four councils are to trial a kerbside collection scheme for 36,000 homes across Fife, Stirling, Perth and Kinross and North Lanarkshire.
The pilot will run for an initial six months to establish whether it can be rolled out nationwide in the future.
As well as disposable nappies, incontinence products and other related items - like wet wipes, nappy sacks and cotton wool - will also be suitable for the recycling collection.
Jenny Sim of Zero Waste Scotland said babies used an average of 4.16 nappies per day, with more than 90% using disposables.
Reusable nappiesShe added: "The average child in Scotland goes through 4,000 nappies before they're potty trained, which is an awful lot going to landfill.
"The local authorities in the pilot areas will be collecting the waste, they'll send it to a big treatment unit where the waste is heated up to 125 degrees to sterilise it and clean it.
"The human waste is put to sewage, and the plastics and celluloids are then converted into useable products such as park benches, road signage, railway sleepers and decking.
"It does make it so much easier for parents in these trial areas to do their bit and help the environment and help recycling in Scotland."
Sheila Sangster, who has been a childminder in Stirling for 27 years, said it was "frightening" to think how many thousands of nappies she had sent to landfill over that period.
Mrs Sangster said she believed the recycling scheme could change the way people viewed the debate between disposable and reusable nappies.
'Step forward'"To use disposable nappies is so much more convenient for mums, so to have a scheme like this where they know that their nappies are not just going to lie in a landfill for hundreds of years - I think people will take up the opportunity to recycle them.
"You've got all these (recycling) boxes already, so one more is not going to make any difference.
"Also, it's going to be picked up weekly instead of lying in your bin for two weeks. As you can imagine, in the summertime that's not pleasant."
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "Disposable nappies, although convenient, do have a huge impact on the environment with a staggering 450,000 ending up in landfill each day in Scotland.
"This innovative new scheme is a fantastic step forward for recycling and makes it easier for parents to do their bit for the environment.
"It's great that new technologies allow us to recycle even more materials. In this way, we can reuse our waste and treat it as a valuable resource with the potential to boost our economy."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Cardi’s Furniture is Pleased to Introduce The Dr. Breus Bed™ - YAHOO!
Cardi’s Furniture Stores in MA and RI Announce the Addition of the Dr.Breus Bed to Their Product Line
Swansea, MA (PRWEB) June 14, 2012
Cardi's, the legendary Rhode Island and Massachusetts furniture and mattress provider, is proud to announce the addition of the unique and innovative Dr. Breus Bed to its line of top-quality furniture and bedding.Developed by sleep specialist Dr. Michael Breus, The Dr. Breus Bed™ has been specially designed to give you a perfect night of sleep, every time. The Dr. Breus Bed™ utilizes an exclusive proprietary layering system to achieve unbeatable comfort that leads to an ideal night of sleep. Up to 13 separate layers of pure Talalay latex and luxurious polyfoams are installed by hand into the beds by expert artisans during the sophisticated manufacturing process.
These exceptional beds are now available at all Cardi's Mattresses and Cardi's Furniture locations.
The unique system designed by Dr. Breus relies on his ingenious "Sleep Assessment" feature, which is based on his four tenets of better sleep: thermo-neutrality, a feeling of zero gravity that comes from superior pressure relief, complete relaxation and tranquil sleep that results from reduced movement.
In addition to The Dr. Breus Bed™, prospective buyers can experiment with the SleepMatch™ sleep assessment system to help you find the perfect bed for your body type. Thousands of volunteers of various body types assisted in the creation of this special SleepMatch™ system. Entering your SleepMatch™ information on the Cardi’s website will help Dr. Breus guide you to the right mattress for you: http://www.cardis.com/main/bodymatch.php
Dr. Breus is a sleep expert, best-selling author, clinical psychologist, Diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and Fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Dr. Oz Show, the Today Show and many other national TV programs and publications. He is a widely recognized leader in the field of sleep study.
The premier furniture and mattress store in MA and RI, Cardi's traces the roots of its operation back to the year 1901 in the town of Itri, Italy, with the first Cardi's in America opening as a general store in 1928. After undergoing several stages of expansion through the years, Cardi's now has multiple furniture, mattress, clearance and design locations throughout RI and MA, including Cape Cod. With an emphasis on flawless customer service, the Cardi's family is proud to guarantee the best furniture and mattress shopping experience in the business.
About Cardi’s Furniture:
As New England's leading home-grown furniture provider, Cardi's has been devoted to providing premium home furnishing for families across Southern New England for over 80 years. Cardi brothers Ron, Pete and Nick developed their famous "NiRoPe" philosophy around guaranteeing rock-bottom prices, sky-high quality and limitless customer service.
Cardi's Furniture
Cardi's Furniture
(508) 379-7510
Email Information
Source: news.yahoo.com
Paralyzed California teen walks at high school graduation - msnbc.com
A California teen paralyzed nearly all his life lived up to his big promise this week and walked on stage to accept his high school diploma.
For the last three years, 17-year-old Patrick Ivison of San Diego has been going through intensive training for Tuesday’s ceremony, enduring six hours per day of physical therapy, according to KGTV in San Diego.
He vowed to everyone he knew that he was going to walk on stage during commencement.
"There's always that like, oh, I've got, you know, all of America expecting me to get through this," Ivison told KGTV.
The Scripps Ranch High School student suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident when he was only 14 months old.
When Ivison appeared on stage during commencement ceremonies, cheers and a standing ovation greeted him, encouraging him every step of the way. With the help of his trainer, a custom walker and his service dog, Ivison accepted his diploma. He graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average, according to KGTV.
"Graduation was fantastic and it was like I was in another time zone," Janice Kyler, Ivison's grandmother, told msnbc.com on Thursday. "He walked slow and it was the best walking he has ever done."
"We’re thrilled, proud and words can’t express the emotions. He's worked so hard to get to this point. He's a sweetheart,” Kyler said.
Watch the most-viewed videos on msnbc.com
She said the injury has done little to stop her spirited grandson.
Ivison was inspired to surf when he was 8 years old after seeing an adaptive surfer in the documentary "Step into Liquid," according to NBCSanDiego.com. By 13, he was competing in the U.S. Open of Surfing and Life Rolls On, a non-profit organization created to improve the lives of young people with spinal cord injuries, has been with all the way.
"We couldn’t be more proud of Patrick Ivison," said Kris Nakamura, executive director of Life Rolls On, in a statement. "Serving as an ambassador for Life Rolls On Foundation since he began surfing with us at 8-years-old, he has grown into an incredible young man who continues to be a shining example of how life truly rolls on after spinal cord injury. His first steps are just an example of even greater things to come."
These days, the teen is busy with college plans.
Ivison was unavailable for comment on Thursday because he was attending orientation at the University of Southern California, which he plans to attend in the fall to study film.
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Source: usnews.msnbc.msn.com
California Hedge Fund Is Europe Crisis Casualty - Businessweek
Hedge-fund manager Paul Sinclair is the latest casualty of Europe’s sovereign-debt turmoil, almost six thousand miles away from the epicenter of the crisis.
Sinclair, who is based in Los Angeles, is liquidating his $458 million health-care equities fund, Expo Capital Management LLC, after more than five years, as political decisions made on the other side of the globe have undermined his stock picks and spurred losses for a second year.
“I don’t have an edge on Greek elections, the Spanish banking system, what the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Chinese government, Angela Merkel, or the U.S. Federal Reserve will do,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Sinclair, 41, said that over the past year he’s found it increasingly difficult to make money because of the macroeconomic environment, and that investing in health care since 2004 has left him “physically and mentally exhausted.” He said he chose to return money to investors, which he plans to do by the end of the month, rather than hold cash and charge them fees.
Billionaire energy trader John Arnold, former Morgan Stanley co-president Zoe Cruz, and Duke Buchan III are among managers who have shuttered hedge funds in the past year as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis has roiled global markets. The industry last month posted its biggest loss since September as stocks slumped on concern Greece may exit the euro and the global economy is weakening.
‘Tricky Markets’
“It’s a confluence of tricky markets, super-cautious investors and a tough fundraising environment that’s making it a difficult time for hedge-fund managers,” said Steven Nadel, a partner at New York-based law firm Seward & Kissel LLP, which advises hedge funds.
Sinclair said he has most of his liquid net worth invested in his fund and was no longer comfortable putting it at risk when markets are subject to the actions of policy makers globally.
He said he plans to spend the rest of the summer sleeping and relaxing and may take up a new hobby, according to a June 9 e-mail he sent to clients. Sinclair said he would continue to follow the health-care industry and is keen to see how it is shaped by a U.S. Supreme Court decision on President Barack Obama’s health law overhauls and the November presidential elections.
Returning client money “is an unusual move but fair and would be welcomed by investors,” said Graziano Lusenti, founder of Nyon, Switzerland-based Lusenti Partners, which advises clients on investing. “Most hedge funds would try to hold onto the money for as long as they can.”
Liquidations Rise
Liquidations in the hedge-fund industry rose to 775 last year, the most since 2009, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc., a Chicago-based research firm.
Fortress Investment Group LLC, based in New York, last month said it will liquidate its $500 million commodities fund run by William Callanan after losing almost 13 percent in the first four months of the year.
Arnold also said the same month that he plans to close Centaurus Energy Master Fund in Houston. Cruz, the former Morgan Stanley executive, is liquidating her $200 million hedge fund after losing 8 percent last year.
Buchan, a New York-based hedge-fund manager, cited the European debt crisis as one of the reasons behind the closing of his equity hedge fund Hunter Global Investors LP.
“Markets seem to be driven more by the latest news out of Europe than by a company’s earnings prospects,” he said in a Dec. 8 investor letter. “We have not weathered the ensuing volatility well.”
Moore Traders
At least three hedge funds run by former Moore Capital Management LLC traders have shuttered in the past seven months after losing client money. They are Salute Capital Management, run by Lev Mikheev, Avesta Capital Advisors LLC, founded by William Tung and Tim Leslie’s JCAM Global fund.
Sinclair’s Expo Health Sciences Fund lost about 6 percent this year through May, after falling 8.7 percent in 2011, the hedge fund’s first year of negative returns, he said in an e- mail. The fund has returned about 50 percent since its 2007 inception, net of fees.
Hedge funds slumped 2.9 percent in May and 1.3 percent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They lost 5.8 percent last year and a record 19 percent in 2008, the data show.
Market Correlation
The turmoil in the global markets has spurred stocks across industries to rise and fall in tandem. The relationship between price fluctuations for health-care stocks and the rest of the market has tightened. The 30-day correlation coefficient between the MSCI World Index and its members in that industry is 0.92, compared with the average since 1995 of 0.73, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Readings of 1 mean prices are moving in lockstep.
Sinclair employed a seven-person team with offices in San Francisco. Before he started his hedge fund, Sinclair worked at Vantis Capital Management LLC, a hedge fund in Pasadena, California, where he managed a health sciences fund from about two years until the end of 2006, when the firm shut down. He was previously at Merrill Lynch & Co., within the bank’s health-care investment banking group, and before that at investment bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette.
Sinclair received a masters of business administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1999 and graduated with a bachelors degree in business economics from the University of California in 1994.
To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in New York at skishan@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net
Source: www.businessweek.com
Furniture retailers get boost from Pier 1 report - Yahoo Finance
A number of furniture retailers are sitting pretty Thursday after their stocks surged on a strong quarterly report and a raised 2013 forecast from Pier 1 Imports Inc.
Pier 1 said its first-quarter profit rose 26 percent with shoppers more willing to pay full price for its home furnishings. The results beat market expectations.
The results bode well for other furniture sellers, which have spent the past few years marking down a lot of their big-ticket items to draw cost-conscious consumers in tough economic times.
Pier 1 said its revenue from stores open at least a year increased 7.2 percent. This is a closely watched indicator of a retailer's financial health because it excludes stores that recently opened or closed. That gives investors some assurance the earnings increase is more than an anomaly tied to new stores opening.
Jefferies & Co. analyst John Marrin said he believes the company's stronger guidance may be based on share repurchases that weren't reflected in its earlier forecast, but he still sees the company's earnings report as positive.
Here's how selected furniture sellers' shares were doing by mid-afternoon:
— Pier 1, up 27 cents, at $15.81.
— Kirkland's Inc., up 75 cents, 6.8 percent, trading at $11.83.
— Haverty Furniture Companies Inc., up 16 cents, at $10.73.
— Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., up 41 cents, at $21.76.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
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