WE ADD UP announces School Contest for top group to design new WE ADD UP product
Posted by Jill  |  January 31, 2011 6:08 pm  |  

Willoughby, OH – (January 31, 2011) – Judy Pezdir and Jill Palermo, the mother/daughter team that co-founded WE ADD UP, announced today a contest to spark the creativity and altruistic senses of students across the country. The top-performing fundraising group this semester will win the opportunity to create a new We Add Up t-shirt! Students will decide what important green action We Add Up is missing in their line of sequentially numbered organic cotton t-shirts and should be included.

“We have Bike, Drink Tap, Plant Trees, Garden, Buy Local, and over 25 other green actions already represented,” said Palermo. “But I know we’re probably still missing quite a few that kids are passionate about! We can’t wait to see what they choose.” This t-shirt will be created and sold on weaddup.com and will be promoted throughout the online community. Also, the winning school group gets to select a non-profit organization who will receive a $3 donation for each t-shirt sold for one year. The contest begins today and ends May 31, 2011.

The WE ADD UP fundraising program is designed to help student and community groups raise money for their projects while also giving them tools to raise awareness of actions almost anyone can take that benefit our world. The program is free to start and free to run. Groups receive up to 30 percent of sales. Currently, over 100 schools have enrolled in the program. Please visit www.weaddup.com/fundraiser for more information.

WE ADD UP, with over 19,000 participating members, is a global campaign printed on organic cotton t-shirts that literally “counts you in” for your green commitments. Every shirt is printed by hand with a unique number on the front. Your number represents your position in the sequential global count of people who are adding up to make change. As the count grows, we demonstrate to the world that “WE ADD UP.” On the back of each shirt is a word or phrase that describes an action almost anyone can take to reduce their carbon footprint, the contribution their lifestyle makes to greenhouse gas emissions, such as, Unplug, Lights Off, Hybrid, Bike, Buy Local, and 25 others. Consumers choose which action they are committed to and receive their number.

“The mission of the campaign is to spread the message that each of our efforts do matter, because collectively, we add up,” said Jill Palermo. “This is a global issue, and our goal is to get millions of people worldwide counted in and committed to taking action to solve the climate crisis. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”

Products are available online at www.weaddup.com and include:

· “Educate” Organic cotton adult t-shirts available in Unisex style and Women’s tee. Sizes: S, M, L, XL, and 2X: $25 each. Three dollars from each t-shirt sale is donated to the Alliance for Climate Education.

· “Holistic Kid” Organic cotton kid’s t-shirts available in sizes: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12: $22 each. Three dollars from each t-shirt sale is donated to the Holistic Moms Network.

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Claire from Kansas learns to Compost
Posted by Jill  |   8:15 am  |  

“I taught my daughter (now 2 1/2) to use the compost bin and to look for the recycling symbol.” - Brent A. from Merriam, KS

“I wish I was contributing a little less to the pollution of our planet, but I do what I can to reduce my consumption and recycle what I do use.  I’m trying to teach my daughter to look for things that can be recycled when we’re buying them and when we’re ready to dispose of them.  We seperate what can’t go into the recycling bin, glass and metal to take to the recycling center and most food scraps can go in the compost bin in the back yard.  Seeing the signs of progress over time and the slow realization by society that massive consumption is expensive gives me hope for the future of my children.”

Thanks, Brent and Claire - great job!  What are you teaching your children about how to care for our planet?  Please share!

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My 2010 Accomplishment: I Went Vegetarian and Stuck to It!
Posted by Jill  |  January 19, 2011 9:55 am  |  

Laurie L. and family from Clifton Park, NY

I always have been meat adverse. Growing up I only ate it when I had to.  During college, I stayed away from all land animals. So..vegetarianisms has always been in my blood.  At the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 I read current literature (Skinny Bitch, The Face on Your Plate, etc) that made me realize that the track I was on growing up was the right one. So, I went back to my instincts and again gave up all land animals in 2010. I would love to say I don’t eat any fish or seafood - but I am a work in progress!  It can be really tough to stay the course - but as the world becomes more aware of the benefits of a vegetarian diet - to themselves, the earth, and the animals - there have been more options made available.

If I ever slip, watching Food, Inc, The Cove, or reading one of the numerous books out there (including cook books like “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” by Mark Bittman) revives the focus!  Also…thinking of the poor cows on food lots or chickens in the trucks on the highway are powerful.

My hope comes from seeing the world actually change for the better. Having a major fast food chain like Burger King offer a soy burger shows me that progress has been made and we are moving in the right direction. Humans are intelligent (don’t laugh). Eventually it will be common place to eat non meat on a daily basis. Every person counts. I am doing my part to make that happen!
- Laurie L. from Clifton Park, NY
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Dear President Obama: A letter from Ralph Avallone
Posted by Jill  |  January 5, 2011 9:43 am  |  

January 4, 2011

Dear President Obama,

As I sit here literally 150 yards from the Oval office in our Washington, D.C. offices, I can’t help but wonder if you are as frustrated as I am about the American economy.

I have dedicated almost every moment of my life over the last four years to assist green technology companies in becoming successful. I have spent on average 250 days each year traveling to 47 of our great 50 states. I have met with small town mayors,congressional leaders and International leaders in 65 countries promoting green technology.

I have seen technologies here in America that with the right support could literally change the World. Brilliant ideas that if just backed by our Federal government would put millions of Americans back to work.

Technologies that can make water from the humidity in the air that alone can solve the water shortages in Florida. But yet the CEO of that company is having trouble keeping his cell phone on let alone put unemployed Americans back to work manufacturing his product.

I have seen a product that could literally remediate the tar balls on Gulf Coast beaches, while also taking manure from the livestock industry and turn it into a brick that can be burned in any coal fire burning facility at the same BTU’s as coal but yet BP, the Federal government and the energy sector won’t give this amazing scientist the right time of day, let alone subsidize his company.

A product that makes an organic fertilizer from worm waste that should be integrated into every landscape design in America that can save millions of tons of harmful emissions from going into the atmosphere but yet this husband and wife team can’t find the capitalization they need to manufacture their product.

A reusable garment bag that can be used in every dry cleaning store in America to save millions of tons of plastic from going to landfills that has to be manufactured in China because this amazing woman can’t receive money from our government to manufacture it right here in the good old USA. Here’s an idea. Mandate that every military dress uniform that’s given to a soldier upon graduation of basic training come in one of these bags and subsidize this company to put America back to work!

A company that plants trees that can grow 65 feet in five years, be cut down and a new tree grows on the same stump every four years thereafter that can supply a whole new lumber industry here in the United States while reducing carbon emissions. But yet they are struggling to plant their first forest here in America!

A fuel catalyst technology that if subsidized by our federal government and regulated as an emission control system can reduce millions of tons of carbon from our atmosphere while creating better ozone for our children but yet this inventor can’t seem to get the attention of the car manufacturers and the farming industry so that he can help them add fuel efficiency and save money at the same time.

A retired Army Ranger that created a roof application process for commercial roofing that if applied could save up to 40% of the energy usage of that building. A product that if applied to every one of the 80 million commercial, retail and institutional buildings in America can create enough solar reflect ability that we could recapture 60% of the lost polar ice caps that have melted in the last 10 years.

We gave the car manufacturers $100 billion dollars and last year SUV sales were up 6% and Hyrbrids were down 2% and gasoline is rising to the point that by summer it will be $4.00 per gallon again! When will were learn our lesson about fossil fuels?

Why was America so successful over the last 60 plus years?

Because we built things Mr. President. Because America realized that we could manufacture anything! During World War 2 we made a war machine that freed the World from oppression.

Returning American soldiers from World War 2 came home to jobs. Jobs in manufacturing. Jobs in building new homes and businesses. We built an economic superpower by our ability to make things that the World wanted.

As soon as we stopped building. The American economy collapsed. We sent our manufacturing jobs to China and our service based jobs to India. All we were left with was pushing empty paper on Wall St. and we are reaping the economy that we sowed.

Mr. President, green technologies like the ones I have described in this letter have the ability of recapturing American manufacturing prowess while restoring our economy at the same time.

Here is an idea Mr. President, if the next round of stimulus money were given to every American household and business in the form of a prepaid Visa card where all that family or business could use that card for was to make their homes or businesses more energy efficient or weatherized, then that would immediately put millions of Americans back to work and give the green technology sector the shot in the arm it so desperately needs!

If the banks whom we gave $300 billion to and now are not lending any small green technology business money were rewarded from the Federal government for their investment in putting Americans back to work, then you would see them giving small green technology businesses money.

You want to see America lead in the next new battery technology then give MIT $25 billion to perfect Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology and watch the World look to America to manufacture the only storage technology capable of capturing the power of the sun!

Have the federal government subsidize carbon vacuuming, cloud breaking, wave to energy technology, hydro kinetic technology, algae based bio fuel research and atmospheric water generating technolgies and I gaurantee you that America will make things again, millions of Americans will get back to work and the America economy will be vibrant again.

Thomas Jefferson once said that every generation needs a revolution. I ask you Mr. President to help America take advantage of the great green revolution!

I am still committed every day to my mission and will until my last breath. I am committed to make this Earth a better place because our organization existed.

Are you going to help me Mr. President? Are you still committed to make America great again?

Walk across the street and lets talk about it.

Sincerely,

Ralph Avallone
President
National Green Energy Council
1701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Suite 300
Washington, D.C.
20006
(202)-349-7138

Posted in: Uncategorized

Willoughby, OH – (June 10, 2010) – Judy Pezdir and Jill Palermo, the mother/daughter team that co-founded WE ADD UP, announced today two new additions to their environmental t-shirt line.  Ten dollars from the sale of the “Clean It Up” t-shirt will be donated to the Gulf Restoration Network, who since the first days of BP’s oil drilling disaster has provided independent monitoring and advocacy focused on holding BP accountable and ensuring an effective and transparent response to the crisis.  And, ten dollars from the sale of the “Hair To The Rescue” t-shirt will be donated to Matter of Trust, a non-profit organization that is coordinating the international movement of hair dressers, pet groomers, and others who are donating hair to make hair booms.  Hair, a natural fiber, is stuffed into nylons, creating booms that are very effective at soaking up oil.

On the 52nd day of approximately 40,000 barrels of oil per day spilling into the ecologically sensitive Gulf of Mexico waters, BP is currently attempting to drill relief wells to stop the flow.  This effort will take months and the most optimistic reports claim the gusher will be stemmed in August.  Clean up efforts will take years, according to experts.  “When we, my mother and I, first heard about the BP oil drilling disaster, we knew it was going to be huge,” says Jill Palermo.  “Like many people, we said, ‘We HAVE to do something. This is too important not to be a part of and help in some way.”

WE ADD UP, with over 16,000 participating members, is a global campaign printed on organic cotton t-shirts that literally “counts you in” for your green commitments.  Every shirt is printed by hand with a unique number on the front. Your number represents your position in the sequential global count of people who are taking steps to help solve the climate crisis. As the count grows, we demonstrate to the world that “WE ADD UP.”  On the back of each shirt is a word or phrase that describes an action almost anyone can take to reduce their carbon footprint, the contribution their lifestyle makes to greenhouse gas emissions, such as, Unplug, Lights Off, Hybrid, Bike, Buy Local, and 25 others. Consumers choose which action they are committed to and receive their number.

“The mission of the campaign is to spread the message that each of our efforts do matter, because collectively, we add up,” said Jill Palermo.  “This is a global issue, and our goal is to get millions of people worldwide counted in and committed to taking action to stop climate change now. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”

Products are available online starting today at www.weaddup.com and include:
- “Clean It Up” Organic cotton adult t-shirts available in Unisex style. Sizes: S, M, L, XL, and 2X: $28 each
- “Hair To The Rescue” Organic cotton adult t-shirts available in Unisex style. Sizes: S, M, L, XL, and 2X: $28 each

Adult t-shirt global warming action messages (30 total) include the following phrases with a graphic icon for each: Clean It Up, Hair To The Rescue, Switch, Recycle, Plant Trees, Vegan, Garden, Green Jobs, Line Dry, Eat Less Meat, Wind, Hybrid, Buy Local, Organic, Demand Change, Solar, Shower Together, Unplug, Drink Tap, Mass Transit, Bike, Lights Off, and Compost. There is also a shirt in each color with all 24 icons on the back.

Organic Cotton Manufacturing Practices
WE ADD UP t-shirts are made with 100 percent certified organic cotton that is grown and manufactured under strict fair labor practices. While organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or herbicides, non-organic cotton is the most pesticide-intensive crop on earth. Although cotton is grown on only about three percent of the farmland in the world, 25 percent of the world’s pesticides are used on cotton fields. National Academy of Sciences researchers have classified more than 80 percent of the most commonly used pesticides as potentially carcinogenic. Each t-shirt helps prevent about one-third of a pound of pesticides from getting into topsoil and groundwater and helps farm workers avoid dangerous chemical exposure. Organic agriculture also helps create fertile soil that is more resistant to degradation from droughts and floods, thus limiting some of the long-term effects of global warming. All in all, choosing organic cotton has a positive impact on the planet.

About WE ADD UP
Launched in 2007, We Add Up is a Green America Approved company for People and the Planet and is committed to operating a “green” business. Please visit http://www.weaddup.com for more information.

WE ADD UP works with CarbonFund.org to offer a carbon-free shipping option that offsets the carbon emissions it takes to ship the product to the customer.

WE ADD UP also offers its products as a fundraiser for high schools, colleges, community and non-profit groups. Groups receive 15 percent of sales and are eligible to win prizes. Currently, over 100 schools have enrolled in the program.

Driven by a personal desire to spread a message of hope and to inspire action to stop global warming, the mother/daughter team created WE ADD UP. The Web site, www.weaddup.com, is hosted by DreamHost, which runs all of its servers on renewable energy. WE ADD UP fundraising catalogs are printed on 100 percent recycled paper with soy inks, and the manufacturing is offset by wind energy credits. Please visit www.weaddup.com for more information.

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Posted in: Uncategorized
New Product: Organic cotton Ball Cap
Posted by Jill  |   11:21 am  |  

With the summer sun out in full force (hooooray!!), we’re excited to release our new We Add Up organic cotton ball cap.  My Mom and I have been loving wearing ours at the beach, walking the dogs, and walking to pick up our weekly share from our CSA.  The hat is SUPER comfy and this is coming from a typically anti-hat person.  See all the details here and enjoy your summer activities while keeping your eyes shaded, your brow dry, and spreading the “We Add Up” movement wherever you go.  - Jill

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YOU can help with the Gulf Recovery
Posted by Jill  |  May 26, 2010 7:20 am  |  

If you’re like me, you’ve been outraged and sad for what is happening in the Gulf now with the BP oil drilling disaster. In response, We Add Up has just launched 2 new t-shirt actions in support of holding BP accountable and helping in the recovery. $10 from the sale of each shirt will be donated in this effort. Learn more here: http://www.weaddup.com/oilspillshirts

$10 from your purchase of “Clean It Up” is donated to the Gulf Restoration Network. Since the first days of BP’s oil drilling disaster, the Gulf Restoration Network has provided independent monitoring and advocacy focused on holding BP accountable and ensuring an effective and transparent response to the crisis. $10 from your purchase of “Hair To The Rescue” is donated to Matter of Trust, a non-profit organization that is coordinating the international movement of hair dressers, pet groomers, and others who are donating hair to make hair booms. Hair Booms are very effective at soaking up oil.

This spill was just declared “without doubt” the largest in US history. Let’s not waste this opportunity to turn tragedy into action. - Jill

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