BUSINESS BRIEFS
Down to Earth sale on Earth Day
Advertiser Staff
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Down to Earth All Vegetarian Organic and Natural will celebrate Earth Day with a 30-percent-off sale and a switch to biodegradable shopping bags.
The sale, which will apply to about 50 items, will run from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday at all four Down to Earth stores: Honolulu, Kailua and Pearlridge on O'ahu, and Kahului on Maui.
Down to Earth says its new biodegradable bags will break down into water, carbon dioxide and harmless humus on land and in the ocean, and leave no toxins behind.
Biodegradation takes place with or without the presence of light or oxygen. It works on bags buried in the ground or disposed in compost bins or landfills, which normally prevent degradation because they become air-tight. The bags take nine months to five years to biodegrade.
GRANT GOES TO TEACH FOR AMERICA
The First Hawaiian Bank Foundation has given Teach for America Hawaii a $50,000 grant to help improve education in Hawai'i's public school system.Teach for America is a national program in which recent college graduates commit to two years of teaching in urban and rural public schools. The Hawai'i chapter, in existence since 2006, has a corps of 105 teachers.
"Their efforts are to expand educational opportunity, and are constantly working to ensure they are doing all that they can to alleviate the achievement gap in schools across Hawai'i," according to a news release from the foundation, which is the charitable arm of First Hawaiian Bank.
QUEEN'S WINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION
The Queen's Medical Center Respiratory Care Department has been given special recognition by the American Association for Respiratory Care for 2008.About 700 hospitals out of 5,000 in the United States receive the honor, according to a news release from Queen's.
Queen's earned the honor under a national program aimed at helping patients and families make informed decisions about the quality of the respiratory care services available in hospitals.
To qualify for the recognition, hospitals must provide a level of care consistent with national standards and guidelines.
"This recognition is a strong tribute to our respiratory care services team," said Art Ushijima, president of The Queen's Medical Center.
