global briefs

Ruslana Remennikova, past owner of wellness-focused smoothie cafe, Pulp on Lakeside, is starting a free weekly guided meditation series in October and offering a writing seminar called Stepping Into Your Divinity at The Beet at Ellwood Thompson’s in mid-October. She states, “My current efforts involve writing my first book about healing with the masculine and feminine, making short films and interviewing people for

Ruslana Remennikova my podcast, Fire & Heart, and my monthly publication, The Loveletter. Fire & Heart and The Loveletter spotlight members of society that are dynamically impacting our world through holistic approaches.”

Remennikova also crafts natural products such as candles, incense, teas, steaming herbs and women’s health elixirs, and is involved in creating the Martin Luther King Jr. Urban Agricultural Center, sponsored by The Pocahontas Project, Virginia Free Farm and Richmond Public Schools.

For more information, visit RuslanaRemennikova.com.

Working Hard, Being Kind and Providing Meals

Since it began earlier this year, the nonprofit Be Kind RVA has served more than 1,700 hot meals to groups at The Healing Place, Richmond Urban Ministry Institute, Safe Haven, Hispanic Center of Chesterfield, Caritas and Blessing Warriors, and to homeless individuals in and around Richmond. The goal of Be Kind RVA is to bridge the hunger gap in the Richmond area by partnering with local restaurants and bringing the community together to serve a bigger purpose.

“Partnering with local restaurants will not only allow us to provide numerous meals to those in a time of need, but also connect the hospitality industry with the nonprofit world. Bringing these two industries together will bring powerful change to the Richmond Metro area,” says Luke Stackow, founder of Be Kind RVA and general manager at Bistro 804. “Richmond kitchens will be coming together like never before to help get meals to those most in need. It is the goal of Be Kind RVA to have meals going out every day.”

In Virginia, there are more than 842,870 people that face food insecurity; 233,530 of those are children. To put that in perspective, that is one in 10 adults or one in eight children. Stackow’s biggest priorities for Be Kind RVA are getting more volunteers, increasing donations and encouraging purchases from the organization’s growing Amazon wish list.

For more information, visit BeKindRVA.com.

global briefs Sweet Shade

Wealth Distribution Linked to Urban Canopies

It’s not surprising that more urban trees lower the levels of heat and pollution. Although many cities maintain treeplanting programs, not all canopies mary taylor/Pexels.com have equivalent value. A new analysis from the American Forests conservation organization states that the U.S needs to plant more than half a billion trees across 500 metropolitan areas and 150,000 local communities. A new Tree Equity Score data tool (TreeEquityScore.org) allows users to see where urban trees exist and where they don’t. American Forests identified 20 large American cities that are lacking in canopies to protect their populations from hotter temperatures. Tree canopies are particularly effective in reducing health stress associated with urban heat “islands”.

It was also found that a pattern of inequitable distribution of trees has deprived many communities of the health and other benefits that sufficient tree cover can deliver. Communities of color have 33 percent less tree canopy on average than majority white communities. Jad Daley, American Forests president and CEO, says, “We need to make sure the trees go where the people are, and more than 70 percent of the people live in cities or suburbs, so it’s a place-based problem with a place-based solution.”

Penny Pincher

Electric Vehicles Demand Far Less Maintenance The U.S. Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory reports that overall maintenance costs for a light-duty, battery-powered car are around 40 percent less per mile than for a gasoline-powered model. Not only do they not require motor oil, they also have no timing belts, oxygen sensors, fuel filters, spark plugs, multiple-speed transmissions and other parts. The difference is on average for gasoline-powered cars—10 cents per mile; hybrid cars—nine cents per mile; and electric cars (EV)—six cents per mile. EVs may have a higher initial investment cost, but their lower maintenance and increased mileage make them especially attractive to companies or government agencies with large fleets of vehicles. Motor Trend magazine estimates that an all-electric fleet of the federal government’s light-duty vehicles would be $78 million cheaper per year to maintain than if it were entirely gas-powered.

mike/Pexels.com