Tag Archives: children

“Groundbreaking” Eco-friendly Apartment: Bought by Leonardo DiCaprio

The Titanic star, who is also an outspoken environmentalist has just purchased a ‘green’ flat in New York’s pioneering Riverhouse complex. DiCaprio’s representative confirmed the sale but did not reveal how much the star had paid. A statement was released, however, saying “Riverhouse is a prime example of how green technology is both accessible and achievable for new residential developments – it is a groundbreaking building.”

What we know is that Riverhouse offers one-bedroom properties from $835,000 and four-bedroom homes from $2,975,000, so it’s somewhere in between.

The 264-unit complex in Rockefeller Park was built using locally acquired renewable materials, is partly powered by solar energy,offers a 24-hour fresh-filtered air system and boasts green rooftops planted with pine trees.

Riverhouse residents also have access to a children’s playroom, media cafe, fitness centre, dog spa and a treehouse. DiCaprio has long been an ardent campaigner on green issues. He was one of the first people to buy a hybrid car and has established his environment awareness organisation the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

The Reading Tub: Don’t you just love the logo?

reading tub

The Reading Tub is one of the two 501c3 literacy projects endorsed and supported by the Dreamblogue. The Library Project (Asia) and the Reading Tub (US) share the ad revenue generated by the blog of dreams.

The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school. National Commission on Reading, 1985 60% of the kindergartners in neighborhoods where children did poorly in school did not own a single book. The Patterns of Book Ownership and Reading, D. Feitelson and Z. Goldstein, 1986.

The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Communities ranking high in achievement tests have several factors in common: an abundance of books in public libraries, easy access to books in the community at large and a large number of textbooks per student. Newman, Sanford, et all. “American’s Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy”; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000.According to the National Academy on an Aging Society, 73 billion dollars is the estimated annual cost of low literacy skills in the form of longer hospital stays, emergency room visits, more doctor visits, and increased medication. “Toward a Literate Nation”, Luis Herrera, Public Libraries, Jan/Feb 2004.

The reading tub is intermittently blocked in China and you may need to use this link: http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://thereadingtub.com