(FranchisePick.com) According to the story on CBS4 in Miami, Pure Weight Loss Centers might have broken the law when they left Florida dieters stranded by abruptly closing their weight loss centers. Their investigation continues.

Source: CBS4.com

Defunct Weight Loss Centers Might Have Broken Law

MIAMI (CBS4) ― When one of the state’s biggest diet companies shut it’s doors after the beginning of the year, it left hundreds of South Florida customers not only wondering if they’d ever get their money back but also what happened to all the private medical information the centers kept on file.

Say prosecutors, wondering the same thing, have widened their investigation into LA Weight Loss Centers and Pure Weight Loss Centers to see if they broke any laws.

“All girls want to look nice and I got a couple of pounds extra,” said Yaumary Rodriguez who originally signed up with an LA Weight Loss Center several years ago. Rodriguez stated by staying on the plan she lost 24 pounds in the past year.

“My goal was 30 pounds but when I got down to 24,” stated Rodriguez, “I decided not to keep losing more”

At the beginning of the year, Rodriguez stated she decided she needed to go back on the LA Weight Loss Center plan to help her drop a couple of pounds she picked up over the holidays. When she went to her local LA Weight Loss Center in Cutler Bay on January 4th to pick up her next shipment of weight loss bars, she said she was stunned to find that it had changed it’s name to Pure Weight Loss.

She received her second shock when she was informed that the store, which was still filled with LA Weight Loss products, was closing down.

“The companies were closing,” Rodriguez said she was told, “it was the last date of work for the whole company. They just shut and they never sent a notice to the people they never state anything.”

Read the entire article

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YouTube has been the predominant player in online videos for a while now, but Ice Cube thinks his status as a popular rapper will help his new user-generated content site - UVNTV (that’s U View Network Television). Ice Cube’s site will actually be different from YouTube in that UVNTV will provide network television quality programming with videos, music and shows being available in addition to user-generated content. The site operates using technology provided by Microsoft.

So far, Snoop Dog and Diddy (Sean Combs) have launched their own channels on UNTV, but anyone can launch their own channel as long as they share the ad revenue they earn from their channels. Target has already come on board as an advertiser.

Ice Cube calls the site a mix of TV, MySpace and YouTube. What do you think? It seems like new social media sites and user-generated content sites launch each day. Will UVNTV survive and thrive with a celebrity brand behind it? Can it knock the pioneer brand out of first place?

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I can’t help but keep up with Wal-Mart’s green moves, it seems every time I turn around they’ve captured another headline. And these days the headlines are quite positive.

I’ve covered them a couple times here at Greener Assets but if I wrote about each green biz move they made this blog would have to have a different name, like Greener Wal-Mart. Which I don’t want so everything in moderation.

However, near the end of last year, Wal-Mart released a progress report on the company’s sustainability goals which kicked off in 2005. Building experimental stores (some with educational highlights), slicing waste, conserving resources and using renewable energy are all part of the mega-retailer’s “Sustainability 360″ plan which is flexing some massive corporate muscles, making a positive impact on the environment and, of course, saving the company lots and lots o’ money.

Environmental News Network recently published an article with highlights on Wal-Mart’s progress to go green in a massive way. If you want to know what Wal-Mart is up to, check out Wal-Mart Outlines Environmental Efforts Progress.

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Life’s most persistent and important question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in the United States, a national holiday commemorating Dr. King’s birthday (Jan 15) and his leadership as a civil rights activist.

What you might not be aware of is that more than a holiday, this day is also a day of service. The King Holiday and Service Act federal legislation honors MLK, Jr. and “challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action through volunteer service in honor of Dr. King.”

While this blog is dedicated to green business, it’s not just about the environment. Green means sustainable and without social equality our economy, our environment and our world are unsustainable.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., here are some links to sustainable endeavors that are working for social and environmental justice.

Green For All: working to bring “green collar” jobs to urban areas, launched at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on September 26, 2007. The group, created by Van Jones, co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, seeks to capitalize on the exploding green economy while ensuring that the coming green economic wave lifts all boats.

Louisiana Bucket Brigade: empowering fenceline communities along Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor in their fight to reduce industrial pollution and protect public health. LBB works with communities that border the oil refineries and chemical plants along the Mississippi River. With the tools and support of LBB, citizens monitor air pollution and have the data to fight corporations which have ignored, overlooked and disrespected their neighbors for generations.

Deep South Center for Environmental Justice: is a collaboration between community, environmental groups and universities to address issues of environmental justice. The DSCEJ provides opportunities for communities, scientific researchers, and decision makers to collaborate on programs and projects that promote the rights of all people to be free from environmental harm as it impacts health, jobs, housing, education, and general quality of life.

Check out Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to see how communities and individuals are honoring Dr. King this year. In Washington, to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a collaborative funding, design, and construction is in progress for the creation of “a memorial to honor his national and international contributions to world peace through non-violent social change.” Take a virtual tour of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Memorial here and find out how you can help build the dream.

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I’ve been following along with the Burt’s Bees saga because it holds so many key issues about business and environment, not to mention love and money. The New York Times ran a piece recently piece that goes pretty in-depth into how the company was created, how it grew and where it’s at today - which is in the hands of Clorox.

In Can Burt’s Turn Clorox Green?, the NYT’s Louise Story looks at the love story behind Burt’s Bees, the quirks of being both life and business partners and how Clorox’s future might just prove to be a more sustainable endeavor than its past. There are two huge questions at stake: how green can Clorox get? and how will Burt’s fare in the process?

Already, many loyal Burt’s fans have felt betrayed by the buyout - or sellout depending on your perspective - last year to Clorox. Burt’s Bees was built on principles of environmental stewardship using local materials and emulating a down-to-earth, aw, shucks persona that struck a chord with health conscious, eco-driven consumers.

While Burt Shavitz’s image still appears on the line of health and beauty products, the reality of Burt’s Bees is far from Maine, far from local beekeepers and far from the hands of those who created the company. The last buyout, when founder Roxanne Quimby sold an 80% share to private equity firm AEA Investors, brought Burt’s Bees to the aisles of massive stores like CVS, Walgreens and Target.

Now Clorox wants

to turn Burt’s Bees into a mainstream American brand sold in big-box stores like Wal-Mart. Along the way, Clorox executives state, they plan to learn from uncommon business practices at Burt’s Bees — many centered on environmental sustainability. Clorox, the company promises, is going green. - NYT

One way Clorox is trying to get greener is through the launch of a new line of all natural cleaners, Green Works. Green Works products are made from plant-based ingredients like coconut and lemon oil, biodegradable, non-allergenic, are not tested on animals, and are packaged in recyclable containers.

Can Burt’s turn Clorox green? So far, the influential gradient seems to be from Burt’s to its parent company which in these eco-conscious times is the natural path of least resistance. What do you consider Burt’s and Clorox?

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The US Environmental Protection Agency has a program called the Green Power Partnership which recognizes the top green power purchasers in the nation. The Green Power Leadership Awards for Purchasers recognizes exceptional accomplishment among EPA Green Power Partners in three categories:

• Green Power Partner of the Year: Recognizes Partners who distinguish themselves through their buy, leadership, overall strategy, and impact on the green power market.
• On-site Generation: Recognizes Partners who distinguish themselves using on-site renewable energy applications, including, but not limited to, solar photovoltaic (PV) or wind energy projects.
• Green Power Purchase: Recognizes Partners who distinguish themselves through buys of green power from a utility green-pricing program, a competitive green marketer, or a renewable energy certificate (REC) supplier.

EPA recognized 17 leaders in 2007:

whose combined commitments of these organizations amount to nearly four billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power almost 250,000 average American households each year. EPA also estimates that the combined environmental impact of these purchasers will avoid the equivalent amount of CO2 emissions of almost 450,000 cars each year.

Among the winners: Timberland, New York University and Starbucks. You can check out all the winners, EPA has all the details and a video about some of the companies at EPA Green Power Leadership Awards

Via EL

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I love finding headlines like this one Investors cash in on green buildings because it just highlights the fact that, in addition to being superior for people and the environment, green can be profitable.

Schuster Group, a Seattle-based real estate development and investment firm, have launched a $100 million private real estate investment fund aimed at projects that use only the highest green building standards.

In the US, the highest green building standards correlate with the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. Schuster’s latest project, Mosler Lofts, is on its way to getting a “Silver” LEED-certification and nearly all of the 150 units were sold upon the building’s opening last October. And they look completely gorgeous from what I’ve seen, can’t wait to see what these guys are up to next.

What do you consider Schuster’s fund?

Via Sustainable Industries

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Consumer Reports Shopsmart released its top picks for companies that are making employees, charities and the environment top priorities. I’ve to say that I’m a fan of many companies that made it to the list.

Shopsmart has picked Ben & Jerry’s, yum, for the company’s continuing support of local community projects and manufacturing methods which focus on reducing waste and carbon dioxide.

Also, Clif Bar for being certified organic and taking its packaging seriously with recycled content and no shrink-wrap. And Stonyfield Farms, one of my favorite companies, for their tasty 100% organic yogurt that supports family farm operations. Stonyfield is also big on the recycling with huge results.

Burt’s Bees, Seventh Generation, Tom’s of Maine, IKEA, Patagonia and Timberland also made the top 10. In checking out this list, I realized that most of the companies are located or originated in the Northeastern US. I always have this back and forth in my mind about which coast is greener and I usually underestimate the East Coast. I don’t know why. But I like these kind of reminders that there are green companies all over.

Did any of your favorite companies make the list?

Via Pittsburgh Post Gazette

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Clorox announced yesterday that they have joined forces with the Sierra Club in marketing their new natural cleaning product line Green Works. Green Works labels will boast the Sierra Club logo and pay a fee to the non-profit.

Green Works will start appearing on store shelves throughout the country this month and the Sierra Club logo will start appearing on Green Works near Earth Day (April 22) this year.

The Green Works products will include: an all-purpose cleaner, a glass cleaner, a toilet bowl cleaner, a dilutable cleaner, and a water closet cleaner. All are at least 99 percent natural made from ingredients like coconuts and lemon oil. The cleaners are biodegradable, non-allergenic, cruelty free and packaged in recyclable containers.

The products have been granted the “Design for Environment” certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Bureau. And the launch of Green Works is significant in that it marks the first nationally distributed natural cleaner - Clorox is big business.

Sierra Club Executive Director stated, “One of the Sierra Club’s primary goals is to foster vibrant, healthy communities with clean water and air that are free from pollution. Products like Green Works help to reach this goal in the home. We’re looking forward to working with Clorox and the Green Works team to promote a line of natural cleaning products for consumers who are moving toward a greener lifestyle,” according to GreenBiz.

Many critics of the company best known for manufacturing bleach products see Clorox as just trying to cash in on green market trends. Case in point, their recent acquisition of Burt’s Bees which many long time Burt’s fans called a sell-out rather than a buyout.

What do you think? Should we applaud green moves by a company that also produces environmentally damaging products? Is any green superior than none at all?

Via GreenBiz

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