Double your philanthropic power at LavishGiving.com, an online shop where you can purchase a gift for a loved one and receive 20% back on purchases of $100 or more to donate to your charity of choice. The site features products from top designers, including home and kitchen items, clothing, accessories and jewelry as well as gifts for children and pets.

LavishGiving.com, started by a Cincinatti boutique owner who was inspired to create a retail experience that gives back after losing her brother and a dear friend to cancer, gives online shoppers an opportunity to purchase gifts and products they would buy anyway and make a substantial donation to a cause that is meaningful to them.   Read more...

By the year 2020, The U.S. will make up only four percent of the world's population, according to a 2001 CIA report. The Global Corner International Learning Center is spreading awareness of the world to elementary students along the Florida panhandle. Every year a different country is highlighted and brought into classrooms for children to learn that country's culture and spark international curiosity.   Read more...

Save Your Logo, a creative new French non-profit committed to biodiversity and the preservation of plant and animal species, is asking companies who use a plant or animal's likeness in their logo to make a commitment to preserve and protect the species they profit from.

The first companies to step up and commit to joining preservation efforts of their logos are international clothing brand Lacoste, committing to the preservation of crocodiles and alligators, and the French insurance company MAAF, whose efforts will go toward saving their companies animal representation, the dolphin. Lacoste says, "The brand will actively support projects selected by the GEF to safeguard or protect the endangered crocodile, alligator, caiman or gavial species, whose loss would jeopardize the biological balance of their natural habitats."   Read more...

I always believed happiness was contagious. Now, like so many other things I feel innately but tend to doubt without external verification; I can say I know it to be true.

We now have scientific proof that happiness spreads. James Fowler (University of California, San Diego) and Nicholas Christakis (Harvard) recently released the results of a 20-year study showing the “dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network.”   Read more...

I would like to plead for a free newspaper that posts only optimistic, educational, smart and green articles.

Today's newspapers tend to post more negative messages than positive because these shock. And they believe shocking will bring them more readers. Well, I don't want to go against the brilliant minds in the newspaper business, but here is my view on negativity.   Read more...

World Bicycle Relief, founded in 2005 in response to the December 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean by SRAM Corporation and Trek Bicycle, empowers people in area of extreme poverty and those suffering in the wake of natural disasters with the gift of transportation.

According to worldbicyclerelief.org, "Simple, sustainable transportation is an essential element in disaster assistance and poverty relief. Bicycles fulfill basic needs by providing access to healthcare, education and economic development. Bicycles empower individuals, their families, and their communities."   Read more...

I recently got a bar of Sea Hag Soap. Yeah I know the name is weird, but the product is great.

I have very sensitive skin and need all natural type products. Sea Hag Soap (I use Got Your Goat Lavender; made with essential oils and goat milk as well as an all natural olive oil base with glycerin). These soaps (and there are a lot of choices; there even even some that work on your hair, skin and clothes) last an amazingly long time, are good for your skin and have very little impact on the environment as they are made in an old converted barn in northern Pennsylvania, not a big factory.   Read more...

Sick or healthy. Rich or poor. Thin or fat. Tall or short. Curly haired or bald. None of it matters when it comes to waking up happy everyday. What does matter is gratitude and perspective.

What makes a man rich? It is not money. There are plenty of poor people - “economically challenged” - that feel wealthy in ways that are beyond their wildest dreams. They are ‘loaded’ with family and friends, rich in experiences and participate in life like tycoons. They are showered in immeasurable riches of making a difference to someone and to the world in which they live. These are the people whose vocabulary does not include phrases like “I will be happy when...”, or I would be happy if...”   Read more...

Deze zomer organiseert WISE een Summerschool voor jong volwassenen met een bovengemiddelde interesse voor het maatschappelijk debat over klimaatverandering en de toekomstige energievoorziening. Gedurende een week worden de deelnemers bijgeschoold op het gebied van klimaatverandering en kernenergie. Je praat actief mee over de problemen en de oplossingen. Er is input van gerenommeerde en interessante sprekers.   Read more...

Welvaarders, pioniers van de nieuwe wereld is gelanceerd. Welvaarders is een uniek interactief spel: een getekende comic afgewisseld met bewegend beeld, een spannende verhaallijn en interactieve puzzels. De virtuele wereld in Welvaarders kent dezelfde vraagstukken als in onze wereld op het gebied van economie en handel, arm en rijk. Het spel is ontwikkeld door Little Chicken Game Company in samenwerking met de Wereldwinkels. www.welvaarders.nl

In Welvaarders strijden drie jonge hoofdpersonen, Kyan, Liara en Zato voor een betere wereld. Ze strijden tegen het regime van de onderdrukker, zodat producenten een beter leven op kunnen bouwen. De inzet van producten in het spel, maakt het fairtrade principe voor de speler toegankelijk. Handel je in fairtrade producten, dan kan armoede wél bestreden worden. De hoofdpersonen zijn mensen in een prikkelende omgeving, allen hebben zij een sterke eigen identiteit.   Read more...