Globalization turns the world's attention to our Presidential election. Ode's founder and editor, Jurriaan Kamp, gives us his thoughts on why Obama is so well-liked, a true citizen of the world.   Read more...

Today, October 15th, is the second annual Blog Action Day where bloggers around the web unite to put a single important issue on everyone's mind. Last year, the subject was the environment. This year, the focus is on poverty. The aim of this project is to get everyone talking about ways to build a better future. We’ve invited Ode’s own Editors and Readers Bloggers to participate in this worldwide discussion on the environment. Check out our Editors' Blog and Readers' Blog for the latest entries.

• Muhammad Yunus talking about poverty
• Poor people show us how to save the world economy
• An ode to richness
• Poverty robs families of proper nutrition
• Measuring poverty differently
• The poverty of peace
• Poverty, a Turkish story
• Rural tourism as a tool for poverty alleviation in Africa
• Poverty of imagination? Lets make peace immortal!

An amazing story of a lion reuniting with his closest friends.   Read more...

Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari said Saturday that finding jobs for young people in the Middle East and Asia will be a major challenge to peace building in the next decade. Within the next 10 years, more than 1.5 billion young 15-30 year olds will be entering the job market. However, only 300 million on them will get a job because of poor education.

Therefore, Ahtisaari Ahtisaari, is working with a group in Qatar to educate young people in effort to continue building peace around the world.   Read more...

A new initiative aims to give adolescent girls the skills and confidence they need to build happy and healthy lives. In many regions of the world, girls are discriminated against in education, health, and in their ability to find decent work. And evidence shows that investing in girls can pay off for them, their future children, and society as a whole.   Read more...

Michael Swaine is a ceramics arts instructor based in San Francisco, California, and a lifelong mender. Once a month Michael travels to San Francisco's neediest neighbourhood, the 'Tenderloin' where he offers all-day free mending, friendship, and conversation. His mending is not only about the clothes -- it is about the community, the people in it, and his own needs to find comfort in a world that is so used to throwing things away.   Read more...

Better irrigation, training in how to select seeds and cheap fertilizer made from wild plants and animal or bat droppings have more than doubled the yield of rice fields in Cambodia from 1.5 tons to 3.4 tons per hectare.

The government hopes to increase rice exports and cut poverty among its 14 million people, 85 percent of whom are farmers or members of farming families. Thanks in large part to vastly improved irrigation, farmers can get two crops a year from their fields, earning them an income of $1,500. Per capita income in Cambodia is around $500.   Read more...

Everyone knows when school is back in session when the office lunch room is scattered with catalogs of cookies, candles and gift wrap. It means school fundraising has begun. Luckily, there is now a better alternative called Greenfundraising (www.greenraising.com).

From their website:   Read more...

Inmates in the UK are becoming conservationists as they use their time behind bars to help protect vital natural habitats that are home to rare species.

The work, which involves inmates and conservation volunteers, ranges from building bird and bat boxes to surveying bird species from cell windows and constructing purpose-built habitats, such as ponds. Their actions are aimed to protecting the nation’s biodiversity.   Read more...

Americans are the only ones who can elect the United States president, but the 2008 election offers a unique opportunity to harvest global commentary on America's politics and foreign policy and how it affects the rest of the world.

Voices Without Votes highlights conversations in non-American blogs and citizen media, with emphasis on the regions such as Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Their goal is to monitor global citizen media responses, illuminate the effect of US foreign policy abroad, and to enable readers to experience American events through the eyes of ordinary citizens from outside the United States.   Read more...

Xerox Corporation is unveiling its erasable paper to the public for the first time this week. The experimental paper can be printed on again and again, reducing paper use in the office and cutting back waste.

The erasable paper is coated with chemicals that react to light of a specific wavelength. When the paper is exposed to that wavelength, it creates visible text on the page. Within 24 hours, the paper erases itself and can be used again--good news in offices where 40% of all printouts are discarded the day they are printed.   Read more...

Bharat Renewable Energy, a firm based in India, announced today that it will invest up to $480m in the development of more than a million acres of jatropha plantations in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Ode predicted back in July of 2007 that jatropha held more promise as alternative fuels than corn and sugarcane. Jatropha grows rapidly in even the most arid climates, requires little in the way of fertilizers or other agricultural input, reverses desertification and produces valuable byproducts after the fuel is extracted. Moreover, it can yield up to 1,000 barrels of biodiesel from a single square mile of otherwise inhospitable cropland each year. It also required no annual replanting as it is a shrub that lives 40 to 50 years, and it is a low-energy consumer

Last May, Ode featured a story called "I defeat my enemy when I make him my friend where we featured Simon Atem, who escaped a civil war in his native Sudan at the age of seven. Now 19, he has moved to Calgary with a mission to go back to Sudan one day to build a school where kids can learn the difference between right and wrong to prevent what had happened to him years ago.

His dream has finally come true! Simon Madhol Atem and several volunteers from the For Love of Children Society will be leaving for Aweng, Sudan on Friday, October 3 to begin Phase 1 of the construction of the school in his home village and to reunite with his family. Thanks to the support of the many staff and students, they have raised more than $40,000 for Simon to go back home to build his school.   Read more...

And the winner goes to...Portland, OR (again) as the top rated sustainable city in the U.S. for 2008.

Now in its third edition, the peer-reviewed Rankings track the unfolding story of cities working to improve their residents' quality of life and sustainability efforts. Their methodology included ranking items such as commute to work, air quality, tap water quality, local food & agriculture, housing affordability, city innovation and more.   Read more...

Regular home cleaning contributes to better health for your family and visitors. Many popular chemical-based cleaning products, however, contain powerful chemical toxins that may negatively affect human health. In an increasingly polluted world, a greater number of families strive to make our homes relatively safe havens in which our families thrive - not sources of toxic chemical loads.

  Read more...

AT&T announced today that 172 schools and nonprofit organizations across the country will receive $29 million in competitively awarded grants that are designed to support high school retention programs at national and local levels for at-risk students.

The recipient programs of this year's High School Success grants provide a range of support for students, including academic intervention, academic coaching and mentoring and tutoring services that are focused on improving reading and math skills, reducing truancy and building teen confidence. The recipient programs are managed by a variety of governmental and nonprofit organizations, including school districts, townships and education-serving nonprofit organizations.   Read more...

DivineCaroline.com is a new social media site set up for women to come together to share stories and reflect on shared experiences. You’ll find topics ranging from relationships, politics, travel and money. Its main goal is to build a circle of friends that allows women to express themselves by writing and publishing stories about anything that matters to them.   Read more...

A couple months ago there was an Exchange item on a new tracking device created by Patagonia where you could track the footprint of an individual garment. It turns out that there is a new tracker on the block called the Baacode offered by a New Zealand based Merino outdoor clothing company called Icebreaker.

Deep rooted in their commitment to environmental ethics, manufacturing ethics and animal welfare, Icebreaker has created a tool called the Baacode. Every garment sold comes with a unique id where - once submitted on their website - will let you see the living conditions of the high country sheep that produced the merino fibre in your garment, meet the farmers, and follow every step of the supply chain.   Read more...

A social enterprise group in London called "Growing Communities" have found a way to cut down on spending money for groceries. For several years now, they have put on an annual event called "The Great Food Swap" where members get together to share a wide range of wonderful produce that they had made, grown, picked or found. At the last winter event, participants traded mince pies, oyster mushrooms, home made yoghurts and home made bread.

Growing Communities hopes to inspire people's skills in food growing and food making, as well build excitement about home-produced and seasonal food.   Read more...

Google announced today that they will be sending 16 low-earth orbit satellites into the sky to help give Internet access to 3 billion people and emerging markets in Africa.

The search engine has joined forces with cable television magnate John Malone and bank HSBC to set up 0B3 Networks.   Read more...

A small start up solar array modeling service in California called RoofRay (www.roofray.com) is helping to shed some light on your solar potential. With the help of Google Maps aerial imaging, they have created an application that calculates your estimated monthly solar output in Watts per sqaure foot.   Read more...

Just in time for back to school season, Earth Day Network has come out with a list of suggestions for students, teachers, and parents to green their schools. Even as the trees start to change colors, these activities are sure to keep many communities green.

1. Teachers can have students patrol to check that lights are off in vacant rooms, and make signs or stickers such as “Flip the switch when leaving!” as a reminder to turn off lights.
2. Use Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s) or LED bulbs and have students compute energy savings.
3. Keep air vents clear and up to date and work with custodians to fix drafty rooms; ensure that furnace filters are cleaned often.
4. In winter, close classroom doors to trap heat in.
5. Make sure computers are programmed to enter “sleep” mode when inactive, and avoid screen savers. Turn off computers when the day ends.
6. Urge students or faculty to start a recycling program for the school

The increase in global carbon dioxide emissions is not just damaging the Earth’s climate, but also threatening the very fabric of our oceans. Today, The Nature Conservancy, along with a dozen of the world’s top marine scientists, introduced key findings and recommendations to tackle ocean acidification as part of the “Honolulu Declaration on Ocean Acidification and Reef Management” revealed at the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force meeting in Kona, Hawai‘i.

Two major strategies emerged as the backbone of the Declaration resulting from the workshop:

1. Limit fossil fuel emissions - stabilization of atmospheric CO2 is the most logical step to address ocean acidification impacts
2. Build the resilience of tropical marine ecosystems and communities to maximize their ability to resist and recover from climate change impacts, including ocean acidification.

  Read more...

BBC Journalist Christine Jeavans has challenged herself to give up plastic for a whole month. This is certainly a large feat when you think about all of the coffee cup tops, grocery bags, water bottles - not to mention babies diapers that people use everyday. Can it be done? Keep up with her challenge on her blog here.

Read full story:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7535500.stm
  Read more...

The Aravind Eye Hospitals in south India have contributed significantly to preventing debilitating blindness. Aravind was recently awarded the $1 million Gates Award. It all began with late Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy's dream. Ramesh Menon tracks down the pioneer.

Read full article: www.indiatogether.org/2008/jun/hlt-blindness.htm   Read more...

YouTube star, Matt Harding, became a video start when he released his debut video "Where in the hell is Matt" in 2005 where he danced around the world. After 10 million people tuned in to watch Matt bust a move on an international level, Stride gum came calling and paid him to do the whole thing all over again, this time joined by his new legion of fans.   Read more...

A group of 36 Northern California teens are taking their summer to explore their local communities in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of the issues that affect their local communities. Through the Coro Exploring Leadership Program these students will conduct formal and informal interviews of dozens of community members including district supervisors, non-profit executive directors, and prominent business owners. They will examine the communities' distinct configurations, characteristics, and cultures to answer the question

How walkable is your neighborhood? Is your grocery store or coffee shop close enough to walk to or do you find the need to jump into the car every time you need a carton of milk?

Walk Score, www.walkscore.com, will rate how walkable your neighborhood is by calculating the distance your home is compared to groceries, retaruants, coffe shops and more.   Read more...

Last July, nursing school graduate Libby Sauter became the first woman to successfully cross the Lost Arrow Spire Highline, located 2,890 feet high above the Yosemite Valley floor in Yosemite National Park. Considered by many who practice the art of balance sports to be a kind of Mecca, Lost Arrow Spire's height is equal to two Empire State buildings stacked on top of the other, plus 390 feet. It was last crossed twenty-two years ago. Watch this gripping video of Libby's courage, persistence, and history-making joy.   Read more...

Sheila Kennedy, an expert in the integration of solar cell technology in architecture who is now at MIT, creates designs for flexible photovoltaic materials that may change the way buildings receive and distribute energy.

These new materials, known as solar textiles, work like the now-familiar photovoltaic cells in solar panels. Made of semiconductor materials, they absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity.   Read more...

Social Edge (www.socialedge.org) is a site "by social entrepreneurs, for social entrepreneurs." The site is a venue and platform where social entrepreneurs and other practitioners of the social benefit sector connect to network, learn, inspire and share resources. Active social entrepreneurs blog for the site, sharing the wonder and woe of what they're doing. Alyson Zureick, for example, blogs on her experiences in Sierra Leone; Mathias Craig blogs on bringing clean energy to Nicaragua. The site also sports interviews with everyone from Jimmy Carter to Muhammad Yunus. It's all sponsored by the Skoll Foundation. [www.skollfoundation.org) Check it out if you want to find out how hard, and inspirational, it can be to be a social entrepreneur.   Read more...

What initiatives are taking place on college campuses to reduce the footprints of these large users of energy and other resources? -- Shawna Smith, Hamilton, NY

Microcosms of the world at large, college campuses are great test beds for environmental change, and many students are working hard to get their administrations to take positive action. The initiatives that are emerging are models for the larger society, and the students pushing for them will be taking these lessons with them, too, as they enter the work force after graduation.   Read more...

Brief verstuurd aan de Raden van Bestuur van de 24 AEX-genoteerde bedrijven, geschreven door Loesje (www.loesje.nl)

Geachte ondernemers,

Een felicitatie is op zijn plaats. Afgelopen weken zijn de winstcijfers over 2007 van uw bedrijven bekend geworden en bijna zonder uitzondering heeft u het het afgelopen jaar weer prima gedaan. Totaal steeg de winst van uw bedrijven, die deel uitmaken van de AEX-index, tot ruim zeventig miljard euro. Een groei van 700% ten opzichte van 2001. Dit zou natuurlijk een aanzet moeten zijn voor een veel bredere positieve beweging, een bredere stroom opwaarts, met soms van die uitslaande golven richting hemel.

Voor politie, thuiszorg, en nog een hele rits van bevolkingsgroepen en sectoren blijft het toch een beetje sappelen. Voeg daarbij de stagnerende maatschappelijke cohesie, een voortdurende jongerenproblematiek en de dreigende tekorten op de wereldvoedselmarkt, en het beeld contrasteert sterk met uw eigen prestatie. Vergelijk uw winst met de totale begroting van de Nederlandse Staat en je ziet dat we spreken over een significant deel van het maatschappelijk product. Waar besteedt u het aan? Daar ligt mijn zorg.

Rekensom

Meningsvorming werkt het best met algemene uitgangspunten naast praktische voorbeelden. Laat ik voor beide een aantal voorzetten geven. Dan moeten er toch minstens een paar goals vallen.

70 miljard euro. Halen we 8 miljard vanaf vanwege de verkoop van Organon en een deel van de nettowinst mag naar de aandeelhouders. Ook erken ik dat een appeltje voor de dorst bij uw bedrijven niet mag ontbreken. Blijft staan 40 miljard euro. Lijkt me redelijk. 40 miljard euro die mijns inziens het verschil maken. Nu en in de komende jaren.
Om in synergie te komen, maken we er een pilot van drie jaar van.

1. De kloof tussen arm en rijk mag dichter

De wensen van politieman, leerkracht en verpleegster klinken mij redelijk in de oren. Net even iets meer loon naar werken. Met een investering van 8 miljard euro per jaar in de koopkracht van deze beroepsgroepen plus de mensen afhankelijk van een uitkering komen we een aardig eind.

Kunnen we ook een gebaar maken richting arme landen. Goed voorbeeld doet goed volgen. Andere landen haken aan. Drie actiepunten:
- de derde wereld schuldenvrij; bijdrage 10 miljard euro in drie jaar;
- eerlijke prijzen voor producten uit die regionen; eerlijke lonen voor de mensen daar; 10 miljard euro periode 2009 - 2011;
- een helpende hand bij kleine investeringen. Prinses Máxima krijgt macro 10 miljard extra de komende drie jaar voor microkredieten wereldwijd.

Geachte ondernemers, let op! De groeicijfers gaan overal Chinese vormen aannemen. U staat met uw succes niet meer alleen.

10% van de Nederlanders heeft het meer dan rijk. Inleveren hoeven ze niet. We vragen een pas op de plaats. Een strikte evaluatie en we verdienen 10 miljard terug per jaar.

2. Impulsinvestering

Kun je met de bundeling van krachten en een extra impulsinvestering gedurende drie jaar een sector van de Nederlandse economie opstuwen in de vaart der volkeren? We selecteren drie sectoren en zetten daar fors op in. Kijken hoe ver je in drie jaar kunt komen. Ik stel voor: landbouw, watermanagement en energie.

Gokje: twee van de drie sectoren breken binnen drie jaar door op wereldschaal.

3. De kunst van het leven

Als ik goed geteld heb, is er nog 22 miljard euro per jaar over van ons Nationaal Investeringsfonds. Laten we er niet omheen draaien en onmiddellijk de joker van twintig miljard trekken. Alles op de jeugd. Alles op beter onderwijs en een intensieve beoefening / beleving van de kunsten van en voor deze jeugd. Kunst en cultuur is de sleutel naar de toekomst. De wereld van morgen heeft behoefte aan inspirerende geesten, creatieve handen en overlopende harten. Kunst als motor van de persoonlijke ontwikkeling. Kunnen jij en ik en alle andere Nederlanders tenminste over een paar jaar een essentiële bijdrage leveren aan de voortgang van dit bolletje dat door de ruimte suist.

Houd ik toch nog 2 miljard over.

Loesje 25 jaar

Dit jaar word ik 25 jaar. 24 November 1983 werd ik, dwars tegen het doemdenken van die tijd in, geboren in Arnhem. Ondertussen hangen mijn posters wereldwijd. Ze brengen inspiratie, zetten aan het denken, toveren als het goed is ook regelmatig een glimlach op het gezicht van de voorbijganger.

Ook ik kan soms een duwtje in de rug gebruiken. Even lucht in het uitgavenpatroon. Wat extra middelen voor training en scholing. Zonder zorgen gastvrij kunnen zijn. Posters met spirit op elke straathoek in de wereld. 1 miljard voor Loesje Nederland plus 1 miljard voor Loesje Internationaal zou een mooie verdeling zijn. Maar er zijn zoveel meer goede doelen. Ik laat het met een gerust hart aan u over. 2 miljard per jaar, als impuls voor de ideële sector.

Met dank voor uw aandacht en vriendelijke groet,
Loesje

Ships in Gothenburg Sweden pull into port and plug in. The system was pioneered over 8 years ago. Zeebrugge, Belgium, along with Long Beach and Los Angeles, are trying similar technology, which costs about $70,000 to $109,000 for each outlet. But shore-side electricity hasn’t yet replaced diesel oil or heavy bunker fuel. Only a few ships have plugs, not all use the same electrical frequencies,and bunker fuel is cheaper. And much dirtier.

Carbon dioxide emissions from shipping are about twice as high as from airlines.   Read more...

The five year old who drew whimsical figures with charcoal on the walls of her modest home in the southern village of Gintota, Galle, in Sri Lanka, today is an internationally celebrated children's book writer and illustrator. For over five decades now, Sybil Wettasinghe has been amusing, entertaining and winning the hearts of millions of kids across the globe through her engaging stories and colourful illustrations.   Read more...

Aerogel is the lightest solid substance on earth and the best insulator: it withstands extreme cold and the heat from a flamethrower. With an insulation factor 37 times better than that of fiberglass, you’d think it would be ubiquitous. It’s also expensive: $1300 per pound (albeit that’s a lot of aerogel) in large part because it’s made of pure silica. Now a Malaysian researcher has found a way to make that silica from discarded rice husks and cut the cost of aerogel to $125 a pound.

Because aerogel is transparent, if the new economics prove out, it could be used in double-paned windows, appliances, and even walls. It could drastically cut heating and air conditioning costs, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions through lowered demand for electricity and heating fuels.   Read more...

LEAF, short for Lake Eden Arts Festival, is a non-profit organization established to build community and enrich lives through the Arts

RecycleBank (www.recyclebank.com) is a new and apparently profitable venture in recycling typical consumer waste. A barcode on the recycling bin is read by the waste truck at curbside. Based on weight, the recycled material earns homeowners shopping credits for up to $35 a month. The program is based in Pennsylvania and is looking to expand.

Source: www.worldbusiness.org   Read more...

As we like to say, Earth Day is everyday. However, today is a good reminder for everyone to put the planet first in our daily actions as well as our wallets. Next time you are on the lookout for environmentally friendly products such as an LED light bulb or a compost bin, click over to the TheFindGreen.com, the web’s leading shopping search engine for the discovery of ecologically responsible lifestyle goods. Their site allows you to finds organic brands, green stores and environmentally friendly products, all in one place.

This week they will be rounding up the web's best tips for living green in honor of Earth Day 2008.

Abu Dhabi, a nation with a huge oil reserve is planning now for a future without oil. They have teamed up with MIT to draft blueprints of a carbon neutral city. Designed to house 50,000 people, this new community will be "completely car-free, with walkways and personal transportation systems instead of roads and parking garages. Some of the walkways will be topped with solar panels, which will offer shade from the blistering tropical sun while also providing electricity for the city."

Click here for the full story: web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/itw-abudhabi-tt0416.html   Read more...

On April 22, HeartMath is asking everyone around the world to stop to take 2 minutes and genuinely focus on the feeling of appreciation and gratitude for our beautiful planet.

Ode featured HeartMath in an article a couple years back titled "A change in heart changes everything" (www.odemagazine.com/doc/24/a_change_of_heart_changes_everything).   Read more...

The western Ghats in India are home to "a sequence of green hills and valleys, balmy sunshine, friendly smiles, ample houses -- and countless rivers." These rivers often swell during rainy season to the point that it cuts off the villagers access to mainland life.

This is a story of how one man and a community gathered to build over 48 footbridges. These bridges are now connecting communities, increasing the local economy and helping children get to school.   Read more...

There's a tendency to think that, as a free entry-level texting solution, FrontlineSMS is only relevant for smaller, grassroots non-profits who are most likely to lack the funds or in-house expertise to develop their own solutions. Over the past couple of years I've begun to see otherwise. As a case in point, this coffee project is being run by the UN. Not the suited, New York-based UN you see on TV, but a field-based team of UN staff and volunteers who simply wanted to try something. All they needed was a simple, low-cost tool which allowed them to rapidly prototype their idea.   Read more...

Selling a pair of athletic shoes for as much as $1,723 when it has been made with a few dollars of Chinese labor long has been a dicey proposition in the CSR world. The least Nike can do is make it out of non-toxic materials. Branded as “the "rst performance shoe designed with the environment in mind,” the newly released Jordan XX3 also contains “less waste.”

Source: World Business Academy (www.worldbusiness.org)   Read more...

Socially responsible investment assets grew more than 18% between 2005 and 2007, compared to a 3% growth rate for all investment assets during the same period, according to the Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States, produced by Social Investment Forum.

One of every nine dollars under professional management in the U.S. is tied to socially responsible investing.   Read more...

Wal-Mart last week decided not to sell milk under its own label from cows treated with Prosilac (or “rBGH”), the Monsanto synthetic bovine growth hormone.

In doing so, Wal-Mart follows the lead of Kroger, Safeway, and Starbucks, as well as the European Union and Canada. The effect is not so clear-cut, though, because the powerful dairy industry has long threatened lawsuits against "rms that use labels that proclaim the product to be hormone-free. Wal-Mart is not exempt.   Read more...

Patagonia has a great new tool on their website that sets a standard for transparency. Track the impact of any of its product from the beginning through delivery. It also calculates distance traveled, total carbon emissions, waste generated and energy consumed.

Footprint Chronicles(TM): www.patagonia.com/usa/footprint/index.jsp   Read more...

One man's dross is another man's gold.

A new “mail back” program launched this month by the US Postal Service will distribute free mailers in the lobbies of 1,500 post offices, enabling consumers to send their obsolete cell phones, empty inkjet cartridges, and other small electronics free of charge to Clover Technologies Group for recycling. Clover is footing the bill for the postage.   Read more...

Due to an increase in oil prices, the Bahamas are now proposing a shift to renewable energy. Some alternatives include solar panels (especially concentrating trough collectors), hydrokinetics (including ocean wave and tidal systems), thermal conversion (such as OTEC and biomass systems), gasification (including the capture of biogas from landfills) and wind turbines.

Read full story here: www.bahamapundit.com/2008/04/bahamas-pursuin.html   Read more...

The Egazini Outreach Project in South Africa is is turning a community that was once filled with terror and injustice into one of possibilities through art and dance. The director of this new outreach program hopes to use this project as an outlet for adults and children to express their creativity. Since the project started, many youths have been kept from using drugs and being involved in crime.   Read more...

Shawn Ahmed, former student of the University of Notre Dame is on a mission to end world poverty. After attending the 2006 Notre Dame Forum on Global Health and meeting Dr. Jeffery Sachs (author of the book "The End of Poverty"), he was inspired to travel to Bangladesh for a small, short-term, and self-funded project to see what difference he could make in helping some of the world's worst off.   Read more...

"In my next life, I would like to be a butterfly." So begins this simple video montage depicting the paintings and dreams of young students at two informal schools in India run by the non-governmental organization Calcutta Rescue. Calcutta Rescue provides free education to nearly 300 slum children in that city and here, the impetus behind the lush series of water-color paintings on display is voiced by the artists themselves. "I imagined standing by a river like this. I have never seen a river, but I have seen pictures," says one. And another: "I live on the street with my parents, brother and one sister. I would like to have a big house so that we can all live there."   Read more...

In 1996, Eve Ensler wrote the famous play titled "The Vagina Monologues" that became an international feminist phenomenon. Not only did the play bring women's issues to the forefront, it inspired Eve to create V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.

V-Day will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2008 with women and men from the U.S with a mega two-day anniversary celebration - V TO THE TENTH - in New Orleans Friday - Saturday, April 11-12 at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome.   Read more...

In the past, purchasers of gasoline and SUVs seemed insensitive to the ascent of oil prices. While real wages stagnated, it would seem people financed those $50 fill-ups with home equity loans and credit card debt. As long as money was "free," no set of incentives would change behavior.

An article in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat (CA) suggests things have changed. "

"Carrier bags" are shopping bags in Britain. By any name, the plastic versions are increasingly unpopular, having been banned in San Francisco, Beijing and elsewhere. The proposed U.K. budget requires retailers to charge for them, if they are not scrapped altogether. British retailers reduced their use of such bags by 8%, or 1 billion last year.

Source: www.worldbusiness.org   Read more...

When Columbia Professor Jeffrey Sachs publishes a book, it usually has a pronounced effect on the world's agenda. Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, his latest offering, appeared in bookstores this week. Initial critical response indicates it will be driving many agendas in 2008.

"Grim but surprisingly optimistic" seems to be the consensus view of the book. Conceptually, it draws from the same well as Sachs's earlier works: the application of large sums (3% of global GDP in this current case) could eliminate many of the world's problems; this is actually inexpensive compared to the alternative; humanity has no alternative if it is to have a future.   Read more...

Imagine iconic structures like the Sears Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge in darkness. During Earth Hour on Saturday, March 29 at 8 pm, cities across the globe will be powering down for one hour. Lights and unnecessary electrical items will be turned off from San Francisco to Bangkok. 24 cities, thousands of businesses and millions of people are expected to participate. Will the world take notice?

Website: www.earthhour.org   Read more...

Dutch researchers have built a windmill that directly desalinates seawater, using highpressure and reverse osmosis.

Full Story: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229102053.htm   Read more...

That's just for starters. The Masdar World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi attracted 11,500 people from 230 companies last week. Bidding to become the "world leader in renewables," the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi pledged $15 billion to the Masdar Initiative, whose goal is to develop alternative energies with lower environmental impacts. This same week, ironically, President Bush abetted the Prince's effort as he imperiled the future of the US renewables industry with a threatened veto of federal subsidies for the fledgling renewables industry--if Democrats financed renewables by rescinding $17.6 billion in oil companies tax breaks.   Read more...

As Ray Anderson was preparing to give a speech at Interface, the billion dollar carpet company he founded, he had a stark realization."I was running a company that was plundering the earth," he recalls. While Interface fully complied with the law, Ray knew that wasn't enough. So he challenged his employees to find ways to turn it all around, and forestalled objections from his own stockholders. "He bet his entire company," remembers one colleague. And the bet paid off. Today, Interface has cut fossil fuels by 45%, reduced water usage by 49% and slowed its landfill contribution by 80%. Plans are underway for it to be a fully "restorative enterprise" by 2020. Oh, and along the way? Interface has saved over $336 million.   Read more...

MIT students are at it once again. They have come up with a cheaper more precise way to fit prosthetic legs for those in India, especially rural areas where in the past has been more difficult to reach because of lack of power.

They have created a systems where a mold is taken from the person's stump by placing the stump into a container filled with tiny glass beads and covered with soft silicone rubber, and then creating a vacuum with a hand cranked device so that the beads seal tightly around the limb. This "negative" mold is filled with more glass beads (referred to as "sand") to form a positive mold--an exact replica of the stump--and the socket of the prosthetic leg is made to fit that replica. Alternatively, the two steps can be done with plaster of paris instead of the sand--a process that doesn't require electricity but does use heavy, non-reusable plaster.   Read more...

Here is another brilliantly simple concept that is fun and useful at the same time. PlayPumps International's mission is help improve the lives of children and their families by providing easy access to clean drinking water, enhancing public health, and offering play equipment to millions across Africa. To do this they have created patented water pumps powered by children at play. While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round, clean water is pumped from underground into a 2,500-liter tank, standing seven meters above the ground. A simple tap makes it easy for adults and children to draw water.   Read more...

A Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet flew yesterday from London to Amsterdam with one of its fuel tanks filled with a bio-jet blend including babassu oil and coconut oil.

Together with partners Boeing, GE Aviation and Imperium Renewables, Virgin Atlantic is helping to pioneer renewable fuel sources for aviation.   Read more...

For those who believe laughter is the best medicine, now there is a way to measure the dosage. Researchers at Kansai University have developed a machine that can scientifically measure the quantity of a person's laughter, as well as distinguish between the real and the fake.

Read full story: www.pinktentacle.com/2008/02/laughometer-measures-ah   Read more...

Going to School (www.goingtoschool.com) is a creative non-profit media trust that creates magical media to inspire children to change their lives by going to school.   Read more...

Bhubaneswar, Feb 19 (IANS) Orissa will soon provide 24-hour free transport facilities to all expecting mothers for institutional delivery, a move that aims at reducing maternal deaths, an official said Tuesday.

The new initiative called 'Janani Express' will be implemented in 124 blocks of the state's 314 blocks next month onwards in the first phase, a health official told IANS.   Read more...

A global banking and investment firm has taken an unusual route to corporate environmental responsibility: through the promotion of bird-watching.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC), which has been running its

The Tesco (www.tesco.com/greenerliving) chain ($63 billion in revenue) sells Britons one quarter of their groceries, among other things. Its CEO, Terry Leahy, announced his firm will halve its energy use within two years. In that period it also intends to reduce all packaging by a quarter. It has launched a "Green Card" that rewards customers for green behaviors; it will dramatically reduce the number of products it moves by air, and will imprint airplane symbols on those that are flown. Perhaps most important, Tesco will develop a system of labels quantifying the life cycle carbon imprint for each of the 70,000 items Tesco carries.   Read more...

Villagers in tiny communities including Guayabo, Sawacito and Mahor, in the rainforest of northeastern Honduras, used to take part in the rampant illegal trade in mahogany, but recently they have formed a cooperative and learned to harvest the prized wood in sustainable ways. Now, they mostly use trees that have fallen naturally or harvest them in a sustainable way from around the fringes of the nearby Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, and remove planks from the forest, first on their backs, then on muleback to avoid the disruption caused by heavy machinery.

Read full story: web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/itw-honduras-tt0213.html   Read more...

I just came across a blog called Liberia Stories (liberiastories.blogspot.com) and would love to share with you part of Elma Shaw's recent post:

"As I drove past the Temple of Justice today, I saw something that made me gasp, shout, screech to a halt, and make a quick U-turn. I had to see it again. Could it be true? It was! The phrase I have detested ever since I could read was being hacked off the face of the building, letter by letter. LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO ALL MEN is, at long last, being rearranged to say LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO ALL. I wanted to cry. I wanted to leap for joy. I wanted to twirl aound like Fraulein Maria and sing ''The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music.'' What I did do was smile and praise the construction supervisor as if it were his idea to make the change. No small steps here - This is one giant step for women, and one giant leap for Liberia."   Read more...

Last week, the New York Times reported the soaring growth of the California solar industry, which has recently added several thousands jobs. Between 2006 and 2007, California's installed solar generating capacity increased 50%, and venture capital investment in the state's solar industry grew from $253 million to $654 million. That's about half of all U.S. venture capital investments in solar.

SunPower expects revenues of over $1 billion this year, up from its 2007 revenue of $775 million, which was in turn more than triple its 2006 revenue. Nanosolar, an innovator challenging the dominant crystalline silicon photovoltaic technology, has 18 months of backlogged orders from Germany.   Read more...

A man's home is his castle.

The aphorism holds literal truth for Academy Vice Chairman for Europe, Dr. James Cusumano. With his wife Inez, Jim restored a ruined castle an hour's drive northwest of Prague. Last year they opened the 24-room Chateau Mcely luxury hotel, resort, and conference center.