BLOG HAS MOVED AND GROWN

Hi Everyone The Blog has moved to a new blog which contains all the original stories and even more information about "ideas that work". Plese visit, bookmark and follow this new blog - what IS working....

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Repurposed Parking Meters Collect Donations for Homeless

The city of Montreal has turned its retired mechanical parking meters (or Parco Dons)  in to piggy banks designed to collect loose change in order to help the city’s homeless population. The meters were first installed in the downtown borough of Ville-Marie in 2007, and since its inception, the program has raised $23,000 for the cause...

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NY helps 45,000 low income homes get insulated

New York expects to help more than 45,000 low-income households by blowing in insulation, sealing air leaks and installing energy-efficient lighting and appliances for free. This program is expected to create  14,000 jobs statewide as demand for contractors rises....

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New Device Helps Paralyzed Walk

Amanda Boxtel hasn’t walked since a skiing accident left her paralyzed nearly two decades ago. In the video below, she stands and walks for the first time in 18 years using eLegs, a 45-pound wearable robotic exoskeleton aimed at getting paraplegics out of their wheelchairs and onto their feet. It’s an amazing sight...

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San Francisco Health Clinic to Care for Uninsured

After Barbara Quinn, a 72-year-old registered nurse, retired from the Castro-Mission Health Center last year, she considered various volunteer opportunities until she realized she couldn't imagine doing anything that didn't involve nursing. So she teamed up with Clinic by the Bay, a free clinic that opens today to serve uninsured residents in the Excelsior and Outer Mission neighborhoods and parts of Daly Cit...

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Hilton Foundation to End Homelessness in L.A.

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation today announced $13 million in grants to fund key  a campaign to end homelessness in L.A. The grants includes: $9 million toward the creation of 2,500 new permanent supportive housing units; $3.6 million to identify and house 4,500 of the most vulnerable people on the streets; $330,000 for an innovative pilot program to ease the transition into housing; and $200,000 to engage faith leaders and communities in the campaign....

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Stimulus dollars for weatherization create thousands of jobs in New York

New York expects to help more than 45,000 low-income households by blowing in insulation, sealing air leaks and installing energy-efficient lighting and appliances for free. This program is expected to create  14,000 jobs statewide as demand for contractors rises....

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Sharing Baby Food Saved My Sanity

This is a story of a woman who wanted to make healthy food for her baby, and also wanted to sleep. She formed a group of like minded parent who each made a big batch of one kind of food and shared it with the group. This idea works for baby food, soup, casseroles, you name it. If anyone in the Santa Rosa area wants to try this, I'm in.How do you create and host a local babyfood exchang...

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Rooftop to Tabletop: Urban Farming Spreads Roots

Eighteen feet above Chicago’s honking city traffic, Mike Repkin stands in a plot of buckwheat, delicate white flowers waving about his waist as an elevated train clatters past at eye level. From this unusual spot, Repkin is farming. He grows great leafy bunches of kale and chard, stalks of wheat and oats, chubby potatoes, sweet strawberries, and even deep-rooted rhubarb. He grows Jerusalem artichokes for diabetics at the nearby community center and basil to sell at the farmer’s market across the street...

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In California, Carports That Can Generate Electricity

So far, solar carports have been installed at some 75 elementary, high school and community college campuses in California, the majority of them in the San Francisco area.  Roofs made of solar panels are altering vistas and promoting a philosophy of green thinking among the young. Yet the primary driver of the solar roofs is economic. ...

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Car Share Service - Rent Your Car for extra $$

GetAround is a basic idea -- most of our cars aren't in use during the day. We use them to drive to work, and then they just sit there until the work day is over. What if someone else could be using them when we don't need them? GetAround provides you with a keyless entry system for your car. You can then register it on their site so that someone who needs wheels nearby can find it, and rent it from you. It's sort of like a hybrid of Rentalic and ZipCa...

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Insurance Companies Required to Spend More on Patient Care

In 2011 health insurers will have to follow a new set of rules that details how much money they must spend on patients' medical care, according to guidelines the Obama administration released Monday. The rules are part of the health care reform law, which mandates that insurers spend a minimum of 85 percent of the premiums that they take in on patient care rather than administrative costs or profit (insurers who sell to small groups and individuals will spend a minimum of 80%)....

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Giants Delivered A Solar-Powered World Series

The San Francisco Giants are one of the first teams in the country to play in a stadium partially powered by renewable energy. When Game 1 of the World Series started in San Francisco’s AT&T Park, the hometown Giants took the field in a stadium that boasts solar panels and was recognized in April for energy efficiency and sustainability by the U.S. Green Building Council. Their opponents, the Texas Rangers, regularly recycle everything from infield grass clippings to cardboard and office paper, according to MLB.com...

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16 People Receive Kidneys Just Before Thanksgiving

Sixteen people received kidneys in the world's largest paired kidney exchange ever accomplished.  Georgetown University Hospital coordinated 32 operations, most involving people from Maryland. On the eve of Thanksgiving, 16 people gave a rare gift to 16 others and nearly all met for the first time that da...

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Help Your Neighborhood Go Solar

Everyone want to add solar panels to their house but they are too expensive for many families. 1 Block Off the Grid (1BOG) is helping people like Michael Martinez use group purchasing power to reduce these costs, assisting neighborhoods all across the US to band together and go sola...

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Do-It-Yourself: Winter Break Camp Co-ops

The original article promotes a summer camp co-op, but since the kids will be out of school over the Winter Break this idea may just save a few of the Moms out there. If you are looking for ways to save on childcare and day camp over the holiday, consider forming Holiday Camp Co-op through Care.com.  By creating your own day camp with other parents in your neighborhood, you can be certain that the care will be affordable, trustworthy, and provide unique learning experiences for your chil...

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Builders of Hope - rebuilding homes, neighborhoods and lives

This story has it all, saving older houses from demolition, reducing waste at landfills, creating "green" homes, providing affordable housing and giving the homeless and recently incarcerated folks a job. Watch the video, read the article and be inspire...

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Cities offer homeless free storage

Last Thanksgiving, Phillip Black says most of his belongings were thrown away by the police.Police told Black they mistook the bags in a Whole Foods shopping cart for trash. "I couldn't even enjoy my Thanksgiving," he says. Finding a place to safely leave possessions is one of many challenges homeless people face each day, homeless advocates say. Some cities, including Portland, Ore., St. Petersburg, Fla., New York, San Francisco and Chicago are trying to help people in Black's situation by offering free storage space to the homele...

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23 yr old Invents Solar Fridge

Proving once again that the best ideas are often the simplest, 23-year-old student/inventor/entrepreneur Emily Cummins has designed a brilliant portable solar-powered refrigerator that works based upon the principle of evaporation. Employing a combination of conduction and convection, the refrigerator requires no electricity and can be made from commonly available materials like cardboard, sand, and recycled metal...

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San Francisco Recycling Best in Nation

The city of San Francisco managed to divert 72 percent of all recyclable material from the landfill, claiming the highest recycling rate of any city in the country, according to office of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. The percentage inches closer to the city’s goal of 75 percent landfill diversion by 2010 and zero waste by 2020. Watch the video and...

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Paint, brushes, and volunteers clean up graffiti and build communities

Twenty-six years ago, Jane Golden took to the streets of Philadelphia armed with paint, brushes, simple designs, and a small contingent of helpers. Her goal? Wipe out the city's ugly graffiti. Her weapon of choice? Murals. Since 1984 she has put paintbrushes in the hands of more than 35,000 city kids. The program has brought art to prison inmates and drug addicts, as well as wary stoop sitters. The waiting list for murals to be painted here is 2,000 walls long. Artists far beyond Philly want in on the design work...

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Louisville Leopards take Manhattan

The Louisville Leopard Percussionists are a performing ensemble comprised of 60+ student musicians ages 7-12, who reside in 20 different Louisville zip codes and attend 27 different schools in and around Louisville, Kentucky. The Leopards don't read music; instead they learn new songs by ear. For Diane Downs, their teacher, it's all about the kids' talents and their desire to play music. Thanks to Leigh and John Nouveaux for sharing this stor...

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Electric Taxis in San Francisco

Palo Alto, Calif. – (October 27, 2010) – Better Place, with support from the U.S. Department of Transportation via the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, today announced a commitment to bring a switchable battery, electric taxi program to the Bay Area in partnership with the cities of San Francisco and San Jose to further cement the region’s position as the “EV Capital of the U.S....

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India Develops $35 "laptop"

India has come up with the world's cheapest "laptop," a touch-screen computing device that costs $35. India's Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal unveiled the low-cost computing device that is designed for students, saying his department had started talks with global manufacturers to start mass production. "We have reached a (developmental) stage that today, the motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around $35, including memory, display, everything," he told a news conference. To see the laptop in action select the "Read More" link below...

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Lone Ranger with Heavy Machinery

Tad Agoglia hasn't been to his Knoxville, Tenn., office in three years. That's because the 34-year-old and his four-man team constantly rush to disaster sites, where they open roads and provide other urgent services for emergency personnel...

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Toilet Plunger Becomes Portable Wound-Healing Device

In February a wound-care team from Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston traveled to Haiti, to help care for patients suffering from the large open wounds that accompany amputations, crushed limbs, and other injuries. Among the team was MIT graduate student Danielle Zurovcik, who arrived ready to test a device which uses negative pressure to pull bacteria and fluid out of wounds, and was the crowning achievement for her master’s degree thesis project. “I was walking through Kmart and saw a row of plungers,” she told AOL News. “I just thought, ‘Wow, that’s exactly what I can use...

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Camp Helps Kids Grieve

It's tough enough for an adult to lose a loved one to cancer. Imagine how devastating it is for a child. To support these children, Philadelphia Phillies pitching great Jamie Moyer and his wife Karen started Camp Erin, nationwide. Camp Erin is weekend-long overnight camp designed for children and teens, ages 6 to 17, who are grieving the death of someone close to them. It is a traditional, fun, high-energy camp combined with grief education and emotional support. Camp Erin is offered at no charge to participants...

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Outfits for Working Military Dogs

Happy Veterans Day - Starline Nunley started with the idea of helping her son, Major Parker Frawley, who is a Longbow, Apache helicopter fighter pilot stationed in Iraq. She asked him if he would like a Cooling Vest to help him cope with the typically very hot temperatures encountered there. His reply was “Mom, I am and we (soldiers) are all right. The military provides for us very well, but dogs have different needs. It is so hot that they are having trouble doing their job and that puts us all in danger.” To see videos of adorable military dogs "read more"...

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Local Dirt - connecting farmers and buyers

When Heather Hilleren worked for Whole Foods she noticed they had trouble finding and buying from local farmers. By 2005, Hilleren had earned an MBA from University of Wisconsin Business School. As one of her class projects, she had developed a plan to use the power of an online interface to facilitate buying between local farmers, distributors, cooperatives, retailers, restaurateurs and even individuals. Hilleren combined her savings,  a $600,000 National Science Foundation grant and  $1 million in new investment from O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures in San Francisco and Boston-based Peak Ridge Capital. She's using the...

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High Speed Rail Comes to California

The US government pumped in an additional 2.4 billion dollars to develop high-speed rail projects as it moves toward building the nation's first nationwide next-generation program. The Obama's administration announced that 54 high-speed rail projects in 23 states will share in 2.4 billion dollars to continue developing the intercity passenger rail service. "Demand for high-speed rail dollars is intense and it demonstrates just how important this historic initiative is," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. States understand that high-speed rail represents a unique opportunity to create jobs, revitalize our manufacturing base, spur economic development and provide people with an environmentally friendly transportation option," LaHood said. More than 30 rail...

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Nuns Give Kids and Moms a Second Chance

Sister Teresa works with children who, for much of their early lives, only saw their moms a couple of hours a week during visiting hours - at jail. "I was just moved to think a child was ripped apart from their mom," Teresa said. "The more I talked to the mothers I realized the mothers just needed a chance." "Hour Children" meets moms in some of the toughest jails in New York. They offer women a fresh start. On one block in Queens, Fitzgerald, or "Sister Tesa" as she's called - provides free housing and daycare, and thrift stores where former inmates can work and shop. Next door to the store, there's computer training and job placement. One of the main goals is making sure the women don't end up back behind bars. In New York state, more than 30 percent of female ex-convicts get arrested...

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Suits for Success

Dress for Success promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.   Since 1997, Dress for Success has served more than 550,000 women around the world. Each year they reach more than 50,000 women in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Mexico, Poland and the West Indies.  On her initial visit a woman receives a suit appropriate for the industry in which she is interviewing and, if available, accessories. ...

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Tired of watching women pick themselves apart in front of the mirror, 24-year-old blogger Caitlin Boyle scribbled a note on a Post-it — “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!” — and slapped it on the mirror of a public bathroom. With this one small act, a movement was born. Women of different ages, races, lifestyles and geographic locations began posting encouraging notes of their own. The messages are chronicled in Boyle’s new book, “Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-it Note at a Time.” This excerpt from “Operation Beautiful” highlights the damaging effects of “Fat Talk” and explains how to break free from it. Watch another video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqOEP40Pmdg&feature=player_embedded#! Read Entire Article: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38560934/ns/today-books/ Visit...

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Solar Glass Tile Roof by SolTech Energy

SolTech Energy makes an innovative roof tile that harvests solar energy with a traditional looking glass tile. The glass tile is heated by the sun and redirected for use by the central heating system. The system works with air-based and water-based heating systems, including, for example, a ground source heat pump, air heat pump, pellet boiler, oil boiler, or electric boiler. SolTech Energy expects to bring the system to market in the U.S. sometime in 2011. The system has a natural aversion to snow, what with the shiny tile surface and heat reflected from an absorption fabric below the tile. The tiles are UV resistant and last longer than...

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Face to Faith Comes to Bay Area

Over 70 teachers from 25 public and private schools around the Bay Area joined Tony Blair, Founder and Patron of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation US, at the launch of the Face to Faith program in San Francisco yesterday. They engaged in a live video-conference with Tony Blair and two Face to Faith schools; Brighton High School, a public school in Utah and Edmund Rice College in Melbourne, Australia. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation US’ Face to Faith global schools program enables high school students to become true global citizens, dedicated to peace-building and harmonious co-existence. Face to Faith connects students aged 11-16 from different schools in 15 countries across the world via video-conferencing and a secure website. The program aims to break down stereotypes and broaden...

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Prom Dress Recycling

Times are tough and, in many families, money is tight. But no matter what the state of the economy is, girls want a beautiful gown for the prom. There are programs throughout the country that allow folks to donate their used formal wear, jewelry, and shoes so that everyone can go to their prom. Watch  antother video http://cnettv.cnet.com/recycling-prom-dresses/9742-1_53-50023313.html Website - donate my dress: http://www.donatemydress.org/ Another Website: http://princessproject.o...

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Khan Academy

One of the most amazing educational resources on the Internet. Over 1800 free online videos and thousands of practice problems all produced by one man -- Salman Khan: Teacher to the World The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere. Sal has videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology and finance which have been recorded by Sal at his home. The Academy also has an "exercises" section which allows you to solve problems online, find out if you answered correctly and get hints if needed. After you have correctly answered 10 problems you are prompted to move to the next level. Sal received his MBA from Harvard Business School...

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Portraits of the Fallen

This week, if you only have time to visit one link from my blog and watch one video, this is the one. Get the kleenex. Kaziah Hancock is a Utah artist who paints portraits of fallen American heroes at no cost.  She was driving home in early 2003 and heard the story on the radio of a fallen soldier from Utah.  It was at that point she decided she would do a portrait of every fallen soldier.  Linda's 2 cents: One of the purposes of this blog is to find stories that give folks hope. Another is to find areas on which we agree regardless of our politics. I believe Liberals and Conservatives alike feel that loosing a child is a...

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Meet Your Street

Psychology student Alex Loughlin is using Halloween as part of a nationwide campaign to encourage people to get to know their neighbours, the program is called Meet Your Street. Alex is encouraging students to enter the Pass the Pumpkin competition as a way to meet their neighbours. The idea is for folks to buy and decorate a pumpkin - then knock on a neighbor's door in their street and pass it on to them as a Halloween treat, taking a picture which can be posted on Alex's Facebook page. I wish I had found this link a few weeks ago, I would have posted it earlier. Alex has another campaign "Pass a Pie". Make a pie and give...

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United Through Reading

United Through Reading helps parents separated from their children share the simple joys of reading aloud together. Picture a young Soldier in Afghanistan walking into a tent, dropping his gear, and picking up a copy of Green Eggs and Ham to read to his daughter at home. Imagine, back home in base housing, his wife and daughter sit down to watch Daddy read a bedtime story from the other side of the world. At that moment, Daddy is home. The Military Program, has more than 250 recording locations worldwide including nearly every deployed US Navy ship, in 75 USOs, and from forward operating locations around the world, including 46 camps...

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Smart Power Outlets

John La Grou unveils an ingenious new technology that will smarten up the electrical outlets in our homes, using microprocessors and RFID tags. The invention, Safeplug, promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires -- and to conserve energy. His solution, Safeplug, is a cheap data chip placed into the plugs of appliances that can be read by a cheap wireless receiver in the socket. The device and the outlet are now an intelligent network, trading information of the safe operating ranges of the device. This allows the wall socket to shut off power if too much energy is flowing. Whenever there is nothing plugged in, the wall unit...

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Good Sports Always Recycle

The Giants are in the World Series, sports miracles abound!! The next time you attend a sporting event take a look at how the garbage is handled and consider getting involved to promote recycling.  After the crowds abandon their seats, it’s unbelievable to see how much waste has accumulated over a few hours. Here is a success story we can all use as a model. For the past 17 years, the Good Sports Always Recycle™ program has not only encouraged University of Tennessee fans to recycle their plastic bottles and cups at every UT athletic home game, but also sparked competition among Tennessee schools. Each year, the top 10 schools win $500...

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A Different Flavor of Food Truck

When I say food truck you may visualize tacos, coffee, or a burger. What about vegies and fruit? Some clever entrepreneurs are  bringing farm fresh produce to those in both urban and rural areas. They are calling themselves Mobile Farm Trucks or Mobile Farmers’ Markets, and they don’t just cater to high-end shoppers, but provide low-income residents with affordable, fresh produce, grown using sustainable and/or organic methods. For example, in New York City, the Holton Farms Mobile Farm Truck has taken to the streets with a progressive mobile farm stand, that will operate throughout New York City, to serve as the public and restaurant...

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The Sharing LifeStyle and How to Legally Define it

This good idea is a "twofer": 1. sharing instead of owning to make your $$ and energy go farther 2. supporting a type of law that helps facilitate cooperation instead of promote contention. I strongly recommend you read the entire article instead of just reviewing my summary. This is  big one. The author, Janelle Orsi calls this sharing law which would help people like Lynne: Lynne lives in an urban cohousing community and shares ownership of a car with two neighbors. Every day, she fluidly shares, borrows, and lends (rather than owns) many household goods, tools, electronics, and other items. She is a member...

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Fur Coats Recycled into Animal Nests

If you have a fur coat gathering dust in your closet, the Humane Society suggests recycling it by putting it on the backs of other animals. The Coats for Cubs program by the Humane Society of the United States helps orphaned, injured or sick wildlife by gathering fur coats and using them for nests, bedding or cuddly replacements for mom and dad. In 2009, 2,687 fur items were donated. "We use the discarded furs as bedding to give the animals comfort and reduce stress," said Michael Markarian, the agency's chief operating officer in Washington, D.C. "The fur garments act as a surrogate mother. It is a warm and furry substitute." The...

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Nationwide Paperback Swap

This website allows you to post books you are willing to give away. Once someone requests your book, you mail it to them (you pay shipping). Then you receive a credit you can use to request a book for yourself. The book is shipped at no cost to you. You can do this all from home, post your books, pick out new ones, and print the mailing labels from your home computer. Great for college students on a budget or anyone who is a "bookie". The have almost 5 million books at the site. Watch video that explains the process: http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/how_to_swap_books.php Visit the Website: http://www.paperbackswap.c...

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Tennessee helps elderly stay in homes

Tennessee has made changes to its health care system which are allowing the elderly and disabled to get the assistance they need in their homes - at a much lower cost than at a nursing home. A lot of this change is the direct result of efforts by Governor Phil Bredesen. “It’s a good thing to do and it probably can save some costs, but more importantly it really is an easy way to keep an awful lot of people in their homes, which is what I would want. I know it’s what my mother wants,” Bredesen said in an interview with Stateline. There are many success stories. A 56-year-old Nashville resident named Larry is a good example. He suffered...

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Lifestraw - Cleans Yucky Water

This device is so simple and effective you can tell by looking at it that you have found a winner. The Problem: I was surprised to learn that a shocking 6,000 people die daily from consuming unsafe water. The Solution: The Danish company Vestergaard Frandsen has created a clever portable water filtration system called the LifeStraw. Designed to be worn around the neck, this life-saving accessory transforms mud puddles into a refreshing sip of water. Best of all, it requires no training to use and lasts for roughly a year (if used by a single person) without any maintenance what so ever. I'm wondering if...

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Recycled Pacemakers Save Lives

Two doctors from the University of Michigan  Cardiovascular Center took a look at the legality and practicality of collecting pacemakers, after a patient has died,  sterilizing them and reusing them. The  devices are used wth patients who live in a country where the price of a pacemaker is prohibitive. Kim A. Eagle, MD, a cardiologist and a director of the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, explained that “establishing a validated pacemaker reutilization program could transform a currently wasted resource into an opportunity for a new life for many citizens in the world.” Eagle notes that small humanitarian efforts...

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Indian CEO Puts Helping Others Above Bottom Line

This is a truly inspirational story. I hope business schools will start to emphasize these types of success stories as they work with young MBAs. Make sure you watch the video as he explains what he thinks is important to a successful company. 25 years ago, Amitabha Sadangi was so poor he couldn't afford 2 meals in one day. He worked hard to put himself through school despite his deep poverty, so that he could get a good job and become wealthy. Today, he is a businessman giving up wealth and fortune to tackle irrigation and poverty in India. Amitabha Sadangi's vision is to empower even the poorest farmers to irrigate their land. He believes...

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Wal-Mart buys more food from small local farms

I am always encouraged when a "good idea" makes it's way to a box store like Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is planning to double the sales of fresh produce from local farms in its U.S. stores by the end of 2015, this would lift local produce to 9 percent of total produce sales in the country. Wal-Mart also said it will require that palm oil from sustainable sources be used in all of its private-label products by the end of 2015. The company sells hundreds of products that use palm oil. Concerns had been raised that some producers add to global warming by felling forests. Environmentalists contend that using locally sourced agriculture and supporting...

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Strip Mine to be Transformed into Solar Farm

Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio announced an agreement to create a huge solar energy field at an old strip-mine adjacent to a nature conservation site. Approximately 300 jobs will be created to build the solar project, known as “Turning Point Solar”. In addition, Prius and Isofoton the solar companies providing the panels, have agreed to locate their North American operations in Ohio, creating an additional 300+ permanent manufacturing jobs. Turning Point will have a total of 239,400 panels. If operating today, this project would be the largest photovoltaic solar array in the United States. Woo Hoo!! This is such a hopeful sign. As I watch...

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Solar-Powered Hearing Aid Brings Jobs to Deaf People, Sound to Disadvantaged

This is a heart warming story about a technology that makes sense on so many levels. The hearing aid can be charged by solar power. The cost is $100 and deaf folks are employed to make the device. As someone who is loosing my hearing, I hope this technology can come to America soon. Watch a video about the product and the inventor Harold Weinstein  Read the story here: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/solar-powered-hearing-aid.html Visit the solar ear website: http://www.solarear.com.br/solar/index....

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The Sharing Exchange

A recycled Newspaper box has become a drop box where anyone can take an object leave an object check back to see what is in there. A simple idea with wonderful possibilites. I wonder if I can put one in my front yard? I have been wanting to give away extra tomatoes - how fun to have a treasure box right outside your door. Read more http://www.life-connected.com/2009/11/the-stranger-exchan...

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Shamans and Horses Work Magic on Autistic Boy

Rupert Isaacson decided to take his five-year-old  autistic son on a three-week trek across Mongolia on horseback, his wife thought he’d gone crazy.  Rowan was autistic: incontinent, uncommunicative and given to fearsome bouts of nerve-shredding screeching, even at home. Rupert had noticed that Rowan responded positively to a neighbor's horse, he also had learned about Shaman from Mongolia who were  reported to have strong healing power. He combined the 2 experiences and went to Mongolia in 2007. “Three months ago he had no maths, now he’s exactly where he should be,” Isaacson says. “He’s started drawing. He’s doing...

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Time Banking

Time banking is a system where you  spend an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar, then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It's a simple idea, but it has powerful implications for folks who are trying to stretch their money, are unemployed or who have specific needs they can't afford to hire out. If you want to save $$, have skills you are willing to share, and want to get a great deal, this is an idea for you. How it works http://www.timebanks.org/how-it-works.htm Where do I start http://www.timebanks.org/get-involved.htm If...

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Planting Green Curtains

If there is anything I  love more  finding an idea that works, its finding an idea that works and involves plants. Here is a just such an idea  – Green Curtains. The concept is to plant a living fence that shades a cool air pocket between the “curtain” and the building. So don't worry too much about pruning those overgrown vines - live and let grow. http://www.ijdesign.com/blog/?p=...

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