Start your day with a good idea. Whether it is a solar powered hearing aid, using a horse to help an autistic boy, or helping the homeless get a shower, the human spirit is making progress. Join me in spreading the word about "ideas that work".
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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.
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.
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.
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 City
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.
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 exchange?
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.
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.
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 ZipCar.
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%).
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.
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 day.
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 solar.
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 child.
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 inspired.
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 homeless.
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.
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.
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.
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 story.
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.”
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:
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.
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.”
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.
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"
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 money to get the word out nationally and to continue to build her offerings for her site, which she says has thousands of farmers, distributors and buyers. Hilleren wants to offer electronic ordering services for local grocery store buyers, who can simply go online, check local farmers' inventory and buy what they need. Eventually, she plans to charge a subscription fee--probably $360 per year--to wholesale buyers and sellers.
The site saves the average wholesale buyer about four hours a week, Hilleren says. In addition, it gives farmers a new sales venue, and it offers transparency. "People can actually find out when the product was harvested and what the growing practices were that went along with it," she says. "All products need to be identified, so people know what they're buying and where it came from."
Run, don't walk to your local organic supermarket and ask them if they use this service, if not print out the website and the article listed above and give it to the manager.
Share this information with local restaurants that use locally grown produce.
If you or someone you know farms organically send them this information.
The next time someone tells you the government just wastes our money. Mention that the National Science Foundation supports this site which is creating jobs for local farmers nationwide.
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 manufacturers and suppliers, both domestic and foreign, have agreed to establish or expand their bases of operations in the United States if they are hired to build the country's next-generation high-speed lines, the department said.
That project requirement marks the Obama administration's commitment to help ensure that new jobs are created in the US, it added.
California snared more than 900 million dollars mainly for construction of high-speed rail lines linking Los Angeles to Sacramento, the state capital.
Mention this to friends at work, your local church or a club to which you belong.
Think about this success 3-4 times today and feel hopeful and encouraged
Talk about this article with family and friends and encourage the to mention it to anyone they know in your local government, or the transportation community
Email your local congressman and senator and ask them to support high speed rail in your state
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 again. But the rate for Hour Children's is only 4 percent.
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. After a woman finds a job she returns to Dress for Success for additional clothing that can be mixed and matched to make several outfits, providing her with the foundation for a professional wardrobe.
Another way in which Dress for Success supports women joining or returning to the workforce is through Steps to Success, an initiative that focuses on the crucial first 30 days of employment, during which newly-hired women face many potential challenges.
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.
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 conventional clay or concrete roof tiles.
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 horizons by engaging students of different cultures, religions and beliefs in discussing global issues from different perspectives. In the United States, schools in Utah, California, New York, Washington and Georgia are already active members of the global program.
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.
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 where he was president of the student body. He also holds a Masters in electrical engineering and computer science, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and a BS in mathematics from MIT where he was president of the the Class of 1998. While at MIT, Sal was the recipient of the Eloranta Fellowship which he used to develop web-based math software for children with ADHD.
Tell all the Math teachers you know about this resource.
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 parent's worst nightmare. This artist brings comfort to families who are hurting and she has my deepest admiration and support. I hope she also has yours and that you will take the time to comment on this article in the comment section below.
If you or someone you know has lost a loved one in the war, I encourage you to contact this program.
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 it to your neighbor this holiday season
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 in Afghanistan.
More than one million American children are separated from one or both parents due to military deployment and nearly double that for children separated from their loved ones due to incarceration, drug treatment, or social services. Still others are separated from their grandparents, and therefore, from generational love and learning. United Through Reading has served 1 million beneficiaries over the past 21 years.
If you know of someone who can benefit from this program, please pass along the resources listed below.
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 can just simply shut off. Considering the amount of sockets in the States alone, shutting them off when not in use can save an unbelievable amount of wasted energy. It could even prevent injuries caused by children playing with electrical sockets.
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 to improve their recycling program, a plaque, and a trip to a University of Tennessee football game. At the game, representatives from the winning schools will participate in a one-of-a-kind tailgate party with numerous special guests and will be honored on the field during the game.
Since the start of the program, 160 schools have been recognized for their recycling and environmental programs, and previous winners’ programs represent every aspect of recycling – from everyday paper and plastics to computer parts and cell phones.During that time they have achieved quite a recycling feat — 8 million plastic cups!
If Tennessee can do it - so can you. Visit their website to learn about the program. Talk to the other "soccer moms and dads" and mobilize your community. Who knows, maybe your school will be recognized and you can all go to a Giants game.
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 wholesale clients. "The Farm Truck allows us access to neighborhoods throughout the Five Boroughs without having to open a store.”
The Farm Truck is run by sustainable farmers who partner with other farms and artisan producers to bring other products to its members including ice cream, cheeses, breads, coffee, grains, and soaps. They are accepting Food Stamps and discounting their prices by 20 percent for low-income New Yorkers.
Last year, Maine’s Jordan Farm started a Mobile Farm Stand that travels to senior housing sites in South Portland and to Portland and Scarborough businesses. Using a renovated school bus, they offer the same fresh produce that is available at their farm stand in Cape Elizabeth.
My 2 cents:
Wouldn't it be great if at lunch and after work we could shop from the Mobile Farm Truck parked in the corporate parking lot. Saves time running to the market after work and supports local farmers.
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 of a cooperative grocery, through which she receives significant discounts in exchange for putting in a few monthly work hours. She grows vegetables on an empty lot and sometimes sells the veggies to neighbors.
She has a successful rooftop landscaping business, which she launched using 20 microloans and investments from friends and family. She often barters, doing odd jobs in exchange for goods and services.
She also owns a 5 percent share of a hot springs retreat center outside of town, which she acquired through sweat equity.
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 programby 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 coats go to wildlife rehabilitation centers that take in baby raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, coyotes, skunks and other animals, and has helped thousands of animals since it began in 2005 with the Fund for Animals.
Markarian said many of the coats are donated by people who find fur to be inhumane - whether the animals are trapped in steel-jawed traps or raised on factory farms. For those who have fur and no longer want to wear it, "This is a great way for them to give back to the animals," he said.
OK folks look in your closet, i have a ratty mink left to me by my grandmother. Mail it off to the Humane Society or if you live by a Buffalo Exchange, you can drop off the fur at their store.
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 a stroke two years ago and had an amputation. Because his wife could not care for him at home, he reluctantly entered a nursing facility. When the new program began providing training and support services for his wife, Larry was able to go home and spend time with his children and grandchildren.
The AARP, which advocates for the elderly, says that three people can receive long-term care services in the community for the cost of serving just one person in a nursing facility. Still, the big fear in offering more home-based services is that people who never would consider entering a nursing home “will come out of the woodwork” and apply for Medicaid. Surveys have shown that for each patient in a nursing facility, two more with the same level of disability are making do at home.
Alaska, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington State now spend more than half of their long-term care dollars on alternatives to nursing facilities.
The new federal health care law — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act— has a chance of changing that. It includes financial incentives for states to spend at least 50 percent of their long-term care dollars on non-institutional services and offers a grant for every person who leaves a nursing home to receive services in the community. Still, experts say the federal dollars may not be enough to persuade some states to make the changes.
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 this could be used in this country for back packers who need clean water in remote locations.
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 have demonstrated that the risk of infection when using recycled pacemakers is the same—less than 2 percent—as implanting a new device. Patients also live as long and have as good a quality of life with a recycled pacemaker as patients who receive a new one.
Even though the cost of new pacemakers is as low as $800 in some foreign markets, this amount is “often more than the annual income of the average worker in underdeveloped nations,” noted Eagle. Cardiovascular disease continues to be an epidemic in these countries and others around the world.
Bill Daem has been doing this without the approval of the medical establishment since the mid 90s. During that time he has sent between 1,400 and 1,600 pacemakers overseas. Many of them were given to children. This new study may help Bill's organization Heart Too Heart expand it's efforts.
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 that giving rural farmers a chance to pull themselves out of poverty is the way towards sustainable and dignified development. All you need is a $1 and a dream...and a lot of hard work.
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 small farms is one way to preserve local jobs and prevent dwindling farmland from being lost. It can also help reduce the use of resources such as fuel to transport food over long distances.
Wal-Mart joins a growing list of corporate and charitable organizations lending support to sustainable agriculture programs and small and local farmers.
I am not a big fan of Wal-Mart, but I think they got this one right. Since they are such a major force in the economy their efforts to support local farmers are to be applauded, now when they start offering health care to employees it will be even better.
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 all the ads about Prop 23,it will be nice to think of this project and take hope that many folks are trying to do the right thing when it comes to renewable energy. Go Ohio.
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.
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 chores to save up for a baby chick. We went away to Mongolia with a kid who was subject to neurological fits, who was incontinent and completely cut off from his peers. He is still autistic, but he’s no longer suffering from these major dysfunctions which were impairing his quality of life – and ours.”
Rowan is seven now. He is educated at New Trails, a special centre set up by his parents near Austin, Texas, with the money from their publishing advance. At the New Trails centre, autistic children are given time to spend with horses, rabbits and goats. One of the problems with the endless round of behavioural and occupational therapy Rowan had in his early years was his rigidity, Isaccson says; at New Trails the children can interact with the animals at their own pace.
Rowan's adventure was filmed and made into a documentary: Over the Hills and Far Away, a documentary filmed during the journey.
View Trailer here - http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2898395673/
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.
If you hear about a great idea, send me an email or post a comment at this site. Let's all get hooked on finding "ideas that work". lhemenway@santarosa.edu
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=182
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.
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.
Happy Veterans Day - 
United Through Reading helps parents separated from their children share the simple joys of reading aloud together. 
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.
The Giants are in the World Series, sports miracles abound!! 
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. 
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.
A recycled Newspaper box has become a drop box where anyone can 
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.
