SCIENCE – "An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists." (Daily Telegraph) I love physics! Thanks Andrew.
Anti-Bullying Software Begins Trials With 900 Students
To coincide with National Anti-Bullying Week (19th-23rd November), the new European software, FearNot!, begins a six-week trial in the UK involving 600 school children from Hertfordshire and Warwick. 300 pupils in German schools will also be introduced to the interactive role-play software designed to tackle the problem of bullying. (Innovation Report) Thanks to Andrew N. for the link.
Thanksgiving: A Seasonal RItual Tying Us to the Earth
I love celebrations that serve to remind us about important aspects of our lives. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day celebrate two of the most important people in our lives while Earth Day reminds us to take care of the planet we depend on for our survival. But seasonal celebrations are too often overlooked in our modern, fast-paced urban world. With the days getting shorter, the kids back in school and most everyone back to work; autumn is a time when we start spending more and more of our lives indoors. We flick on electric lights, fire up the furnace, turn on the TV and often forget about our biological roots and our connections to nature and the seasons…
I remember visiting a First Nations Reserve while I was on a tour for Wisdom of the Elders, my book about the conjunction of ancient traditional knowledge and ideas from modern science. Ushered into a longhouse where there were only a handful of people, I was welcomed with an apology. Apparently, the poor attendance was due to a community celebration of the sap flowing through the trees. In fact, they have a couple of dozen days a year when the community acknowledges such important seasonal events as the first snowfall, the last ice, the first buds, and so on. I was so impressed with their recognition of the seasonality of events and the kinds of things that mattered to them.
After a few years of this annual ritual, we realized that many of our friends in First Nations communities up the coast of British Columbia don’t often get fresh fruit, so we began sending boxes of cherries to them. Last year we picked more than 700 pounds and sent dozens of boxes! The bonus to this ritual is that each year, our friends reciprocate with halibut, herring eggs, salmon, crabs, and much more. And most importantly, our children understand and revel in the seasons and food.
To me, this kind of celebration of nature’s bounty and the sharing of it with friends and family is what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s one of those few formal events that provide a ritual celebration of our biological nature – in particular our need to take animals and plants for food. And it allows us to enjoy the company of those we love while reflecting on the things that matter.
Like that First Nations community, I think we ought to have more times when we acknowledge the seasons and the changing world. I’ve seen different communities that celebrate peaches, blueberries, strawberries and many other fruits and vegetables. Years ago, Sweden decided to celebrate one of its most important resources – water. For a week, communities have events around water and they cap it with a prestigious Water Prize which a Canadian, David Schindler, won the first year.
Given how much we depend on the cycles of nature for our survival, it seems odd that we choose to suppress rather than to celebrate them. We should indeed be celebrating the wind, the forests, our fish, our soil, the sun, and so many more things that matter so much in our lives. And at this time of the year, Thanksgiving provides a welcome moment to reflect on Earth’s productivity, abundance and generosity. Happy Thanksgiving.
Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.
How Chocolate Can Save the Planet
"Chocolate can be good for the soul, and healthy for the body, too. But the environment? How could chocolate help with global climate change?" (Listen or read at NPR)
Dogsled Team Has the Blind Leading the Not-Blind
"Isobel, a six-year-old husky cross, has all the great qualities of a sled dog. She loves to run, has strength and endurance, and works well alongside the other dogs. It takes a while for visitors to notice that she is completely blind." (CBC)
500 Good Things
EDITOR’s BLOG – Have you added your link to 500GoodThings.com? You can share YOUR good news with the GNN-i community (and the world). This is a directory of enlightened websites, people, products and services — all together in one place! When you purchase a link on 500goodthings.com you’ve gained access to our growing network of inspired readers for the promotion of your product or service. Basic links cost ONLY $25.00, yet the link stays up indefinitely! Four great new links were added last week. Get on the list, before it fills up…
Hospital CEO Pens Book Teaching Law of Attraction
Sudbury, Ontario- "Attract It: Beyond Positive Thinking" is believed to be the first book of its kind written by an executive from the health care sector. Newly-retired hospital CEO, Gisèle Guénard, is known among her Canadian collegues for "saying the words". Now she is speaking out with a new book that calls for us to literally change the way we think, and to join the ‘Positive Change Movement’ to help better the world. "We are at a time in history when all hands must be on deck to positively impact our future in every way we possibly can."
Families Grow on National Adoption Day
On the sixth annual National Adoption Day, dozens gathered in the lobby of an Atlanta juvenile justice center with smiling faces to witness 24 children officially adopted. (AJ Constitution w/ photos) Link from Steve Ghent.
Alternative Schools Work to Lower Dropout Rates
"Takara Perry knows if she had stayed on at St. Johns High School, she would simply have dropped out — making Cs and Ds and just scraping by. Now the 17-year-old senior is on the A-B honor roll at an alternative high school." (AP) Thanks to Steve Ghent for the submission.
Australian Men Find Solace in a Shed
"Australia has come up with a novel weapon in the fight against high rates of male suicide and depression – a variation on the humble shed. The Men’s Shed movement is booming, providing havens for mostly older men to socialize." (BBC ) Thanks to Andrew N. for the link!
$1 Million Award for Activist Who Aided Refugees
“A Roman Catholic activist who has helped provide education to thousands of African refugees displaced by ethnic bloodshed has been awarded a $1 million prize recognizing unsung humanitarians,” AP reported.
Midwestern Governors Sign Climate Accord
Governors of nine midwestern US states signed a climate stewardship accord Thursday aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the use of non-renewable energy — a very big deal because the region is home to industies that produce automobiles and coal.
India Youth Spurring Locals to Trade Plastic Bags for Eco-Friendly Sacks
Every month more than 100 kilos (one quintal) of polythene bags are used to carry offerings into the famous Ram temple of Orchha. The bags end up choking cows, piling up in the soil as litter, and clogging drains causing waste water to overflow. Now, Indian youth from Orchha are campaigning for a polybag free town and giving pilgrims eco-friendly bags to carry instead.
Last week, a group of boys and girls collected about three kilos of polythene bags from pilgrims and gave them handmade, paper bags in exchange while educating them about the environmental advantages. The Friends of Orchha Youth Club campaign aims to keep Orchha clean, eco-friendly and beautiful.
The organizer of the campaign, Asha D’Souza of Sarthak, a social service organization, said that this action would not only prevent pollution but also give employment to many local women in making paper bags.
It takes 300 years for polythene to degrade; burning them produces cancer-causing gases; and far too many cows die daily in India after having consumed these very bags.
Many people expressed their whole-hearted support for this initiative of the Friends of Orchha and admired the role the youth played in it. Charles Maclean, of Portland, Oregon, and www.philanthropynow.com participated actively in the campaign as well. While the young people spoke to the Indians, their friends from abroad, including, Louk Vreeswijk, interacted with the foreign tourists explaining the initiative. The action was then repeated a few days later at the main market place.
Bag Exchange activists recycled all the plastic bags collected. Temple guards even got involved, smiling and becoming converts to the cause of reducing pollution and protecting the environment by helping in the activity– and inspiring others to do the same.
Here’s how you can do the same where you live:
21 Quick Tips for Success
1. Find an enthusiastic, savvy youth champion that will partner with an adult
2. Tap the youth-to-youth network to recruit additional Bag Team Members
3. Craft with youth input, a 15-second story the youth will tell to all those they encounter (sample below)
4. Train youth and adult partners in telling the story quickly, respectfully, concisely with a smile
5. Discuss how to handle difficult situations
6. Pick a site where there is high plastic bag use (Temple, shops, airport)
7. Practice the story and process before the big day and work out the problems
8. Collect newspapers and get paper glue to construct the bags, stencil the bags with your groups name/contact information
9. Make banners and other signs to announce what you’re doing and get permission to post them at the site
10. Arrange for tables, chairs and food for the Bag Team
11. Circle the team on site to quickly discuss their hopes, intentions and connect them to each other
12. Develop a press release (see sample) and hand deliver, email or fax to key media 2-3 weeks in advance and request an advance story
13. Make follow-up phone calls to media 2 days before event to remind them of the story opportunity
14. Select and train an adult spokesperson to talk with the media on site or in-advance and afterward
15. Arrange for video and still picture taking to document the Bag Exchange
16. Select and prepare a youth to be interviewed by the media
17. Have fun engaging your fellow citizens in a good earth friendly cause
18. Debrief the effort immediately afterward focusing on what worked and what could work better
19. Arrange for a celebration immediately after the event
20. Do a follow-up news article
21. Repeat as often as needed to stabilize behavior change
“Hello (or, Namaste). May I take your polybag and give you a paper bag instead? We’ll have yours recycled. The Friends of Orchha youth club wants to keep our town free of plastic waste. Did you know that it takes 300 years for polythene to degrade? We don’t want it in our fields, we don’t want it in our drains and we don’t want it in our streets. Several hundred cows die daily in India after having consumed these very bags. If burnt in the open they give off smoke that can cause cancer. Yet, about 100 kilos is used every month to bring offerings into this temple. Please help us to stop this dangerous practice. Thank you.”
Story submitted by: Charles Bernard Maclean, PhD,
Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, India
Two Koreas Say Trains to Restart after Half-Century
North and South Korea have agreed to start regular rail freight services across their heavily fortified border next month for the first time in more than half a century. Thanks to Steve G. for link.
Bottom-Ranked School Shoots to Top After Introducing Harry Potter-Themed Curriculum
"A UK primary school has been praised as "outstanding" in a government report after introducing Harry Potter-themed lessons. The school, in a deprived area, has jumped from the bottom 25 per cent of schools nationally to just outside the top 5 per cent over the last three years after deciding to let pupils pick a theme for the curriculum each term." (DailyMail) Thanks to M. Mealy for the submission!
New Las Vegas Casino to Build Green, Part of New Trend
Even on the Las Vegas Strip, where over-the-top casino and hotel complexes are the norm, the $4.8 billion Echelon is sure to stand out. Slated for completion in 2010, the 87-acre property is expected to house five hotels, 30 restaurants and entertainment venues, pools and outdoor gardens and 140,000 square feet of casino space… It also will incorporate some of the latest thinking in environmentally aware construction. The casino will include a full featured online casino to accommodate players in the age of COVID who cannot play in the casino physically due to social distancing regulations.
iCar Costs Just 2 Cents Per Mile to Drive
A new breed of micro automobiles known as Neighborhood Cars can transport two people for as little as two cents a mile. The stylish Kurrent offers its electric car for around $10,000. These cars, popular in Europe — and designed in Italy — are rolling into Florida, California and mountain state communities at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.
Schools Plant Gardens to Sprout Healthy Eaters and Excited Students
"The right answer to a math word problem for fifth-graders in Atlanta, involves multiplication, division and decimals, but it means more that. It means within a few weeks, the students will harvest radishes from the garden they’re designing, getting their first taste of one of the hottest trends in hands-on education." (AJ Constitution) Thanks to Steve Ghent for this link!
London Buys Hydrogen-Fueled Red Buses
The Mayor of London announced Tuesday that ten new red double-decker hydrogen powered buses will join London’s bus fleet by 2010 to reduce air pollution and CO2 emissions in the congested UK capital. The hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles will produce no pollution or carbon dioxide, and, as an added benefit, drastically cut noise levels.
Carmakers Go Green at L.A. Auto Show (Video)
Growing consumer awareness of the environmental impact of gas-guzzling cars and trucks have led to green hybrids galore at the LA Auto Show, with new vehicles using less or no gas at all. (Video)
