Brad Pitt and Global Green USA announced the Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans Neighborhoods.
“Get ready to create implementable visions for reconstruction of a New Orleans neighborhood. Be sure to use green affordable housing, plan for sustainability and don’t forget the community center. Six finalists will work with local neighborhoods on details.”
Pitt spoke as the sponsor and chairman for the design jury. He said the competition asks the question, ‘Can this catastrophe be turned into an opportunity? Can we create for these neighborhoods and its families something even better than they had before?’ “It is our hope that this competition will generate and uncover new and innovative ideas which will spark a long overdue rebuilding effort for the people of New Orleans.”
The project aims to reduce energy bills for low-income families, help communities rebuild with clean jobs, and reduce the threats to public health with green building.
Finalist presentations and jury review will occur prior to August 29, 2006, the one-year anniversary of Katrina’s landfall. Six local neighborhoods- those needing the most assistance and having active neighborhood groups- will be invited to participate in the finalist round of competition. Using culturally, environmentally and climactically appropriate designs, materials and strategies, the final designs will follow these principles.
To receive information via email when the competition program is finalized in mid-May register at Global Green USA.
EARTH DAY SPECIAL — TAKE ACTION — Check out these two great Earth Day ideas brought to our attention by World Changing.com:
The Recycle My Cell Phone campaign offers a quick and easy way to help reduce the more than 65,000 tons of dangerous waste created by the discarding every year of 2 million cell phones. They even offer schools and nonprofits a way to make money ($1 per phone) by collecting and sending in bags of phones. Campaign yourself by sending a letter through their Web site to your cell phone manufacturer demanding they improve their 2 percent recycling record.
South African Broadcasting Corporation reports on a six percent growth rate for 2006 in sub-saharan Africa, the highest rate in 30 years.
EARTH DAY SPECIAL — Imagine miles and miles of desolate savannah in South America, without a tree or bird in sight, a veritable no-man’s land. For Paolo Lugari, this was the perfect place to implement a vision — and prove a point: if a sustainable community could be created in such adverse environmental, social and political conditions as Eastern Colombia, it could be done anywhere on the planet.
“Paolo, a young man who was home schooled by his father, imagined that this desolate region where he spotted a seagull far from any coast, could one day become an inspiration for sustainable development.”
By 1992, at his environmental research center, Las Gaviotas (The Seagull), Paulo had finished planting 8,000 Hectares (30 sq-miles) of Caribbean pine trees in a place that had been unproductive for centuries. The rebirth of a rainforest in soil so acidic and inhospitable as to measure a pH of 4, was considered impossible by experts in academia, but thanks to the innovative use of mycorrhizal fungi, which acts as the saliva for the tree, the forestation was successful.
Yes indeed, to everyone’s surprise, the symbiosis between the pine tree and the mycorrhizal fungus not only permitted the treelings to survive the harsh conditions, but as soon as the young pine offered shade, and the pH turned less acidic, a completely new forest emerged. Conditions were created to permit the natural tropical ecosystem to retake its natural course, resulting in the arrival of over 250 tropical plant species. The original hypothesis has become a thesis: this ‘dead’ zone is a natural rainforest waiting to re-emerge.
CHECK OUT: Farmer Returns 700 Acres of California Coast to Native American Tribe
By 2004, more than a decade later, the forestation had resulted in 10 percent more precipitation, converting Las Gaviotas into a net supplier of drinking water, which fetches more money than even petroleum. The choice of the Caribbean pine tree provided another economic impulse. The 7 to 14 grams of resin a day produced by the tree is locally converted to a raw material for the paint and paper industry bringing industrial activities to the region. Palm trees are planted to provide a permanent supply of vegetable oil, which is rather easily converted into biodiesel fuel for machinery.
RELATED: ‘Water Gandhi’ of India Turns Dust Bowls Into Lush Villages Using Ancient Ways
In the course of Paolo Lugari rewriting the science of forestry, he created a self-sustaining community of 200 full-time workers, independent of donor money. It is a center of creativity, where innovations are conceived by following nature’s example. Currently Lugari is expanding and hopes to reforest the entire 6.3 million hectares of savannah (twice the size of Belgium) that surrounds Las Gaviotas.
The $6 billion required should be easily won as it would be a winning proposition for potential investors and the people of Colombia: The economic power of drinking water (thanks to the forest), hydroponic food crops (thanks to the abundance of water), and biodiesel (from the forest) can provide natural revenue streams potentially creating 120,000 new jobs, securing a local source of drinking water, eliminating the need to import diesel fuel and reducing Columbia’s foreign debt.
Thank you to Gunter Pauli, founder of ZERI, who wrote a pair of inspiring articles that were edited with permission into this story, and for spearheading efforts to champion Las Graviotas until it reached the realm of mega-project with such potential to benefit Colombia and the world. Read about his involvement and more remarkable details of Las Gaviotas at ZERI.org (Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives)
James Burgett started as a homeless Dumpster-diver.
He’d build computers out of the parts he’d salvaged and sell them to feed his drug habit. After he donated a couple to a school, a company read about it, and called asking if he wanted 2,000 old desktops. One man’s trash is another man’s transformation into enterprising eco-hero.
The Alameda County Computer Recycling Center was born… The center refurbishes and ships out 2,400 computers a year to anyone in need. Today, he is among 39 being honored as environmental heroes by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. – Oakland Tribune via insidebayarea
A homeless man found $900 in a wallet in a trash bin but returned it to the owner.
Kim B., who works as a janitor in the city’s government buildings, threw away the wallet wrapped up in her lunch and never thought she’d see the money again. She prayed to God to help her recover the $900 she’d been saving for a trip back to her native Thailand.
(And God sent her a homeless man?)
He found the wad of cash and credit cards among the garbage and returned it to a worker in a nearby building. Similarly, the man “insists on paying for his food at a nearly relief kitchen,” reports the AP.
The man’s integrity was rewarded with $100. (Kim believes no one else would have returned the money — I wouldn’t be too sure of this, now that I better understand homeless people.)
Featuring only positive news on this website is not meant to suggest that there is no need to learn about all the negative stuff that’s going on. Often it is beneficial for us to hear the woeful news.
However, I think the presentation of positive images and inspiring tales is more helpful in today’s world if only because they are in much shorter supply. An overabundance of crime stories creates the perception of a crime rate out of proportion with reality.
And so the news media is not fulfilling their requirement as expressed by Thomas Jefferson to provide an accurate and truthful report reflecting society.
EDITOR’S BLOG
The full name of the honeybee that arrived at my backdoor in a huge swarming mass is Apis mellifera ligustica. We live on the water in a semi-wooded area so we’ve logged many great wildlife stories over the years. But the honeybee adventure this weekend ranks near the top. And it’s a neat example of positive thinking leading to good outcomes in one’s life. I insist (in Why Good News) that if you consciously focus your thoughts on the positive, you will have less sickness, less misfortune, less loss, less failure, less crime, less fear and less futility over the long run of your life.
When I saw the bees, I might have latched onto fears of "African bees" or generally bad outcomes, but I immediately swatted any fears away, and focused on finding a solution calmly. As a result I was led down a truly enjoyable path.
In California, where one-eighth of Americans reside, we have a Republican governor and a Democratic legislature moving in the same direction — and with broad public support — on the issue of Global Warming.
Last week top environmental, political, and business leaders held a “Climate Action Summit” that galvanized support for limits on ozone-depleting chemical emissions. A law may be in place as early as September that caps not utilities, like caps announced in eight northeastern states in January, but to landfills, and oil refineries, as well. The Christian Science Monitor has more.
All state agencies in Connecticut will now use only environmentally safe cleaning products in their facilities. Green products maintain sanitary conditions while minimizing harmful side effects and improving indoor air quality.
EDITOR’S BLOG
I want to tell you about some new content on the site. First, I continue uploading by category the stories archived from 1997-2003. Good Samaritans is almost complete and is definitely worth checking out. Joomla, the engine controling our site, displays all the articles by title so you can browse easily and click on anything that looks juicy to you. To me, one of the juiciest is from Jan 10, 1999: Spending $50,000 and Seven Years of Your Life, to Free a Stranger from Prison. Also, check out the 9-11 story of the tiny New Foundland town of Gander that cared for 53 jet planes blocked from reaching their destination after the attacks.
The Letters page is up and demonstrates the healing power of the Good News Network. Literally. Additionally, notes are featured from well-known people who have written to express their thanks for my compelling good news. . . . Ciao for now… geri
Do you think humans should strive to send airplanes into space? Listen for ET? Develop a real understanding of the human mind? Such ambitious projects have often been shelved because they require enormous investment. But now, Paul Allen is putting up the money hoping to help humanity gain a better world.
Paul G. Allen was a co-founder of Microsoft, and earned billions of dollars from his stake in the company. He is also a founding member and the primary investor in of Dreamworks Studios, the movie company that brought us Shrek, Shark Tales, and Madagascar. Instead of simply spending his earnings on himself and his friends, he decided to invest a large amount, well over eight hundred million dollars, to fund the projects that may improve life today, and lay foundations for the future.
The Allen Institute for Brain Science is searching for intelligent life closer to home — within the inner workings of the human brain.
On the razor’s edge of medical research the institute is developing new neuron mapping techniques that will assist doctors in understanding the human thinking pathways and brain architecture. At a personal cost of $100 million, Allen funded this non-profit effort located in Seattle, Washington.
On October 4, 2004, SpaceShipOne rocketed into history, becoming the first private manned spacecraft to exceed an altitude of 100 km. Brian Binnie, flew into sub-orbital space twice in two weeks to capture the Ansari X-Prize offered to any group who could achieve that goal. Paul Allen’s funding made the ship and the flight possible.
To help others in need now, Allen and his wife, founded the Paul G. Allen Family Foundations, which give tens of millions of dollars every year to a wide range of good causes ranging from educational programs to museums, from dance companies to youth groups.
Allen exemplifies the heights to which an inspired entrepreneur can reach if he dares to dream big, and has a bank account to match.
Thank you for writing your newsletter, Some Good News. I enjoyed reading the positive stories… I am heartened by the goodness and generosity that I see in people… Keep up your good work.
Gen. Colin Powell
(Former Secretary of State)
I just wanted to let you know that your work is truely inspirational. I only wish CNN would switch their format to be more like your site. The world would be a much brighter place.
I have told everyone I know about your site and everyone seems to share the same reaction: Wow, that’s a great idea.
Some of the stories have even made me shed a few tears and left me glowing all day. You have given me hope.
With love,
Andre Ouellet,
August 20, 2002
Thank God!!
Thank you so much for this website. I just came upon it through Yahoo’s newspaper page and I nearly fell off my chair. I cannot thank you enough for putting this together.
Bridget O’Driscoll
February 25, 2002
I want to thank you for having this website. When the war in Iraq started, I went into a depression state. I felt constantly worried and agitated and it was hard to enjoy doing things I loved to do.
Then I found your site. It lifted my spirits and helped get me out of the funk I was in. Now I’m going to school and enjoying the things I like to do.
And whenever I feel depressed, I visit your site and see what new good news has happened. Thank you.
Cambry V.
August 25, 2003
As of late I’ve felt suffocated by today’s news that rains down a storm of bad news. Tired of drowning in coverage of death, war, terrorism, etc. I decided today to search the web for positive news, instead of just news.
I discovered the Good News Network. Thank you for lifting my spirits, after only 10 minutes of reading I felt better about the world in which we live.
Paul Lastovica
March 22, 2003
I anticipate this may become the most popular site in the world….close anyway.
I’m a clinical and police psychologist. A 13 year-old boy was depressed and suicidal as he entered my office. He cited TV news as proof that there was no point to living, "Everything is out of control, it’s all bad news, people are killing each other, terrorism, corruption, kids being slaves."
After I let him cry, I explained how TV news worked — that it didn’t reflect reality accurately — and I showed him your site. He started to cheer up. He smiled and gave me a hug. Life was okay again.
Your site is proof of good news in the universe. Thanks.
Respectfully,
Dr. Kevin Keough
November 29, 2002
I am a professor at Case Western reserve University and absolutely love your work–it is very significant. I would like to share your link at our website on Appreciative Inquiry.
Please see the "call to inquiry". It is a world dialogue on Business as An Agent of world Benefit. Would love to interview you!
thank you for your work!
David Cooperrider
February 21, 2002
