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Jewelry That Gives Back to Oceans
I have been a bit obsessed lately with two Instagram accounts that I absolutely love: @paulnicklen and @Mitty. Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier respectively are prolific underwater photographers and founders of Seal Legacy, an organization committed to creating healthy and abundant oceans for us and the planet. It’s funny: As much as I love the…
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5 Shoe Brands That Help Save the Environment
It’s nice to live in an era when innovations that help save our planet are rolling out faster than ever. We are able to pick and choose the best products that ring true to our thoughts and ideas about the issues we care most about. That includes having more consumer options even down to the…
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To Combat Climate Change Ethiopia Plants Over 350 Million Trees in 12 Hours
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Chinese Proverb One of my favorite countries in the world is Ethiopia. I have had the pleasure of visiting four times traversing the north and south and find it gorgeous in so many regions. I cannot wait to go back…
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Why Save the Children Is Uniquely Suited to Help Kids After Hurricane Harvey
I have worked with Save the Children in some capacity for the past five years whether seeing their work around the world, blogging on pro-bono campaigns or partnering as a consultant. That’s why I can personally vouch for the amazing work they do for the most vulnerable children who have experienced psychological trauma from all-too-routine…
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2 Innovative Uses of PET Bottles in Low-Income Countries That Benefit Women
PET bottles, one of the most widely used materials in the world, are used to package foods and drinks from soda and juices to salad dressings and cooking oils. It is also completely recyclable. In the United States alone, 1.5 billion pounds of PET bottles are recycled annually. Throughout my travels to low and middle-income…
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How and Why Coca-Cola is Restoring Water to Our National Forests
When I stepped out of the U.S. Forest Service SUV after nearly a two-hour scenic autumn drive from Taos, New Mexico to the Carson National Forest, we were standing in an expansive valley so big that huge cows below us looked like mere dots in the distance. We had finally arrived at Valle Vidal, a…
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How to Celebrate the National Park Service’s 99th Birthday
The National Park Service is celebrating its 99th anniversary on August 25, 2015. On that day all national parks in the United States will be fee-free. To celebrate the upcoming centennial of NPS in 2016, the National Park Foundation (NPF) launched its Find Your Park campaign to encourage everyone to get up, get out, and #FindYourPark. Everyone…
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Why Promoting Green Infrastructure in Africa May Be Bad for Development
By Mike Muller, University of the Witwatersrand Inadequate infrastructure is widely recognised to be holding back Africa’s development and lowering the quality of life of its citizens. The traffic jams of Nairobi, the power cuts of Nigeria or the water shortages that currently afflict Harare and Bulawayo are some of these. The same is true in…
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Why Africa is Particularly Vulnerable to Climate Change
By Coleen Vogel, University of the Witwatersrand When it comes to climate change Africa is in the eye of the storm. This is partly because of human factors – but the continent’s climate also makes it extremely vulnerable. Africa is faced with a number of interlinked challenges. These include land degradation, poverty and climate change.…
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The Status of Nepal: The Course for Moving Forward
It has been three months since the earthquake in Nepal. Over 9,000 people lost their lives and several more were injured. The latest figures state that over 117,000 people are displaced from their homes and over two million children have been affected. Like many countries at this time, Nepal is in great need of humanitarian assistance…
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Why We’re Headed to the Philippines With World Vision USA
On November 8, the world will recognize the one-year anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan, the superstorm that devastated much of the Philippines and claimed 6,300 lives. 1000 people are still reported missing. It’s difficult to believe that it has already been a year since we were stunned by the horrific photos that raced across the wires of bloated bodies lining…
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Our Work With Seventh Generation to #FightToxins
For the next month 100 of our members will become Toxin Freedom Fighters as they spread the word through blogs and social media about the need to update and reform the Toxic Chemicals Control Act of 1976. In 1976 60,000 chemicals were grandfathered in and since then 20,000 new chemicals have been added, but fewer…
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10 Global Development Stories to be Thankful For
Typically when we think of global development we focus on everything that is wrong because the challenges are so great. Rarely are the successes celebrated because with every move towards a goal there is still so much to do. Today we are featuring those stories that have been more about success than failure; more about…
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Powering the Country With Wind Energy
If you have ever headed north on I-65 in Indiana chances are you have seen the large wind farms along the highway. The Department of Energy, through its Windpowering America Initiative has set a goal of providing 5% of all electricity in the United States by 2020 through wind power. It’s quite interesting how individual…
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DoSomething.org’s The Hunt: 11 Days of Doing
WHAT: The Hunt: 11 Days of Doing WHERE: www.dosomething.org/hunt THE CONVERSATION: #TheHuntisOn DoSomething.org, the nation’s largest organization for teens and social change, has partnered with Lenovo, the world’s second largest PC maker who helped found the campaign last year, and Bing, the search engine from Microsoft, to launch “The Hunt: 11 Days of Doing.” Every day at 11:11 AM EST…
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Bamboo Sunglasses for Good
The greatest consumer satisfaction these days is knowing that when you purchase a product you will affect change for someone in need. We have all heard of Toms and Warby Parker, but have you heard on Panda sunglasses? Panda sunglasses are high-end, ethical, sustainable, and handcrafted bamboo sunglasses currently fashioned in 5 different styles that give…
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Greenpeace at the People’s Summit in Downtown Rio
Greenpeace, the largest independent direct-action environmental organization in the world, is having a huge presence at Rio + 20 both literally and figuratively. They brought their Rainbow Warrior ship to Rio and have been vocal about holding world officials to the environmental commitments they have already made and those that should be hashed out this…
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Future We Want and Rio + 20 at Museu de Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro
The Museu de Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro is hosting exhibits in conjunction with Rio + 20, the United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development. In this exhibit Brazilian notables – from artists to authors and models – and ordinary people come together to talk about the future they want. Museum-goers are also encouraged to share…
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Rio + 20: How Rio is Upgrading Its Urban Slums
Even while staying in Copacabana instead of Barra where most of the Rio + 20 activities are happening this week there is still ample opportunity to learn new things about sustainable development. I ran across this interesting exhibit made of milk crates in Copacabana an hour ago that drew attention to Rio’s Morar Carioca Programme.…
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Headed to Brazil, Covering Rio + Social, Rio + 20 This Week
Tomorrow we will be headed to Rio to attend Rio + Social on Tuesday with 500 other influencers who use social media for social good. I am particularly excited about the lineup of speakers whose work I admire like Radha Muthiah, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)…