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Change in the Wash
July 27, 2010 by Andrea Bennett
Could you live without your clothes dryer? How about washing your clothes in cold water and drying them on a rack? Seventh Generation, the maker of nontoxic laundry and household products, is challenging people to do both this summer. Certainly saving the energy is a responsible thing to do: According to the US Department of Energy, about 90 percent of the energy used for washing clothes in a conventional top-load washer goes toward heating the water.Tags: laundry, conservation, energy, money
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Up for Debate: Twitter Diplomacy
July 27, 2010 by Andrea Bennett
What do Tweeting, Facebooking and texting have to do with diplomacy? More than you’d think, according to a recent New York Times Magazine article that details the efforts of two State Department employees, Alec Ross and Jared Cohen, in helping push communication from “the world of communiqués, diplomatic cables and slow government-to-government negotiations” to amplified, fast-moving communication that encourages cyber-activism and tech-based policy solutions. -
A Soccer Ball for Good
July 27, 2010 by Andrea Bennett
It’s a good day when you can say you’re helping the world by playing a game of soccer. A new business, the One World Futbol Project, has just released a soccer ball made of closed cell foam—similar to the material in Croc sandals—that the company says will last generations. It won’t deflate, even if you puncture it with a knife, and it’s been tested in many environments…including a lion’s den. The best news is that for every new ball the company sells on its website, it gives a second ball to an NGO, including refugee camps, UN hot spots and inner cities. -
Crowdsource Your Cause
July 27, 2010 by Andrea Bennett
Remember the old method of passing a sign-up sheet around the office cubicles and asking your colleagues to pledge a few dollars to your Walk for [insert cause here]? Now there’s a way to turbo-charge that. It’s called Crowdrise, a new online platform that allows volunteers to seek sponsorships for their volunteering by leveraging the power of the Web. Crowdrise’s founder, actor Ed Norton, should know: he helped the Maasai Conservation Wilderness Trust raise more than $1 million in two months by running the New York City Marathon and crowdsourcing donations. He based the model on his success.Tags: charity, internet, volunteering
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The Best Summer Camp Movies
July 27, 2010 by Nell Minow for Beliefnet's Movie Mom blog
Nametapes ironed on? Bugspray and sunscreen packed? As kids depart for camp, it is fun to watch some classic movies about the joys and terrors of life among the bunk beds and color wars.Tags: beliefnet, movie mom, summer camp, films
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Movie Mom Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
July 27, 2010 by Nell Minow for Beliefnet's Movie Mom blog
A pinch of movie magic makes this fantasy action movie a summer movie popcorn pleasure for kids and their families. The story goes back to an 18th century poem by Goethe that inspired a symphony by Paul Dukas a century later. But is best remembered as an animated chapter from Disney's "Fantasia," with Mickey Mouse in his most famous role, enchanting a broom to carry buckets of water and watching in dismay as things get very, very out of hand. -
Success for the Honor System
July 21, 2010 by Andrea Bennett
This just in: People are basically good. At least according to an experiment conducted by Panera, which operates 1,400 franchised and corporate-owned bakery-cafes across the country. Since we called attention to a New York Times article on June 4th about the first pay-what-you-wish Panera – in suburban St. Louis – the company has decided to expand the honor bar concept to locations around the country based on results from the vanguard café.Tags: goodwill, food, charity, restaurants
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My Goodness | Trying to Volunteer
July 15, 2010 by Constance Casey for Slate.com
Dear My Goodness, I'm a twentysomething legal assistant who was very involved in charity organizations in college. I'd like to volunteer one evening a week, but I'm getting discouraged because some version of the following keeps happening. The organization gets back to me and asks whether I'll send my available dates and times to set up an interview. I do so immediately but don't hear back from them for weeks. Then someone from the charity e-mails with "thanks for your patience." We set up a time for a phone interview, and they don't call.Tags: slate.com, volunteering, charity, goodwill
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