Something I could never understand were the cries of neighborhood residents who honestly complained about the look of the new solar panels on their lampposts. To me, the micro solar energy catchers are an exciting, smart new way to bring energy needs to local communities. So I have never quite understood how people could find …
Tag: social innovation
Feb 16
Weblebrity Fundraising – Do Famous Faces Help Campaigns?
Weblebrities are the new thing. They’re created when online fundraising campaigns use celebrities to enhance their image and monetary intake. Weblebrity: a celebrity on the web. You might have seen something like this before, notably in a campaign called NoH8, which was created in 2008 to fight Proposition 8 in California. For a while Facebook …
Feb 14
Voting and political campaigns
How do political campaigns influence voting turnout? During electoral periods, the average citizen is encouraged to vote and make a political decision. Media and government encourage us all to vote. I claim that media and politicians should not be the ones responsible for encouraging voting because their encouragement is inherently biased. When politicians encourage voting, …
Feb 02
A Corny Problem
You might not think it, but I bet that almost everyone reading this will make use of corn today. I’m not necessarily talking about chowing down on a buttered corn on the cob. Corn is a component of about 25% of groceries from the supermarket. It is also a major component in almost all fast …
Feb 01
A Solution We Can See
We observe our environment through all of our senses. Right now, as I feel the keys on my keyboard fall under the pressure of my fingers, I also watch the screen as the letters appear in front of me. I can hear the faint noise of the cars passing outside, and taste the spearmint gum …
Jan 27
Natural Gas, Not Renewable Resources… At Least Not Yet
Renewable energy, the wave of the future, right? Yes and no. What if I told you that I think we should curb production of renewable resource technology such as wind turbines and solar panels? Most people would think I’m crazy even environmentally irresponsible. However, I have an alternative to the immediate deployment of our current …
Jan 25
A Micro Solution to a Massive Problem?
In today’s world exercise has become a daily routine for millions of people. Just about every town has at least one gym where herds of people flock in hopes to drop a waist size or two. We’ve all seen them, rooms that house a sea of stationary bikes, with pounding music, rhythmic humming of the …
Dec 06
Responsible Holiday Shopping: MyMela
MyMela’s model of Social entrepreneurship: combining fair trade and micro finance. I’ve previously written about the social and environmental responsibilities that we have as consumers. It is extremely important to know your products and their stories. As consumers, we have much more impact than what we understand. As we enter the holiday season- where everyone …
Nov 21
Starbucks to the Rescue
The other day I was waiting in line at my local Starbucks, and noticed the coffee shop was selling what appeared to be bracelets. Upon further inspection, the bracelets claimed to be a part of a national job creation program. Anyone who purchases a bracelet for $5 or more is showing his or her support …
Nov 15
Granjas verticales
Read this post in English ¿La nueva revolución verde sucederá en las ciudades? Existen dos principales razones para explicar el creciente interés en la agricultura urbana. Una de ellas es la creciente preocupación que muchos individuos sienten sobre los impactos en la salud y en el medio ambiente de la agricultura industrial. La agricultura urbana …