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Victor, a skateboarding ace, Starbucks employee, and good friend of ours, was presented with the challenge of how to reduce the amount of garbage that his store produced. He offered a simple yet perfect solution: allow customers to take used coffee grounds for their gardens. Starbucks has adopted his suggestion in stores nationwide.... posted on Oct 17, 676 reads

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College students from around the country came to build solar powered buildings on the Mall in Washington – and many of these dwellings aren’t what you would expect.
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Bummed out that no veggie dogs were being offered on SF streets, for the sake of what she felt passionate about, Brenda Carey decided to take matters into her own hands. By giving the vendor a free trial supply of veggie dogs which she purchased with her own money, she convinced him to give them a try. Amazingly, as she was putting up the sign, a woman came and bought one!... posted on Nov 2, 592 reads

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In June 2002 the UN predicted that AIDS will kill 70 million people in the next 20 years, mostly in poor countries, unless more is done to fight the disease. About 40 million people are now infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and 20 million have died of it since it was discovered in 1981. ... posted on Nov 13, 519 reads

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Hans Christian Andersen, Cher, Tom Cruise, Albert Einstein, Whoopie Goldberg, Greg Louganis, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Gen. George S. Patton, are/were all dyslexics.... posted on Nov 15, 853 reads

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Think you're too old to attain that dream? Think again, and read how Ron Fitch, at age 92, became the world's oldest person to earn a doctoral degree. The ABC News Story:... posted on Nov 16, 1048 reads

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If each commuting car carried just one more person, we'd save more than 18 million gallons of gasoline and keep more than 360 million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere... every day. Source: DHEC Office of Solid Waste Reduction & Recycling... posted on Dec 3, 963 reads

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American trash haulers estimate that they dispose of 1.6 million tons of food every year between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. (Source: Youthnoise)... posted on Dec 15, 1999 reads

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Daniel Mason graduated from Harvard and is a med student at UCSF. But in this spare time, he's become a best selling author of 'Piano Tuner' at the age of 26.... posted on Dec 13, 879 reads

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Po Bronson spent two years interviewing 900 people who decided to follow their hearts -- an investment banker who became a catfish farmer, an entertainment lawyer who was a truck driver, a researcher who turned into a chef, a Harvard MBA who became a police officer. In his book, "What should I do with my life?" he notes that money doesn't fund dreams, smarts don't answer the question and attitud... posted on Dec 26, 800 reads

Speeding Up Mt. Everest
When Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa set out this past spring to set an Everest speed ascent record, little did anyone know he would not only break the late Babu Chirri Sherpa’s Everest speed ascent record of 16 hrs 56, but shatter it altogether with a time of 10 hrs 56 min and 46 sec – 6 hours faster than Babu’s seemingly unbeatable record.... posted on Jun 7, 764 reads

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It's hard to believe -- someone walking from Gandhi's grave in India to Kennedy's grave in U.S. But that's Satish! He was Jain monk at 9, left at 18, eventually did the unimaginable walk for peace, founded the Schumacher College, received numerous international accolades, and now, is the editor of Resurgence. Meet Satish Kumar:... posted on Jan 29, 1230 reads

Anonymous Giving
She held up 50 white envelopes at her church. Each one had a 50 dollar bill and anyone could take it, no strings attached. Many pondered weeks on how to spend it. Many were transformed. But one thing was sure, the giving became contagious!... posted on Jul 22, 1142 reads

Here and Now
... posted on Jul 26, 628 reads

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Richmond High student Gustava Bennett-Burrus doesn't do the latest teen dance, the "shakey," and she doesn't carry a backpack with speakers blaring Eminem like the cool kids, but give her a break -- she's 97. It's been nearly nine decades since she dropped out of the fourth grade in a one-room school house in Boley, Okla., to pick cotton on her family's sharecrop farm. She's wished for a high sch... posted on Jun 11, 603 reads

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Countries generally have a 'Department of War' but why not a 'Department of Peace'? Democratic US Congressman Dennis Kucinich gave a major speech questioning the war on terrorism; following that, he is lobbying for a bill that will create a 'Department of Peace'. He says: if you think peace, you'll create peace. And forty-three fellow Congressmen already agree with him.... posted on Jan 8, 1192 reads

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A vast, but previously unknown structure has been discovered around the edges of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomers believe it could hold clues as to how the Milky Way and other galaxies evolved.... posted on Jan 16, 1002 reads

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The Hunger site provides an opportunity for everyone to help feed the impoverished all over the world just by the click of a button. You click on the country and one of the several sponsors buys food on your behalf. Each click is worth 1.1 cups of food. ... posted on Feb 28, 1058 reads

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When two people are in close proximity, one's electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is registered in the other's electroencephalogram (EEG). In other words, one person's heartbeat signal is registered in the other person's brainwaves, and vice versa ... even without any physical contact! ... posted on Feb 18, 1038 reads

A Lioness Adopts Her Prey
A lioness in Kenya is doing the unthinkable -- adopting her prey! That's right, this lioness has just adopted her third calf (oryx) in three months and is said to be "fiercly protective" when any humans come near.... posted on Mar 5, 1467 reads

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USC economic historian Richard Easterlin issued an amazing principle in 1974, later known as the "Easterlin paradox": because people judge themselves in relation to others, any real jump in income makes little difference in how they feel about themselves. Having more isn't enough -- unless someone else has less. Even gains in relative income make little difference: We just compare ourselves to a h... posted on Mar 6, 1209 reads

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The number of chronically hungry people in the world is set to fall from 776 million now to 440 million in 2030, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. But instead of halving by 2015 - the goal adopted by the 1996 World Food Summit - the number of the undernourished will fall only by 11 per cent by that time.... posted on Mar 14, 1178 reads

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Spend one day volunteering in the community with Red Lion hotels program, and they'll give you a free night's stay at their hotel!... posted on Mar 19, 846 reads

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He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1962 with a charge to continue his service with children and families through television. His show "Mister Roger's Neighbordhood" is the longest running show (30 years) in history of public TV; in its peak, it was watched by 8% of the U.S. households! On February 26, at the age of 74, Mr. Rogers passed away but left behind a culture that will remembe... posted on Mar 11, 1279 reads

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British biologist Rupert Sheldrake has documented on videotape how some dogs appear to anticipate the arrival of their owner. Regardless of the time of day that the owner begins their journey home, some of these dogs appear to sense their human companion coming without receiving any known physical signals, and wait for them next to the door or window.... posted on Jun 5, 1055 reads

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He signed his name with an "X" for almost a century, as a grandson of a slave. Then, at the age of 98, George Dawson started learning to read and write! So much so that he published a celebrated book -- 'Life Is So Good' -- when he was 101 years old.... posted on Mar 15, 1884 reads

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More than half the world lives on less than two dollars a day. Ever wonder if you could take those 5 bucks for coffee and buy something from a rural artisan in a developing country? How 'bout if you knew that there were no middle-man costs? Welcome to yet another fully volunteer-run project of CharityFocus that is getting rave reviews -- Community Shops!... posted on Aug 5, 1378 reads

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While the developed nations agonise over their GNP (gross national product) and we fret about the GST, "60 Minutes" reports of a place, perhaps the only place in the world, where the official government policy is GNH - gross national happiness. It's the tiny kingdom of Bhutan, where the government not only legislates for happiness, it also tries to protect its people from encroaching globalisation... posted on Mar 27, 1365 reads

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Halfway around the world, American Sufi Muslims join in. Fundamentalist Christians add their prayers, as do Orthodox Jews at Jersualem's Western Wall. "Jimmy P," a heart patient at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, is part of a global scientific experiment trying to find out: Does prayer heal? Yes, is the answer of more and more experiment in this arena.... posted on Apr 5, 1111 reads

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What do Australian Aboriginal Grandmothers and Coalminer’s Daughter in West Virginia have in common? They just won the coveted Goldman prize -- often referred to as the Nobel Prize for Environmentalism -- for their grassroots activism.... posted on Apr 25, 1060 reads

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Michael Moore put 1,000 dollars in a long-term account at North Country Bank in Michigan, they did the background check, and, within an hour, he walked out with his complimentary gift -- a gun! Michael Moore opened his Oscar winning documentary with live scene from this encounter.... posted on Apr 12, 1069 reads

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More than 50 years ago, a little book called 'The Power of Positive Thinking' took the world by storm. Written by a minister, Dr. Normal Vincent Peale, the book was a mix of natural psychological insight and faith-based principles applied to everyday problems of living. The publishers are re-releasing the book now.... posted on May 2, 1096 reads

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500 tons of good intention. That's right. For five years, they've been planting a row for the hungry and donating the produce. Couple months back, volunteers at Village Harvest hit their million pound mark!... posted on Oct 3, 495 reads

A Garden of Giving
Rudy Viereckl worked on experimental flowers all day, tended a home garden at night, but still, felt the need for more. What he wanted was a garden designed to benefit others, not himself. So he planted a row for the hungry, rallied his friends and ended up collecting 41,652 pounds of produce!... posted on May 16, 1185 reads

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Do you have an idea that will change your community for the good? Are you between 18 and 29? If so, 'Ideas Happen' is willing grant 12 inspired ideas with 25,000 bucks.... posted on Apr 24, 776 reads

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Meditation is fast appearing in unexpected places throughout modern culture. Secretaries do it as part of their daily noon yoga classes. Preadolescent teenagers dropped off at the YMCA by their mothers on a Saturday morning are learning it as part of their karate training. Truck drivers and housewives in the Stress Reduction Programs use it to control hypertension. Prisoners engage in 10 days o... posted on Apr 26, 2592 reads

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Often when animal lovers travel, they see animal abuse that disturbs them. Compassionate Traveler's website gives them a place to learn more about a tourist destination before they travel, and it also gives them an opportunity to do something about animal welfare issues they might observe.... posted on May 3, 1019 reads

Peace through 'Guru Currency'
If you're ever in the Netherlands, you can officially use 'guru currency'. The group founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, famous for being a spritual teacher to Beatles, has issued a currency named after an Indian diety -- "raam" -- that they hope will alleviate poverty and create world peace.... posted on May 15, 1849 reads

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Each year water-related diseases kill more people than AIDS and cancer combined. Just today, more than 25,000 people will die because of unsafe drinking water.... posted on May 10, 1024 reads

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Research by Paul Ekman, at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, suggests that meditation and mindfulness can tame the amygdala, an area of the brain which is the hub of fear memory.... posted on May 30, 1166 reads

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In the first year of Sprint Project Connect, a nationwide wireless phone collection and recycling program, Sprint raised nearly 600,000 dollars for charity.... posted on May 31, 533 reads

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An average American child watches as many as 40,000 television commercials every year. With children either spending or influencing 500 billion dollars worth of purchases, marketing techniques have been turned upside down. In the past the most effective way to sell children's products was through mom and dad. Now the opposite is true, children are the focal point for intense advertising pressure ... posted on Jul 15, 904 reads

Infinite Hugs
A 50 year old woman travels the world and gives thousands of hugs everyday! She is not only the world record holder for hugs but also is known as the "hugging saint" who has dedicated her whole life to service. Meet Ammachi.... posted on Jun 14, 985 reads

Understanding 'AND'
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500 Years of Peace
Dr. Ariyaratne is often called the 'Gandhi of Sri Lanka'. Under a tree, he started the 'Saravodaya Sharmadana Movement' for spiritual and material upliftment of the rural Sri Lankans, through their own labor. Today, Dr. Ari's is working with 200,000 people in 12,000 of the 25,000 villages, with some remarkable results. He's got a peace plan, not for 10 or 50 years, but the next 500 years!... posted on Aug 8, 1900 reads

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Want to save the world? Just save the world's women. New international research is proving that women may hold the key to ending many of the world's ills -- if only they'd have the chance. For example, more literacy among women translates into lower HIV infection rates for adults of both sexes and is the greatest factor in declining child malnutrition in 63 countries!... posted on Jul 24, 892 reads

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Talking on a cell phone behind the wheel is more dangerous than driving drunk, researchers from the University of Utah conclude in a new study. And it makes no difference whether the telephone is hand-held or, as permitted by New York State law, used hands-free.... posted on Aug 12, 1039 reads

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Ten years ago, a Canadian school teacher had an idea -- connect classrooms across the world via the radio. It worked wonders. With a twist of a dial, students heard each other in French, German, Spanish and various English accents across different times zones around the globe ... heck, even an astronaut tuned in one time!... posted on Jul 26, 897 reads

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Nearly three-fourths of the teens surveyed recently said they got along quite well with their parents or guardians, about a quarter described those relationships as OK, and only 3 percent said they did not get along with their parents.... posted on Aug 29, 884 reads

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Astronomers in Australia say there are 10 times more stars in the visible Universe than all the grains of sand on the world's beaches and deserts. From the darkest parts of Earth, the naked human eye can see about 5,000 stars; from a brightly lit city street, only about 100. But modern telescopes tell a different story -- 70 sextillion, or seven followed by 22 zeroes.... posted on Aug 26, 1158 reads