Uber Composter

If you’re even somewhat ecologically conscious, you’ve probably heard of composting, the process by which we compile and compost food and other organic products into a usable resource. When you dump food out in the trash, it does nothing in landfills. Sure, it breaks down but the end-product is very little use to anything or anyone.

Now some schools and colleges are using these incredible composters (seen above) that help the environment and teach students about the food cycle:

Sending food waste to landfill is unnecessary, unsustainable and costly. Discussing the problem in an Exmoor pub one night were Richard Gedge – an ex-stockbroker who now runs an award-winning farm for its green credentials – and Dan Welburn, a former formula one engineer. Together, after experimenting with prototypes, they created the Ridan composter.

Capable of composting up to 400 litres of food waste a week, they have helped divert over 1,000 tonnes from landfill in two years, according to the company. They are proving popular with hotels, National Trust sites, prisons and even climbing centres.

Perhaps most importantly, colleges and schools are using them, not only to save money on disposal costs, but to help raise environmental awareness about the food cycle – helping young people to learn to appreciate food and think about prioritising locally sourced food. Food miles are usually considered with the distance from where it is produced to where it is consumed. But perhaps less often does anyone factor in the distance that wasted food travels to be disposed.

The ‘in-vessel’ composter is simple to use say its manufacturers, and it is suitable for all food waste, including cooked and raw, meat and dairy. The Ridan composting process requires no electricity and is carbon negative. Its design led to it being a finalist in the Devon Environmental Business Initiative (DEBI) awards in its first year. It was recognised not only for its sustainable practice in dealing with food waste, but also for savings in emissions. The process saves in combustion emissions through eliminating transportation, as well as reducing the methane from decomposing matter, which occurs in landfill.

“We are proud of what we have achieved so far and are now expanding rapidly. One day it will be standard practice for every catering facility to compost on-site,” says Dan Welburn. And his best moment since their system was launched? “Watching ‘I’ve got a brand new Ridan Composter’ sung by children at an assembly to the tune of Wurzels.”

Source: Positive News

Obstacles are meant to be overcome. We do it every day, in our own small ways. This story shows the majesty, beauty and strength in takes to literally run through those obstacles and into the loving arms of family.

Wakana Ueda followed the sounds of applause, of chanting and of her mother’s voice as she crossed the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon on December 11.

The blind, 11-year-old girl from Toyota City, Japan, had tears in her eyes as she reunited with her family after 14 hours, 3 minutes and 12 seconds since the start of the race, Hawaii News Now reports.

The girl’s first marathon was not without its difficulties: the physical strains of the course almost derailed her at several points - but determination and encouragement from her team carried her through the finish line strung with flower petals.

Source: Daily News

From Only Positive News writer Beth Mann:

I worry. More than I care to admit. Sometimes I don’t feel as if I have any control over it. But I do. (I mean, if I don’t, who does? The mailman?)

And it’s tough not to worry in today’s age. Our economy is hurting, our ecology is ailing and we’re disconnecting from one another, based on ever-growing need to be “connect” virtually.

I wanted to share with you a few techniques to stop worry in its tracks. Because I don’t know about you, but I’d rather live my life than worry about it!

1. Laugh. I can’t stress the importance of laughter as a worry-buster. A funny movie or a quick-witted friend can inspire those belly laughs that make you feel free and easy afterward. Can’t find anything funny? Fake it! Tests have proven that even fake laughter has therapeutic effects. Fake some laughter for 30 seconds and notice the difference.

2. Look skyward. Worry tends to make us think very small. We’re locked in a box. The simple solution: open it up by going outside. Look up into the sky and breathe. Take in the world around you and remember, you’re part of something greater. Go for a walk. When you return, check in with yourself. You’ll feel less stressed and more open-minded.

3. Write it out. This one is tough for people because we have trouble making time for it. But simply writing out your worries is a great tool that provides instant relief - so try to fit it in. This doesn’t have to be any masterpiece. On the contrary, purge. Let it all out on the paper in a big, unrecognizable blob. The idea is to simply put the inner chatter on paper, so you can close that notebook and leave the worries on the page.

Worry doesn’t just have to exist side-by-side with us. Don’t get use to it. No matter what the concern, the more you practice breaking free, the healthier and happier you’ll be.

The inimitable Betty White celebrated her 90th birthday recently. Animal activist and actress, we celebrate her through her words:

On one’s well-being: “Keep the other person`s well-being in mind when you feel an attack of soul-purging truth coming on.”

On getting rest after a long day: “Oh, I don’t need sleep. I just went to my hotel and had a cold hot dog and vodka on the rocks.”

On living life to the fullest, we think: “I’ve always liked older men. They’re just more attractive to me. Of course, at my age there aren’t that many left! I’ve enjoyed the opposite sex a lot. Always have. Always will.”

On staying active: “I have a two story house and a bad memory! I’m up and down those stairs all the time: ‘What did I come up here for again?’”

On Facebook, after a successful campaign on the social media network site landed White a gig as a host of Saturday Night Live: “I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say: It sounds like a huge waste of time.”

On gay marriage: “I don’t care who anybody sleeps with. If a couple has been together all that time — and there are gay relationships that are more solid than some heterosexual ones — I think it’s fine if they want to get married. I don’t know how people can get so anti-something. Mind your own business, take care of your affairs, and don’t worry about other people so much.

Source: GlobalMontreal

Young adults gain knowledge and compassion when part of charitable projects. Their self-confidence increases as well as their sense of community, which has staying power for a lifetime. This story shows how students and communities work together to help needy families, and interestingly, help themselves:

Normally, the day before Thanksgiving on the campus of Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C is found to be silent. All the students are at home with their families and enjoying the holiday break. However, that is not the case in the basement of the next door church. Faculty, staff and parents have gathered to volunteer their time to feed the needy.

Inside the basement, folks worked diligently all day long making Thanksgiving dinners with all the trimmings to feed about 50 people that are older and live nearby in the lower income dwellings. The meals are a welcome sight and are a blessing to those that receive them from the volunteers from the school. The holidays are not the only time that this charitable work occurs. Volunteers help feed the needy twice a week all year long in a project founded in 2001.

The project, started by Robert Egger is called the Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) and it uses resources that are both available and left over. They use the campus kitchens, the leftover food and volunteer students to help prepare and feed the hungry. The program has taken hold and spread to 28 colleges and 3 high schools.

Read more at Amazing News.

This story is a testament to the human soul and the mind’s capacity for resilience and creativity. Truly amazing. 

Survivor, Thriver

King spent 29 years in solitary confinement in a six-by-nine-foot cell at Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary.

King was convicted of robbery in 1969 despite the testimony of the main witness who admitted he picked King out of a lineup after being tortured.

King escaped from the Orleans Parish Prison and joined the Black Panther Party in New Orleans—five years after the federal government passed the Civil Rights Act.

He was recaptured within weeks of his escape and sent to Angola, then considered the bloodiest prison in America, in the spring of 1972 where he met Black Panthers Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace in solitary confinement.

They became informally known as the “Angola 3.”  Woodfox and Wallace remain in solitary confinement, while King was released on time served in February 2011.

King learned the power of creative, physical activity while he was in Closed Cell Restriction (CCR), also known as extended lockdown, at Angola.

Unlike the other living spaces on Angola’s 18,000-acre prison grounds, the CCR cells did not have a slot for passing food to inmates.  King had to eat from his plate through the bars while the plate was on the floor or while he balanced the plate in mid-air.

As a solution, King built a cardboard food tray and hung it from strings outside his cell. “All the guys began to do it.  Some guys got creative about it. They drew pictures on their trays. They covered them in table clothes. We had fun with it,” King says.

They also made chess boards out of tissue paper.  They fastened sixty-four tissue squares to their concrete floors with toothpaste to make chessboards. They made expertly sculpted tissue paper rooks and kings.

Read more at Gimundo.

If you’ve visited our site before, you know we’re huge proponents of the simple walk. A walk can break a bad mood in half. A walk can stimulate creativity. A walk is good, old fashioned exercise. A walk connects you with the outdoor world. Here’s what others have to say about something you should do today:

If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking.  Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.  ~Raymond Inmon

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.  ~Paul Dudley White

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.  ~John Muir, 1913, in L.M. Wolfe, ed., John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, 1938

Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.  ~Steven Wright

I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.  ~G.M. Trevelyan

My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.  ~Aldous Huxley

When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the shoe leather has passed into the fiber of your body.  I measure your health by the number of shoes and hats and clothes you have worn out.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.  ~Wallace Stevens

After a day’s walk everything has twice its usual value.  ~George Macauley Trevelyan

I dream of hiking into my old age.  ~Marlyn Doan

No city should be too large for a man to walk out of in a morning.  ~Cyril Connolly

Solvitur ambulando, St. Jerome was fond of saying.  To solve a problem, walk around.  ~Gregory McNamee

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  ~John Muir

Thoughts come clearly while one walks.  ~Thomas Mann

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.  ~John Muir

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk.  Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness.  I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.  ~Soren Kierkegaard

Walks.  The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird.  ~Jules Renard

Author walking on beach in New Jersey.

I don’t know about you, but often all it takes to put a smile on my face is a cute animal photo. Check out the full collection here. SO cute. I think the pandas are my favorite:

• 1. Panda cubs cuddling with each other

  

• 2. These dogs surfing

  

• 3. This corgi’s face

  

• 4. A slow loris getting brushed

  

Check out the rest at BuzzFeed!

I found this bittersweet video last night while surfing and wanted to share it with you. Riley, a young girl, talks about the limitations of marketing for little boys and girls…and hits home some pretty big truths.

I hope you enjoy it and happy Monday all!

Little Girl Gets Mad about Pink Toys

My friend had a difficult experience a few days ago. She was feeling ignored, small. People weren’t respecting her the way she felt she deserved. She spent some time with her friend, who seemed to be getting so much attention from “the world.” She felt envy. I told her I’d put up some quotes to help support her.

A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned.
Xun Zi

Above all, you must fight conceit, envy, and every kind of ill-feeling in your heart.
Abraham Cahan

By common consent gray hairs are a crown of glory; the only object of respect that can never excite envy.
George Bancroft

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
Buddha

Envy aims very high.
Ovid

Envy among other ingredients has a mixture of the love of justice in it. We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good-fortune.
William Hazlitt

Envy comes from people’s ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.
Jean Vanier

Envy is an insult to oneself.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Envy is like a fly that passes all the body’s sounder parts, and dwells upon the sores.
Arthur Chapman

Envy is never general, but always very particular - at least envy of the kind one feels strongly.
Joseph Epstein

Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.
Harold Coffin

Envy like fire always makes for the highest points.
Titus Livius

Envy, like the worm, never runs but to the fairest fruit; like a cunning bloodhound, it singles out the fattest deer in the flock.
Francis Beaumont

Envy, my son, wears herself away, and droops like a lamb under the influence of the evil eye.
Jacopo Sannazaro