Maybe you’ve already seen Randy Pausch’s well-known “Last Lecture?” It became a very popular download for some time. He was also interviewed at length by Diane Sawyer, a good friend of his.

Who is this man and why is he considered one of the most inspiring people of 2008?

Randy was a Carnegie Mellon University professor who had only 6 months to live because of his pancreatic cancer. He gave a final lecture on time management at the University of Virginia on November 27, 2007.

This wasn’t your ordinary lecture, given by an ordinary professor. This was one man’s last chance to relay some powerful messages to the world before he passed on, leaving his wife and children.

If you can only watch a few minutes of this inspiring lecture, do so:

The Last Lecture

UK-based Bristol Wood Recycling Project is based on a splinter-free premise:

“We go and collect wood from building sites. They pay us and we are cheaper than a skip,” manager Ben Moss explains.

“We reuse and recycle what we can. We sort through it all by hand and spend a lot of time cleaning up the wood and de-nailing it. What can be resold is on display in the yard. Some is recycled into MDF and the unusable wood is sent to landfill,” says Moss.

This cleaned up wood keeps extra waste out of landfill as well as providing jobs for people in need. The founders of the Bristol Wood Recycling Project purposefully kept their business approach free of shareholders so the focus would constantly return to the community.

“We always wanted to maximize all the social and environmental benefits of the project. If we had shareholders, perhaps our focus would be more about making money and less about doing as much good as possible,” says Ella Furness, Volunteer Manager.

What do you have around your household that you could re-use or “pre-cycle”? I recently went to a construction work site and pulled enough clean firewood to last me through the winter. Or perhaps there are some repairs you can make on an appliance or piece of furniture instead of buying new. It gives you a great sense of gratification and resourcefulness…plus you save money!

Contact: Bristol Wood Recycling Project,
13 Cattle Market Road,
St Philips, Bristol, BS1 6QW.
Tel: +44 (0)117 972 3219
Website: http://www.bwrp.org.uk

The Project is dependent on the
help given by volunteers from
the local community

Many of you may have heard about this case:

Percy Schmeiser, a small farmer in Canada, was being sued by the megacompany Monsanto , in one of the most ludicrous and opportunistic lawsuits of the century (in my humble opinion.)

The agrochemical company Monsanto took Mr. Schmeiser to court for growing their genetically modified canola without paying them. Problem being, he never wanted to grow any genetically modified crops in the first place. He wanted just the opposite. Monsanto’s unwanted seeds blew onto his farm and began to grow.

This is one of the problems with genetically modified organisms - they are not containable. Seeds can blow for hundreds of miles, infecting presumed organic crops. But to be sued for a company’s environmental neglect? That’s just plain greedy.

Positive news? Mr. Schmeiser won the lawsuit. He will be reimbursed a measly $660. BUT the message is clear: agricultural chemical companies will be held responsible (ideally) for their contamination and do NOT have the right to sue based on their own disservice.

Both Percy and his wife Louise have become heros in their own right, winning the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” The couple was honored “for their courage in defending biodiversity and farmers rights and for challenging the environmental and moral perversity of current interpretations of patent laws.”

Percy Schmeiser’s website

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“In the last 50 years, humans have experienced the chaos of the technology we have created. Technology separates us from each other and from ourselves. The gift of nature is to provide the green space, the sanctuary, the solace, the reflection, the peace to bring us back.”

- Tom Stoner, TKF Foundation Co-Founder

There is not one of us who don’t feel the power of a garden, even the most seasoned, city-dwelling souls. Gardens are a space of refuge, of calm. The air is a little cleaner, the beauty more abundant. Some of us have natural proclivities in the garden (i.e. a “green thumb.) Others couldn’t grow a weed but still value the the power of a garden.

TKF is a foundation that’s been placing gardens in needful places for over 12 years. One of the most “needful places” was Western Correctional Institution, where TKF created a sacred place for the inmates that has been transformational. In the garden, there is a human sundial, where an inmate can connect with the sun and the stars and locate himself in time and space. There is also red roses for violence and white roses for hope. And lastly, there is a “well of unspoken truths” where the inmates can deposit thoughts on paper, thoughts that will never be read by another human.

How can you tend to your garden today? Maybe it’s just a small houseplant but let’s give our plants extra love. They help our souls and they are living with us, too.

Western Correctional Facility Garden

Marilyn Mock believes that the time to really “step up to the plate” is now, as our economy suffers and people are in serious need.

As Mock puts it, “People need to help each other, and that’s all there is to it,” she said.

So what did Mock do that makes her the “Economy Angel of the Week?” She bought a foreclosed house and sold it back to its rightful owner, Tracy Pottsboro, who had also recently lost her job.  She happened to be sitting next to Mock, who saw the tears running down Tracy’s face.

“The final farewell to my house,” Pottsboro said. “It means so much to all of us. It’s not just a house.”

Tracy Pottsboro and Marilyn Mock

“The final farewell to my house,” Pottsboro said. “It means so much to all of us. It’s not just a house.”

Mock told “Good Morning America” that she will take out loan to finance approximately half the cost and will allow Pottsboro and her family to live in the house and make payments to her instead of the bank.

Considering the vast amount of foreclosed properties during these trying times, its nice to know that a few Good Samaritans exist who can help some families continue to stay in their homes. From July through September of this year alone, more than 2,700 Americans lost their homes to foreclosure every day, according to The Associated Press.

What ways can you contribute to others during these tough times? If you’re one of the many suffering, then contributing can often make you feel more financially empowered. It all comes back to you in the end!

Send us your comments or positive news…we need it now more than ever!

Computers have become a mainstay in most of our lives. We bank on them, start businesses on them - even make friends on them. But many people can’t take advantage of what a computer has to offer due to finances. For a child or a young adult just starting out in the world, this puts them at an incredible disadvantage nowadays.

Lorraine Kenwood, who started NextStep Recycling was one of those disadvantaged youths. In addition to lack of finances, Kenwood was diagnosed with autism as a child. She pursued higher education and realized she had a real knack for repairing computers. That’s when NextStep began - a program where refurbished computers are gifted to families in need.

According to the NextStep website:

As of the end of January 2007, NextStep Recycling had, with the help of hundreds of volunteers and community support, responsibly recycled more than 800 tons of electronic waste, and refurbished over 10,000 computers and other electronic devices - placing them with people who would not otherwise have access to this technology.

Lorraine Kenwood, Founder of Next Step

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Anne Jennings of Libertyville High School ’s is a Queen, both inside and out. And her schoolmates feel the same way. She dances down the halls and hugs her friends excitedly. Her school voted her Homecoming Queen and since then, she has been dancing on air.

Austria’s most prestigious Spanish Riding School is changing its ways. And its a long time coming. The 426-year-old institution recently presented its first female riders-in-training.

The school, founded in 1572, is a highly-recognized and extremely competitive house of learning, known for its stunning white Lipizzaner stallions - stallions that have never been rode by a female in quite some time. But the director thinks its time to break with a tradition that has kept qualified, trained women to ride these elegant animals.

“What speaks against it?” Elizabeth Guertler told reporters. “Today, ladies and gentlemen both have to earn their keep and prove themselves.”

“For her, it just wasn’t acceptable,” spokeswoman Barbara Sommersacher said. “For Ms. Guertler, traditions are good as long as they’re adapted to current times.”

Who are these fine women making history? 21-year-old Hannah Zeitlhofeand Sojourner Morrell from Austria, a 17-year-old British national who grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York.

“I’m very happy — it’s my dream come true,” Morrell said.

Traditions are beautiful elements of our lives but need to keep up with the times. Positive news starts when strong, skilled women can compete and express their physical prowess.

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We’d love to hear your comments…or personal positive stories of your own! Send them our way!

Congress approved production and tax credits for the renewable energy businesses as part of its $700 billion bail-out package for the financial industry.

As part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Congress ensured that renewable energy would be rewarded for its steps toward a cleaner environment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California relayed that she is “pleased that the bill includes an extension of tax cuts for clean renewable energy that will create and save half a million good-paying paying jobs in America immediately.”

This part of the energy bill did not make the cut last year when it was denied in the Senate. Now, renewable energy jobs are becoming increasingly critical to a sagging economy as well as being fundamental in a society less reliant on fossil fuel.

Greg Wetstone, who is the senior director of governmental and public affairs at the American Wind Energy Association, released in a statement:

“We salute Members of Congress in both parties who fought under difficult conditions to keep the renewable energy production tax credit and small turbine investment tax credit on the agenda until the very end, and then pushed them across the finish line. These tax credits are essential to the continued growth of wind energy, to the economic and energy security of the United States, and to a successful beginning in the fight against global warming.”

The one year tax credit extension applies to other energy sources as well, such as geothermal; closed-loop biomass; hydropower; landfill gas and trash combustion facilities.

It’s good to know that during these difficult times, people who are making an environmental difference are also becoming key players in the economy as well.

Wind turbine and flag at the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County, New York

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