Equality is Better for Everyone

Let’s imagine for a moment that there is a simple solution to most of the problems our societies have these days. Let’s call this solution equality.

It’s not my idea really, even if it does seem quite logical to me. It is however the main idea of a booked called The Spirit Level. Who is behind the book? It’s the same man who said that if Americans want to live the American dream, they better move to Denmark.

The New York Times has been asking this week: “Is the US still a Land of Opportunities”?

Environmental by Accident

We all know how the thing with the pink elephant works: the more I tell you not to do a certain thing, the more you will feel tempted to do it anyway. 

Besides, you are very likely to be fed up with the topic I keep on bringing up. That is what might be happening in the post-inconvenient truth-era we are in right now. People are fed up with being scared about Climate Change. This phenomena is starting to be known as Apocalypse Fatigue: less and less people want to care about Climate Change.

“Mommy, what’s a carrot?”

I know, I know, I’m being annoying with my carrot stories. But seriously, ask those kids around you what healthy food is. They probably do not know.

I just came across the organisation Nourish and they are doing some fabulous work in order to fight this. In the center of the organizations educational work is the notion of food literacy. Their goal is to “open a meaningful conversation about food and sustainability“.

Naomi Big

Many of your might know Naomi Klein as the author of NO LOGO. A lot of time has passed since and she has been busy!

Already in 2008 she has published another book called the Shock Doctrine, which today is more appealing then ever.

“The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s ‘free market’ policies have come to dominate the world– through

Grassrooting Health

Nathalie Jeremijenko runs an environmental health clinic. People get prescriptions not for medicine but on how to improve the world they live in.

The basic idea behind the environmental health clinic is to see how health is dependant on external local environments and how it can be improved by changing exactly that. How does it work?

Wear Used

Working in a second hand shop (thrift store) gives you all these amazing ideas like “Never buying new clothes again”.

Walking through the aisles of people’s give-away clothes makes you try on things you would have never thought about. Check this wonderful short introduction of the world of second-hand clothes by Jessi Arrington:

It is not just about having outstanding, funky and very individualized outfits. You are at the same time supporting a good cause.

Collaborative Consumption

How many of you have books and movies at home that you do not actually use anymore, but can’t really throw away?

Check out this wonderful introductory TED-talk into collaborative consumption and get some amazing good ideas on how to reduce consumption and feel good about it. It goes far beyond sharing books, and I am sure we can come up with some more.

https://ted.com/talks/view/id/1037