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SPARKED

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

With spring in full swing, and summer right around the corner it may seem like the days are getting shorter rather than longer with all the work/social/familial engagements that come with warm weather. Volunteering may seem impossible to fit into a busy schedule, but a few talented minds at SPARKED.com have you covered! The Sparked team has leveraged the power of crowdsourcing and the amount of time the average individual spends online to create a microvolunteering site where individuals are able to volunteer anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours (and more) of their time online. Watch the TED Talk below for an in-depth look at SPARKED and micro-volunteering.

And if you’re done watching, head on over to www.sparked.com to see how you can help a non-profit in need!!

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“Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a “crowd”), through an open call.” Crowdsourcing harnesses the power of the public; think Wikipedia.

Do Good, Feel Good, Live Good,

-Team thinkGood.

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Ten Thousand Villages

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

A couple of weeks ago while doing some holiday shopping, team thinkGood. visited a store called Ten Thousand Villages.  For those of you who don’t know what Ten Thousand Villages is, let me introduce you. Ten Thousand Villages sells only Fair Trade products, to help provide vital, fair income to people in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.  The motivation behind their Fair Trade philosophy is to bring respect  and transparency to the artisan, without exploiting their labours for profit.

Fair Trade is based on the principle that trade should have a conscience and proves that greater justice in world trade is possible.  It highlights the need for change in the rules and practices of conventional trade and shows how a successful business can also put people before profit.

Ten Thousand Villages purchases products from over 100 artisan groups from 35 countries around the world.  If you are a collector of fine art work, crafts, jewellery, home decor etc. you just might find something for yourself! I know we did.  We also wanted to thank the lovely volunteer staff that assisted us and our mini thinkGood. teammate Anjanai with our purchases.  If you want to find out more about Ten Thousand Villages, their locations and philosophies please check out their website tenthousandvillages.ca

doGood. feelGood. liveGood.

-Team thinkGood.

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Posted in Art, Lingo, Shopping Bag, Various | 1 Comment »

thinkGood. Lingo: Compassion

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

Compassion (from Latin: “co-suffering”) is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy  (for the suffering of others) are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnectedness and humanism —foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood. – Wikipedia

What does compassion mean to you?  Since kindness’ reputation has already been tarnished by attributing it to weakness, I will press on to examine another thinkGood. vocabulary selection: compassion.  Take a minute to read the definition above.  A few key points I wanted to discuss include the following key words/phrases: emotional capacity, empathy, sympathy, suffering, love, interconnectedness.  As a young adult I bet if I could put compassion in a box and packaged it up so it was aesthetically pleasing to the eye and had Santa drop it off Christmas morning for every young adult in my life they would be a kid in an emotional candy store.  What I am trying to convey is that life is hard enough just trying to survive the rat race.  Why not show a little more compassion to others extended past your geographic location, creed, or kinship to the human race as a singular populous. 

Compassion is a characteristic that everyone should search for when interacting with people.  If you find someone who was born with a natural skill of exercising compassion, you better make sure you keep them in your life.  It takes much more strength and resilience against popular persuasion to exercise compassion.  I can only hope in the near future that what is deemed popular would be attributed to exercising kindness and compassion for all, and not what the current state of affairs seem to be.

If people just exhibited a little more compassion to a greater number of people, and we all took a little more responsibility for our actions, social pressures and stresses would decrease significantly.  If we just loved and cared a little bit more, not much, just a little more, life would be a little bit happier for us all.  Every smile, kind word, listening ear,  compassionate heart counts, and should never go unrecognized without appreciation.  Appreciation provides positive reinforcement…which will be my next thinkGood. Lingo tangent.

Until next time,

Do Good, Feel Good, Live Good

- Team thinkGood.

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The Economic Bill of Rights

Monday, July 19th, 2010

As we all now know not every US president has had the best of intentions for his people, but Franklin D. Roosevelt some 60 years ago was on to something.  It is with great misfortune that he fell sick and passed short after his address to the nation, and that these secondary rights were not passed or seen by US citizens.  I am with great hope that the current President can revisit this dream, as these ideologies are long overdue. We can only hope and  pray that we will live to see the day when these fundamentals  principles will materializes for the citizens of the United States and the ultimate dream for all citizens around the world.  Here is an excerpt from his address to the Nation in 1944.

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.

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Do Good, Feel Good, Live Good

- Team thinkGood.

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Kiva…Loans That Change Lives

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Last Sunday I was having afternoon tea downtown with some friends of mine who I haven’t seen in a while.  As the afternoon went on the conversation took an interesting turn towards something that intrigued my thinkGood. mind.  My friend started telling me about her husband and his participation in a project called Kiva.  She went on to explain that people around the world, through micro-financing, can help entrepreneurs in developing countries finance their business plan.  As the business progresses, the loan is paid back.

The thing that I like about Kiva is that some of their fundamental principles are to be accountable, transparent, and to promote relationship building and dignity between partners.  Often times as a donor you wonder where your money is actually going, and how much of it really gets to the receiving end.  Also, on the recipient’s side it allows them to gain a sense of empowerment, as they get to re-pay the loan and take ownership for their accomplishments.

Here are some of Kiva’s beliefs and what Kiva promotes:

Kiva was born of the following beliefs:

  • People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way.
  • The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity.
  • By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another.

Kiva promotes:

  • Dignity:   Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect.
  • Accountability:   Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected.
  • Transparency:   The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world

To learn more about Kiva please visit their website http://www.kiva.org/about

thinkGood. Lingo:

Microfinance: is the provision of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services.

More broadly, it is a movement whose object is “a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial   services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers.” Those who promote microfinance generally believe that such access will help poor people out of poverty. -Wikipedia

Do Good, Feel Good, Live Good

-Team thinkGood.

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Grapefruit Moon

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

A couple of months ago I had met a friend downtown for a quick bite to eat.  We hadn’t much time so we decided to stay local and tried a quaint little breakfast bar located right off of Bathurst.  To my surprise I had unknowingly discovered one of Toronto’s greenest restaurants.   You could imagine my elation as I came across terms on the menu such as “free range”, “supporting local and family run suppliers”, and so forth.  I knew I would have to share with the world this little slice of heavenly social responsibility.

Last Thursday after our exhausting shopping spree on Queen street, I decided to share my experience with the thinkGood. team.  On my first visit my friend introduced me to Grapefruit Moon’s best kept secret, their famous grilled cheese sandwich.  Ladies and gents this is no regular grilled cheese! It has all the fixins’ including avocado!   I was also delighted at the fact that upon arrival you are served fresh water in an old fashioned milk bottle.  I’m assuming that these bottles are what Grapfruit Moon gets their local milk in; great recycling idea!  Another element that we took notice of was the local art that they had on display.  If the art is your style there are prices and artist information to be had listed below each piece.  We also noted the Bullfrog powered certificate that was showcased above the bar.  Speaking of bar – all of the beer sold at Grapefruit Moon are from local Ontario microbreweries.  If you are going to drink why not support your local brewery!

Lastly located at the back of the indoor dining area there is a local community board where community members and local businesses can display inforamtion they want to share with the folks that frequent Grapefruit Moon.  Did I mention that the wait staff are super friendly and knowledgeable about Grapefruit Moon’s green initiatives?  A huge thinkGood. thank you goes out to Tyrone for introducing me to Grapefruit Moon, and to our server Collin for sharing his socially conscious knowledge, and for giving us a taste of Grapefruit Moon’s fine dining experience.

thinkGood. Lingo:

Bullfrog Powered:   When you choose Bullfrog Power, Bullfrog’s generators inject renewable electricity onto your local or regional grid to match the amount of power your home or business uses. Bullfrog’s electricity comes exclusively from wind and hydro facilities that have been certified as low impact by Environment Canada under its EcoLogoM program instead of from polluting sources like coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear. Cited from www.bullfrog.com

P.S. thinkGood. became such fans of Grapefruit Moon that we went back for round two today.  A thinkGood. thank you goes out to Alan who provided us with top of the line customer service.  It is right to give thanks and praise.  You never know when a little thank you could make the differnce in someone’s day!  Merci beaucoup Alan!

Do Good, Feel Good, Live Good

- Team thinkGood.

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Posted in Environment, Food, Lingo, Various | 2 Comments »

Viva Las Vegas

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

This past weekend I needed to get away to clear my head and relieve some stress.  So I decided to go to Las Vegas.  You might be wondering what was thinkGood. doing in Sin City?  Las Vegas is traditionally known for its excessive and wasteful lifestyle.  To my surprise there are very green choices you can make while in the city of sin.

I was privileged enough to stay at the beautifully built new hotel ARIA tucked within the new City Centre complex.  Upon entering you will notice the Zen inspired atmosphere. There are no gaudy gold statues or women dancing on poles.  It is filled with clean lines, eco-friendly lighting, and architecture built from recycled, and local material. Please read below for how the makers of ARIA completed this beautifully green inspired project.

“City Centre was constructed with preference to materials made with recycled content, reclaimed materials or those that could be manufactured locally, as well as paints, sealants, adhesives, carpet and composite wood products that do not contain toxic substances; even the positioning of the buildings to ensure the penetration of natural light was taken into consideration.

“While we weren’t the first project on the Strip to be LEED certified, we were the first project to really add in the element of sustainability into our design,” said Cindy Ortega, MGM Mirage’s senior vice president of energy and environmental services. I think what surprised everyone, is that the idea of the environment and earth actually shows in everything. I had no idea four years ago that I would walk into ARIA and I’d be looking at natural stones and natural day lighting and certified wood, but there it all is. We were able on City Center to really breathe the idea and respect of nature into the largest sustainable project in the United States.”

The property includes:

  • A co-generation plant providing about 10 percent of the property’s electricity. The throw-off heat from the plant will be used to heat the property’s water.
  • Specially-coated windows on Vdara that help reduce heat transfer into the building by reflecting light.
  • Settings on the rooms’ remote system in ARIA and Mandarin Oriental allowing guests to green their stay by indicating their preferred light level, room temperature and frequency of linen and towel changes. Systems can also be programmed to turn these settings down or off when the guest is not in their room. CityCenter is expected to save 50 million gallons of water each year as a result of water conservation efforts, such as efficient irrigation systems, low-flow faucets and showers and low-flush toilets throughout the development. The property offers preferred parking for hybrid vehicles, a bike valet and even has a fleet of limos powered by natural gas.”

Not only was Aria itself built green, but I wanted to mention that they are committed to sustaining and promoting green experiences.  For example, the sheets, pillows, and mattresses are all made of organic cottons, and other earth friendly materials. The beds, furniture and art work in our suite were made from recycled or local material.  I also always try and bring back souvenirs from my travels for my loved ones, and to my delight the Aria gift store sells mostly recycled and environmentally friendly souvenirs.  I found the cutest organic low dye panda bear for my niece, they had organic teas and candles; I even found wallets and sudoku books for my friends. 

As I sat in my Rev Run bathtub and had my thinkGood. thought of the day, I wanted to share with the world the fact that we all have choices.  No one is saying you cannot enjoy a good time, thinkGood. just wants you to make more responsible decisions and empower yourself with choice! 

A big thank you goes out to my Godfather for flying my brother and I to Vegas for the weekend, and putting us up in the sky suites.  Also thank you to my brother for being my reluctant photographer! Check out some pictures from my adventures in Vegas and my stay at the ARIA below.

thinkGood. Lingo:

LEED(Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. (Wikipedia)

Do Good, Feel Good, Live Good.

- Team thinkGood.

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Posted in Environment, Lingo, Various | 1 Comment »

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