Blog Action Day–Shades of Poverty
Hi readers!
As most of you know, Gabe and I are in Cameroon, Africa in the Peace Corps, teaching computer science to eager-minded Cameroonian children. We really love it here, though of course we miss our friends and family A LOT! As I mentioned before we left, zzilch is taking a break while we teach and write about our experiences in Cameroon on our blog, Hinge of Africa. Today I just wanted to drop back in because it’s Blog Action Day and this year the topic is poverty. Gabe and I have written a post for Blog Action Day on Hinge of Africa that we wanted to also share here:
Shades of Poverty, originally posted on Hinge of Africa
Today is Blog Action Day, a day when blogs around the world write about one topic in an effort to create awareness and inspire action about a pressing world issue. This year the topic is poverty. When thinking about how we should approach the topic of poverty in our post on Blog Action Day, we had difficulty because poverty is complex. How do we squeeze such a big issue into a concise blog post? It isn’t black and white—you aren’t just poor or not poor. In our experiences, we have seen different shades of poverty. Since one of the main goals of Blog Action Day is to spread awareness about an important issue by simply getting people thinking and talking about it, all we can really do is write about our own personal experiences around poverty.
We have seen many ways in which a person can be poor. Poverty is not just having little money. Some people struggle to feed their families, while others are not able to send their children to school because they are needed to work. We have students at our school here in Cameroon who want desperately to be able to study in Europe or the U.S. and have asked us for help because everyone else has told them it isn’t possible unless you are rich. We taught art to young people back in Baltimore who didn’t have a home or a family and wanted the same thing but it seemed like an equally impossible dream for them. Poverty can deprive someone of food to eat, a place to sleep, a family, or education and opportunities to work.
There are so many people all over the world in need of so many things, where does one begin to do something about it? The purpose of this post isn’t to make anyone feel guilty for having food, or a car and a home, or an education, or an iPhone, but rather first, to inspire us to feel fortunate about the opportunities and resources we have. I think that feeling positive and grateful for your own fortune while being aware of the world around you is the first step to doing something about any problem.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed about something as big as poverty and in the face of such a worldwide problem, it’s tempting to turn away from it and focus on the next thing like buying groceries, going to class, making dinner, changing the baby, or paying the bills. But as I said when Gabe and I were planning our eco-friendly wedding and trying to do something, however small, to help the environment, just because you can’t do everything, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do something—something is better than nothing. We certainly don’t think everyone can realistically go and join the Peace Corps and work in a developing country for two years (though we certainly think it’s an awesome thing to do if anyone has thought about it), but here are a few other ideas:
Play the FreeRice vocabulary game and donate rice to the hungry; educate yourself about the causes of poverty; help Millenium Promise end extreme poverty; use your business to fight poverty; help fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria with the Global Fund; join Stand Against Poverty; and find even more resources and ideas for action at Make Poverty History.
Glass Bottles DIY
I thought this was really cool and had to share. I’m a big fan of Artecnica’s tranSglass products made from recycled bottles. If you want to experiment with recycling bottles into other decor on your own, Apartment Therapy Re-Nest posted this DIY on how to cut glass bottles for use in other projects.
I probably won’t be posting much on this blog anymore, until we get back from Cameroon (unless I come across something particularly compelling). We have about a week and a half to pack up our apartment before a quick group vacation to San Franciscio (!!) and then we move out, visit with family, and head to staging to meet the rest of our training group! Follow along with us on our Peace Corps blog, Hinge of Africa.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under diy, recycled | Comment (0)
progress wear
“Never discuss politics or religion at dinner. Wear them instead.”
From Progress wear, a t-shirt shop a friend of mine sent to me, with bold, progressive message shirts that “intend to use the power of the printed word (and the web) to effect change.” The shirts range from somewhat peaceful to pretty in-your-face messages guaranteed to keep you arguing with strangers all day long. A portion of all sales are donated to progressive causes, including Veterans for Peace. And for the typography geek, check out the TypographyShop where you can find this ultra typogeeky Helvetical Neue shirt!
Happy Earth Day!
![Sc Green08Eblast3[9]](http://www.zzilch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/sc-green08eblast39.jpg)
Anyone doing anything particularly special to celebrate? When I was a kid, I used to write (terrible) planet-loving songs on Earth Day, and in seventh grade (maybe I shouldn’t share this) I dressed up in my own homemade Captain Planet costume for school and all of my friends were Planeteers. Today I’m just reflecting on how far I’ve come since those days–not very far actually, we were just singing the Captain Planet theme song last week at lunch.
Tonight is the night our episode of Big Ideas for a Small Planet airs on the Sundance Channel. So you can check out a short segment about our green wedding tonight at 9pm. Happy Earth Day!
Posted by Thryn | Filed under wedding | Comment (0)
Milk Bottles and Mother’s Day
I also have to share these milk bottles that have been posted on a few design blogs, (I believe) starting with Oh Joy! Our favorite vintage treasures shop, Three Potato Four (they have the greatest stuff!) is selling Milk Bottle Carafes, and will donate $1 from each milk bottle purchase to Action Against Hunger. These could make nice Mother’s Day Gifts, eh?
Speaking of Mother’s Day, Poppytalk launched their Mother’s Day & Kids Market this week. There are some wonderful things to be found, like this hand made aqua porcelain pendant (above left) by sofia masri. Holy cow is that gorgeous! I mean, seriously. And some beautiful jewelry and accessories by littleblackrabbit (above right). I need to think of something amazing to get my amazing mom. She’s amazing every year, but this past year she made me a wedding gown among other things, so…any gift I think of giving her just seems rather paltry…
Posted by Thryn | Filed under action, fashion, gifts, good cause, handmade, home, kitchen | Comment (0)
extreme poverty design competition
I’m going to try to make up for not posting much lately since I was working on putting together our new Peace Corps blog, by sharing a bunch of things today. Actually I’m really behind in my rss feeds as well, and well I guess I’m just behind in everything and will probably continue to be until we leave for Africa. Ah well!
Design 21 Social Design Network, with Millennium Promise, has a new design competition: create a campaign design to promote public awareness of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals that address extreme poverty in Africa by 2015. Those Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are:
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
The submission deadline is June 17th, 2008. Read more details about the contest, how and what to submit, at the Design 21 contest page. Also check out End Poverty 2015 for more information about the Millennium Campaign and ways to take action.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under contests | Comments (2)
the next big thing in life
So my husband and I try to do good things for other people and the planet. It’s hard to feel like you’re really making a positive difference sometimes, but we make an effort not to get discouraged in the face of critics, ignorance, adversity, overwhelming problems, laziness, and so on.
Today, I’m excited to share the news of our next big adventure in life. In June, we are leaving to serve in the Peace Corps in Cameroon! We’re so very excited about this and hope that we will have a chance to do great things for great people over the next two years in Africa.
We invite everyone to check out our new blog, Hinge of Africa, that we will keep while we are in Cameroon. I will continue writing about sustainable design inspiration on zzilch until our departure. While we’re in Africa, I likely won’t be able to write much for this blog. As with my other blog, wedlog, it will stay online and I’ll resume writing zzilch when we return. If anyone is interested in contributing to zzilch, just email me at zero [at] zzilch [dot] com.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under action | Comments (2)
Green Camping Gear
We’re heading into the woods this weekend on a camping trip with our friends. I’m excited to spend some quality time bonding with my friends, and also to wear my new hiking shoes from KEEN, the place to go for sustainable footwear. After the soles literally fell off of my old pair of sneakers (which I believe were purchased some time during high school) during our last camping excursion in the fall, it was time to look for some new hiking/athletic shoes and I looked no further than KEEN. Another great place to look for eco-friendly outdoor gear is Marmot, makers of outdoor clothing and equipment that have a strong commitment toward sustainability and social responsibility. I hope it doesn’t rain too much!
Posted by Thryn | Filed under great ideas | Comment (1)
Big Things and Big Ideas Contests
Have some good ideas and need a good reason to execute them? Here are a couple of contests worth entering so you can win some $$ for those ideas of yours.
First, fredflare.com is looking for the "Next Big Thing." Show them how cool your ideas are and you could win some cash! Deadline is May 2nd, 2008. Click here for contest details.
The Sundance Channel is having a "What’s the Big Idea? Contest." They want to know what your big idea is to make the world a cleaner, greener place. The ultimate grand prize is a private, green consultation and $10,000 to help you live a greener life! Deadline is May 20th, 2008. Click here for contest details.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under contests | Comment (0)
White Elephant Vintage Pyrex Spectacular
As soon as I saw the post on Bloesem about White Elephant Vintage’s Pyrex Spectacular, I knew I was in trouble. I love turquoise blue Pyrex and I want to buy every one that I see. They last forever! Maybe it comes from my fondness for this one blue Pyrex bowl we had in our family that my brother used as his cereal bowl while we were growing up. At any rate, their etsy shop is worth checking out. They have some great sets for sale but they are going fast!
Posted by Thryn | Filed under kitchen | Comments (2)
Green Tidbits
Happy April! Some things I’m excited about right now:
ReadyMade Magazine’s new digital paper-free edition! Now you can view the entire edition of each new ReadyMade Magazine online for FREE! It is identical to the print edition, with added interactivity (such as click-able links).
On my other blog that focuses on green weddings, we have teamed up with our amazing and talented wedding photographer, Virgil of CVI Photography, to give away a FREE wedding photography package and handmade photo album to a lucky couple planning a green wedding. Check out the details on wedlog!
On another wedding note, I missed Earth Hour because I was at my best pal Virginia’s wedding (which was beautiful by the way). However, we will definitely be celebrating Earth Day on April 22nd. That evening, our (green and ethical) wedding will be featured in an episode of Big Ideas for a Small Planet on the Sundance Channel! We saw a preview of the show, and it’s a great episode that also features a green campus at a college, and a company that helps musicians have eco-friendly tours.
Co-Op America has published a great Guide to Ending Sweatshops. This free downloadable pdf includes resources for buying sweatshop-free items, companies to avoid, and answers common misconceptions about sweatshop labor. "Here at Co-op America, we embrace the human connections that come embedded in every product that we buy, and reject the idea that anything we buy should come embedded with human suffering." I may write more about this later, but for now, enjoy the free download.
Inspirational quote of the day (not that I post these every day or anything):
Posted by Thryn | Filed under good cause, home, wedding | Comments (2)Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Leo Tolstoy
My New Ride!
Dear Readers,
After much thought, I have decided that there is nothing I can do to help the environment or the needless suffering of others in any way. I have decided to just give up and buy a hummer. Above is a photo of the one I plan to get. From now on, this blog will be about hummers and life in the suburbs which is where I plan to move, so I can live close to Wal-Mart to do all of my shopping for everyday low prices. Also, I’ve decided to stop recycling because I just don’t feel like it anymore. With the time I spend sorting, I could be driving to Wal-Mart 1 extra time per week (I know that in Baltimore we don’t have to sort it, but I will have to in the suburbs when I move, remember)! So I hope you all enjoy reading about my adventures with my new hummer! Also I changed all of my light bulbs back to incandescent and bought styrofoam cups and plates to use from now on because I’m tired of washing dishes.
Your friend,
Thryn
Mini Blank Books
It all started when I needed to make the guestbooks for my best pal Virginia’s wedding. In an effort to be resourceful, I made several mini books, scrap books, and watercolor sketchbooks from leftover book board, recycled scrap paper, salvaged ribbon, and pretty handmade papers. Slowly but surely I will photograph them and put them in my etsy store. These are the first two mini blank books that I’ve finished.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under diy, gifts, handmade, recycled | Comment (0)
Mango Radio = sustainable, fair trade, and handmade
I missed blogging on St. Patrick’s day, but I hope it was a day filled with green for everyone (as in the color, and eco-friendly habits, perhaps money, but not necessarily envy). Speaking of green, I like this radio for the following reasons:
- It is handmade by Indonesian carpenters in areas with high unemployment (i.e. fair trade)
- It is made of sustainable harvested wood
- It plays AM/FM, shortwave, and is also MP3 ready
- It looks awesome. Good design that does some good. Enough said.
Two-toned wood Mango radio designed by Singgih Kartono, at Design Public. [via GreenHead]
Posted by Thryn | Filed under gifts, good cause, handmade, home | Comments (2)
Celebrate Pi Day with Organic Pie
Happy Pi Day to high school calculus students and math enthusiasts alike! Pi Day (that is March 14th–3.14) was one of my favorite days in high school because I had great teachers who let us eat pie in class and play math games. So in celebration of Pi Day, I recommend that we all eat a generous slice of organic pie today. You could make some yourself, or find a local bakery that has some organic goods (Whole Foods?). Go forth and eat pie…
Posted by Thryn | Filed under food | Comment (0)
CCA Summer Institute in Sustainable Design
If we don’t change direction soon, we’ll end up where we’re going. Professor Irwin Corey
A lot of designers and consumers alike are changing direction, toward sustainable, responsible design. The Summer Institute in Sustainable Design at CCA hopes to educate more people about green design so we can continue to make changes in the right direction. I really really wish I could go to this! It looks like a great program and would be perfect for anyone wishing to further their education in sustainable design. Alas, I have a prior commitment for the month of June which a few of you know about already…
[via Core77]
Eco Infographics
I sure love a good infographic! Here are two nice ones spotted on Treehugger. The first shows relative carbon usage in the world by country, and the second is a nice illustration of lifestyle choices that can help combat global warming. These sure beat the Full House infographic I designed in college showing the different rooms in which each character lived. The first graphic reminds me of worldmapper, a simultaneously fun and sobering website of world maps that shows territories resized according to specific subjects.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under action, great ideas | Comment (0)
Green Pop! at poppytalk handmade
This month’s poppytalk handmade, an online marketplace of handmade goodness, is eco-themed! Looking at the featured artists in this month’s showcase dubbed green pop, I was excited to see some familiar shops, as well as some new ones. Featured above are just four of my favorites though believe me it was tough to narrow my choices down.
Clockwise from top left: Beehive Kitchenware has beautiful hand cast lead-free pewter kitchenware, and a strong environmental commitment. Round Robin Press creates fun letterpress cards printed on seed paper! I love seed paper–I used it for my own wedding invitations.
Elisabethan: clothes with a history
Another artist from the American Craft Show, Elisabeth Delehaunty makes unique, funky fashion out of vintage and recycled fabric collected from thrift stores, estate sales, auctions, etc. Elisabethan, “clothes with a history” gives new life to these discarded materials and turns them into such cute and fun creations for kids and adults! Some of their t-shirts come from tsdesigns, a sustainable company that sends them their damaged t-shirts. Elisabethan is also a member of Co-op for America! Check out their website for more information.
Leanne Ash: Making Ceramics with Alternate Energy
The first GreenCraft artist from the American Craft show I’d like to share is Leanne Ash, a ceramic artist from North Carolina. Not only is her work beautiful, incorporating nature-inspired imagery into her unique forms, but she is a resident artist at the Energy Xchange, which uses "landfill gas as an energy source for small enterprise in craft and horticulture, and to meet local energy needs." Ceramics can be hugely energy-consuming and not so eco-friendly. So it’s great that she has found a way to use an alternate energy source to create her work.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under energy saving, handmade | Comment (0)
American Craft Show in B’more
I have been feeling not so great this week so updating the blog has taken a backseat to sleeping and blowing my nose. But this past weekend, The American Craft Show was here in Baltimore. I didn’t have a chance to go myself, but my friend Kateri was kind enough to tell me about all of the great designers, artists, and craftspeople she saw. She let me borrow the catalog, which has conveniently labeled all of the booths that incorporate eco-friendly/recycled materials and/or processes "GreenCraft". So next week, I will be sharing some of these artists and their work. ‘Til then…
Posted by Thryn | Filed under fashion, furniture, gifts | Comment (0)
MICA goes green
I was happy to get some info from my bff, Kateri about some sustainable updates at my alma mater, the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). They have introduced some eco-friendly cups and plates at the dining hall, instituted campus-wide recycling (now much easier to accomplish with Baltimore’s new single-stream recycling system), and the MICA Bookstore has started a BYOB policy! Above are some photos she took at the store of signs about the new policy, screen printed by senior Graphic Design majors on old cardboard. Thanks for the info and photos, Kateri! You are my BFF 4EVAR! I will cease and desist with the middle school instant message lingo at this time.
Pretty Eco-Friendly and Fair Trade Bed Stuff
I was out yesterday celebrating Presidents Day by doing our taxes, cleaning the closet, and indulging in U.S. history documentaries (guilty pleasure?). Now I’m catching up on my rss feeds. Just about every day as I read through my design blog subscriptions, I come across so many pretty things that I just wish were fair trade and eco-friendly. Most often they come in the form of textiles–bedding, pillows, fabric patterns that I love so much, but don’t love the way they are made or from what they are made. No need to get discouraged though, I just navigate my web browser over to some places where I know I can find pretty things that are made from good materials by good people getting paid fairly for their work. Behold the magical grid of pretty things that are eco-friendly and fair trade.
Top Left: Amenity organic cotton pillows and blankets, printed with low-impact dyes, available at Velocity. Top Left: Amenity organic cotton duvet printed with eco-friendly water-based dyes, available at Velocity. Second row-Left: Embroidered Flower Pillow Cover made from 100% silk from a fair trade group in Vietnam, available at GAIAM. Second-row Right: Rose Divan Bedding handmade from silk harvested from abandoned coccoons, available at GAIAM. Third-row: Inhabitat pillows, handprinted on Recycled Retrosuede and Sateen, designed, printed and constructed in the USA, dozens of designs available at Velocity. Bottom-row Left: Quilted Silk Shams and Coverlet from VivaTerra. Bottom-row Right: Organic Cotton Woddland Shams and Duvet Cover, made from 100% organic cotton with no formaldehydes or synthetics, from VivaTerra.
Posted by Thryn | Filed under bedroom, handmade, recycled | Comments (4)
Green Love
Happy Valentine’s day if you celebrate it, and happy Thursday (my favorite day of the week) if you don’t!
[Images from Endangered Species Chocolate and Green & Black’s]
There are lots of ways to have a green Valentine’s Day. The best way to start the day (this goes for any day, really) in my opinion is with some organic fair trade chocolate. Green & Black’s and Endangered Species Chocolate are two of my favorites.
[Image from Inhabitat]
A big challenge for a green Valentine is finding something green to wear for…well you know. Luckily, Inhabitat has us covered with their Green Guide to Sustainable Skivvies! And Treehugger has a nice writeup on g=9.8, a collection of eco-friendly lingeri made from LENPUR®.
[Image from Grist]
Grist published the great article, How to green your love life, with lots of links at the end to help you get some green lovin’ products. They get extra points for quoting my husband’s and my favorite song, Afternoon Delight.
Finally, Treehugger’s Valentine’s Day Gift Guide is a fun and useful read (though you should probably already have your gift by now if you are exchanging with someone, unless you are "celebrating" on Saturday like us–we like to make a whole day of it). Go forth and make love (not war)!
Posted by Thryn | Filed under bedroom, food, gifts | Comment (0)
Advertising for a Cause
Advertising for a cause (as opposed to a product or service) is a challenge. The goal is multi-layered: create awareness, evoke emotion, inspire action. That is a difficult goal, far more difficult in my opinion than convincing someone to buy something.
I came across a few powerful advertisements recently. Often to be powerful, an advertisement must be risky. These ads got my attention, and also sparked some debate as to their effectiveness.
[Text reads “Deforestation in China threatens Giant Pandas”]
I love the clean graphic imagery in this WWF ad, and I think the play on the WWF logo, the iconic panda being squashed by a tree is clever. A few commenters on adgoodness remarked that it is too cute. Is it clever and attention-getting, making you feel sorry for the panda? Or is it too funny, not serious enough to make someone really care?
These Nudity for no meat campaign ads are certainly risky. A post on takepart debates the appropriateness of the imagery. Sex sells right, so why not use it to sell a good cause? Or are they sinking to the “lower level” of sexist advertisers by exploiting women? Are the effective in calling attention to the issue, or doing more harm than good?
[Text reads: “Make some noise for those who can’t be heard / Freedom week 30 July - 5 August”]
The visual effectiveness of this Amnesty International ad from adgoodness is debatable. Upon closer inspection, I think the graphic juxtaposition is clever. But does it take too long to understand what is going on in this diptych? Is the black and white image compelling enough?
What do you think? Are these ads effective and action-inspiring, or not so much? Tell me!
Posted by Thryn | Filed under good cause | Comment (0)
