Twitter Roundup – December 10: light bulbs with longevity, recycling jeans into cars, and China’s cap on emissions
Search for the hashtag #socent and you’ll find wide-ranging interest in social entrepreneurship on Twitter. Here’s a roundup of a few interesting tweets from the last week: This week GE…
Fair trade certification expands to the apparel industry
In time for the gift-buying season, Fair Trade USA launched a new a fair trade certification for apparel. Their other certifications, like the ubiquitous fair trade coffee, enable consumers to…
The Unreasonable Institute, version 2.0
The Unreasonable Institute is gearing up for its second year and the wind is at its back. More than half the entrepreneurs selected last year received funding to implement their…
The Science of Generosity
A study published last month by Harvard Business School looked at the emotional benefits of generosity, and found that — across cultures — people are happiest when they are giving….
Foreclosure Is Not an Option
Given the grim news in lending and home financing in recent months, it would appear that little can be done to stem the tide of foreclosures sweeping the nation. Nationally,…
Common Security Clubs: A new model for building community in times of economic crisis
When people face overwhelming, frightening challenges they often seek comfort through support groups. From cancer to addiction, these groups help us understand disorienting events and foster community where there might…
Twitter Roundup – December 3: Jumo, fast trains and a food safety overhaul
Search for the hashtag #socent and you’ll find wide-ranging interest in social entrepreneurship on Twitter. Here’s a roundup of a few thought-provoking tweets from the last week: Facebook co-founder Chris…
Richard Cherry of the CEC on confronting climate change with better buildings
Richard Cherry’s organization, the Community Environmental Center (CEC) bridges climate and low-income issues by focusing on the building sector. Using seemingly simple tools like weatherization, the CEC is able to…
Mini Case Study: Heal The Bay on how to make a video go viral
Social innovators can learn from each others’ successes and failures. That’s the idea behind Dowser’s Mini Case Studies, real-world stories showing how changemakers confront practical challenges. PROBLEM: The environmental advocacy…
Frames (poetry): Tony Hoagland on empathy and alienation in America
In the second installment of our occasional Frames series — which turns to the world of poetry and art to explore the human elements at the heart of change —…
Smartphone apps turn citizens into scientists
Around 100 million Americans use web-connected, camera-equipped phones on a daily — probably hourly — basis. Which is why many developers are exploring how this extraordinary resource can be harnessed…
On Food: Gary Maxworthy’s Farm to Family has redefined the way food banks work
Food issues in the U.S. are often shaped by frustrating paradoxes: We produce an excess of food — yet there are still 50 million people living in food-insecure households; we…
On Food: FEAST! invites a community to dinner and reinvents the financing of art
In the back of a candle-lit church basement in Brooklyn, eight groups of artists recently presented their work to 200 people. This quarterly dinner party — hosted by FEAST (Funding…
On Food: Shrink this plate! Portion-size solutions
I grew up in Sweden and whenever I travel to the U.S. from Europe, ordering food is a somewhat shocking experience. The size of the portion is particularly mind-blowing. This…
A Safe Haven in Cartoon Confidants
For months, psychologists struggled to reach the eight year old boy in the burn unit of the Pediatric Hospital of Tacubaya, in Mexico City. He had been discovered in the…
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