Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Good to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

The GOOD 100: Project M

A Case Study At the edge of the functioning United States, in Hale County, Alabama, the designer John Bielenberg is marshaling...

Good Is
By Good IsOct 12, 2009
Good Is
See Full Bio

A Case Study

At the edge of the functioning United States, in Hale County, Alabama, the designer John Bielenberg is marshaling a class of design-minded idealists in a program called Project M. These mostly student volunteers spend a summer month translating their design skills into meaningful change.MISSIONVITALS Founded in 2003; 100 total people involved, about 20 active participants at any given time; two base camps: one in Belfast, Maine, and another in Greensboro, Alabama; individual projects have happened in Costa Rica, Iceland, and Baltimore.ACCOLADES Design awards from institutions like AIGA and I.D.; the Skandalaris Award for Entrepreneurship in Design and Visual Arts from Washington University in St. Louis, a $20,000 award that will help fund a 23-city Project M tour starting next spring.WHY IT WORKSPLANS FOR THE FUTURE Establishing year-long fellowship programs for alumni; building two "creative villages" using converted shipping containers for low-cost housing in Alabama and Maine; a business called PieLab to promote community in Greensboro; a bike evangelism movement called NADA.UPDATE: PieLab, a Project M offshoot, is trying to raise money for a new facility. The deadline is November 1, so head over to Kickstarter and donate now.
designgood 100alabamaproject mjohn bielenberg

The Latest

fire safety, close your door, sleeping habit, bedroom door, house fire, UL Fire Safety Research Institute, Stephen Kerber, carbon monoxide, fire prevention, home safety
Past Events

A 10-year study found a 900-degree difference between an open and closed door in a fire

Bee Gees, Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, Massachusetts, acoustic performance, Maurice Gibb, harmonies, viral clip, 1973, Gibb brothers
Past Events

The Bee Gees' perfect harmonies and humor charmed Johnny Carson in a classic acoustic performance

viral tiktok, hotel bathrooms, privacy, privacy rights, social media
Design

People are cheering woman's refusal to accept the latest trend in hotel bathrooms

genesis, progressive rock, genesis follow you follow me, phil collins, genesis hits
Culture

How Genesis embraced their sensitive side, scoring a crossover hit when they needed it most

More For You

MIT’s super-fast camera can capture light as it travels
assets.rebelmouse.io

MIT’s super-fast camera can capture light as it travels

A camera developed at MIT can photograph a trillion frames per second. Compare that with a traditional movie camera which takes a mere 24. This new advancement in photographic technology has given scientists the ability to photograph the movement of the fastest thing in the Universe, light. In the video below, you'll see experimental footage of light photons traveling 600-million-miles-per-hour through water.

The actual event occurred in a nano second, but the camera has the ability to slow it down to twenty seconds. For some perspective, according to New York Times writer, John Markoff, “If a bullet were tracked in the same fashion moving through the same fluid, the resulting movie would last three years."

Keep ReadingShow less
Kelsey Wells’ Side-By-Side Photos Prove That Weight Doesn’t Equal Health
assets.rebelmouse.io

Kelsey Wells’ Side-By-Side Photos Prove That Weight Doesn’t Equal Health

It's super easy for most people to get hung up on the number on their scales and not how they actually look or, most importantly, feel. People often go on diets in hopes of reaching an ideal weight they had when they graduated high school or got married, but they're often disappointed when they can't attain it.

But a set of photos by fitness blogger Kelsey Wells is a great reminder for everyone to put their scales back in storage. Welles is best known as the voice and body behind My Sweat Life, a blog she started after gaining weight during pregnancy. To lose the weight, she started the Bikini Body Guide (BBG) training program and after 84 weeks she shared three photos on her Instagram account that prove the scale doesn't matter.

Keep ReadingShow less
No one noticed what this woman was staring at when they chose her for their label
assets.rebelmouse.io

No one noticed what this woman was staring at when they chose her for their label

No matter how you feel about it, everyone can agree that art is interesting. It makes us think. And one of the greatest things about art is that it can be interpreted a thousand different ways depending on the eye of the beholder. The artist usually has some intent when they initially create a piece, but once it's out in the public eye, its meaning can be anything. It can also be used for anything (barring copyrights, which do not come into play in this story).

Enter Middle Earth Organics and their pasta sauce. Middle Earth Organics is known for their organic pasta sauces, and each label on their products features a famous Italian painting.

Keep ReadingShow less

GM highlights its huge pivot to all-electric vehicles in hilarious Super Bowl ad

General Motors has been one of America's largest car and truck companies for more than 100 years, and with a huge "reinvention" underway, they're positioning themselves to be around for a lot longer.

The science on climate change has made it clear that the future of transportation has to be greener and cleaner. Vehicles are one of the main sources of greenhouse gases, and with fossil fuels being both a limited resource and a polluting one, car companies will need to turn to new technologies in order to compete in the global market.

GM, in a big pivot from just a couple of years ago, is embracing that future with both hands. In November, GM withdrew from a Trump administration lawsuit against California's strict emissions standards and invited other companies to do the same. Now, in a hilarious new ad, it has announced that GM will add 30 electric vehicle (EV) models by the year 2025—just four years from now.

In the 90-second spot, which will air during the Super Bowl, Will Ferrell points out that Norway sells more electric vehicles per capita than the United States, and he clearly takes that fact personally. Let Norway dominate the U.S.? No friggin' way.

Keep ReadingShow less

Nike's new NASA-inspired 'Space Hippie' shoes are its most sustainable yet

NASA has a fancy term for using materials it finds in space to help propel its missions forward, "in-situ resource utilization" (ISRU). ISRU is the process of collecting, storing, processing, and using objects to replace those brought from Earth.

Let's say NASA wanted to visit Mars and knew there are building materials on the planet. Instead of wasting resources flying the materials from Earth, the astronauts could harvest them on Mars instead.

Keep ReadingShow less

Japanese artist makes incredible sculptures of 'Tom and Jerry's' most absurd scenes

"Tom and Jerry" animated shorts follow the countless attempts of a cat named Tom to capture his friend Jerry, a mouse.

The two have genuine affection for each other although they are constantly ensnared into a literal game of cat-and-mouse where Jerry almost always wins and Tom winds up getting pulverized.

The show is either a monument to Tom's perseverance to catch the mouse or his stupidity because he never achieves his goal.

Keep ReadingShow less

After a child went missing, someone invented a wristband that helps prevent abductions

At this past weekend's North American International Toy Fair in New York, not every participant was a toymaker. In the back of the huge space was a booth for BuddyTag—a smart wristband that helps parents monitor children within 120 feet. BuddyTag was invented by Willie Wu after he lost his daughter at Six Flags. “His child did everything right—waiting in one place with an employee of the park," said Wu's sister, who was stationed at the booth. The kid was found in an hour, “but it was the worst hour of his life." It also sparked an idea.

Keep ReadingShow less

Check out these gorgeous posters promoting the future of space travel

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has released a series of stylish, imaginative posters advertising fictional vacations in outer space. From “Experience the Mighty Auroras of Jupiter" to “Mars: Multiple Tours Available," these 14 posters promote, essentially, the power of imagination.

“Imagination is our window into the future," says the website. “These visions of the future can become a reality. As you look through these images of imaginative travel destinations, remember that you can be an architect of the future."

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025