This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

Building greenhouses, creating playgrounds, and saving a high-school band—the votes are in and the September class of 32 Pepsi Refresh Project finalists is poised to bring their diverse, change-making ideas to life. Here at GOOD we have a front-row seat for the Refresh Project—we've partnered with Pepsi to help turn every Refresh grant winner into a success (we're now helping 287 projects across the country). Four ideas from the planet category made the cut this month including La Jolla, CA-based social entrepreneurs Phone Zone. Their $50,000 e-waste elimination project finds new uses for old products and “delays their entry into waste streams.” Reflecting the priorities of the voting public, the education category continues to dominate. Eleven of the finalists this month are education projects--ranging from Rockwood Leadership Institute’s $50,000 project, providing leadership training for non-profits, to a 14-year-old Eagle Scout from Pawleys Island, South Carolina who’s a finalist to receive $5,000 to build a greenhouse, raised gardens and rain barrels for his local school. Congratulations to this month’s finalists. We can’t wait to see their impact! 

“My dad was giving up vending and hoisted some machines on us and we didn’t know what to do with them,” says Karlsrud. But the recent Otis grads and Project H collaborators decided on a different solution. They filled the machines with seed bombs: balls of dirt packed with native wildflower seeds ready to land in unsuspecting sidewalk cracks, vacant lots, and parking medians. “For anyone who has spent time in a city that actually has functional open public space, the lack of open green space in LA is shocking,” says Phillips.

It’s not that Los Angeles doesn’t have green space. It does. The city is home to the largest municipal park in the country and big back yards are common even in the heart of the city. The problem is that most of it comes at a price and the city’s lower-income communities have some of the lowest green space per capita in the country. Trying to solve for the inequitable distribution of green space between the wealthiest and poorest residents is no easy task, as many city officials would insist.

But Project Green Aid is less a cure for that urban ailment than it is a public awareness campaign—a kind of casual activism. “The beauty of the vending part of this is that it’s so easy and fun,” says Phillips. “It helps people realize ‘wow I have more the power to do more’ and people can begin to think about ways they can engage on a larger scale.”

In the last year the duo has managed to install eight machines throughout Los Angeles and several others in places as nearby as Fresno and as far as Vienna, Austria. Coming off a $10,000 Kickstarter win they now have funding to bring the machines to even more “grey” areas.

“The hope is that seedbombs can be a fun first step, a gateway drug, in getting folks to better understand and re-evaluate their daily environment,” says Phillips. “And become more active in making it a better place through individual, small scale action.”

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

1) Scout. No old phone booth close by? Don’t worry. A book booth can work just about anywhere. Take over an unused newspaper dispenser or ask a local business for some of their sidewalk space or an old bench. Be sure to find a place where people already linger, meet, or hang out. And keep it tidy. “You wouldn’t really want anyone to leave a box of books on the ground,” says Inouye. ”Then it starts looking messy. It’s like the broken window mindset. You want it to look neat and presentable and inviting so that it maintains a level of usefulness and involvement.”

2) Chat. Circulation is the key to a successful book booth. Talk to your neighbors and encourage them to drop off books in advance of the launch, say Inouye. If you choose a location in front of or near a business, be sure to talk to the business owner first and get their support. “I got permission and spoke to the owners several times before we launched the booth,” says Inouye.

3) Stock. Because most people will contribute books they no longer want, it’s easy for the book booth to become a book dump. Act as a curator for the booth to keep too many old romance novels from stacking up. Inouye checks the Highland Park booth almost every day to keep it neat and “family friendly.” She also manages the content. After receiving a stack of 20 year-old textbooks she slowly put them out one at a time. “Eventually all of them got taken,” she says.

4) Let it go! It’s important to maintain the booth, yes, but stay open to different interpretations of its use. Add a chair for a quick read, a request sheet for specific books or a small night light to highlight the space. You may even set up a book crossing. After all, if you love your books, set them free.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

1) Simple storytelling. The key to avoiding a costly production starts with the script. Focus your story around elements that you know you have access to. Unless you've got a friend with plenty of pull at Grand Central Station, avoid writing scenes at the helm of a runaway train.

2) It takes a village. Don't be afraid to get help from family and friends. Filmmaking is a collaborative process, and your production will require a lot of support. Do you know a carpenter who might be willing to lend a hand to the production? Maybe hire some students on your crew. They'll be some of the hardest workers. They may even hook you up with student discounts on anything from a lighting kit to any number of postproduction services.

3) Engage your fans. Whether it's your hometown or a special interest group, find the people who are enthusiastic about this project. Use Facebook and Twitter to spread word about your film. Get your community interested from the get-go and you'll not only have an easier time finding support during production, but you'll have built an audience for the finished film.

4) Choose your format. Film used to be the only way to go, but in the age of HD video, the possibilities for shooting gorgeous footage on the cheap are endless. Film will almost always be the more costly choice after the price of the stock, the processing, and the video transfer. If you shoot video, make sure you have the proper editing system to handle your files.

5) Strategic scouting. Choose locations where you can easily get permission to film your movie. Consider looking beyond urban areas, as smaller towns are more likely to help you out at no extra charge. Keep your locations clustered to save money on transportation costs and time.

6) MacGyver it. Substitute some of your equipment with tools from your garage. Use Chinese lanterns for soft lighting. Borrow a wheelchair or a shopping cart instead of renting a dolly. Buy some white and metallic cardboard at the corner store for lighting bounce. Nobody will judge your rag-tag equipment if you save thousands of dollars.

7) Use the sun. Shoot as much as you can outside and during the day. Natural lighting saves you money on expensive lights and generators, and it looks great. If you shoot during the summer, you'll have longer hours to work with.

8) Splurge on sound. Invest in good sound equipment and an experienced sound recordist and designer. Sound is one of the common weaknesses in student and low-budget independent film. Get it right the first time. Your actors will appreciate it and so will your audience.

9) Take your time. Don't rush if you don't have to. Storyboard every scene and make accurate lighting overheads for each set-up. Visit every location with your key crew and make sure they know the plan. On-set, make sure to get a satisfying take, even if it takes a while to get there—you'll have to cut bad footage anyways. Get plenty of coverage (i.e. footage), and never say "we'll fix it in post production." No matter how much you plan, you'll always wish you had more angles to work with. Do whatever you can to avoid costly reshoots.

10) Bask in indie film glory. Remember to invite all of your supporters to the premiere.

Jackson Adams has been making short films since he was twelve years old. He was recently selected from a pool of young filmmakers at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth—where his short film Warren Bud and His Propeller Plane won an Audience Award—to film and produce a short film profiling Pepsi Refresh Grantee Operation Gratitude.

Jackson and Jenna were recently selected from a pool of young filmmakers at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth—where their short film 

Warren Bud and His Propeller Plane won an Audience Award—to film and produce a short film profiling Pepsi Refresh Grantee Operation Gratitude.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

1) Know what you stand for. It’s not a prerequisite to don tights or a mask, but every superhero builds an identity around good morals and values. Likewise, you’ll need a cause (or several) for which to crusade. Look around your community for action groups that need help.

2) Identify your weapons. And we’re talking personal skills here, not nunchucks.  After identifying a cause, ask yourself what you can bring to the table to help fulfill that need. Take stock of your interests and find a way to donate your time and talents in ways that will be compatible with your lifestyle.

3) Dress for the fight. While it doesn’t take spandex to be a Superhero, always come prepared for the task. Whether the job entails managing logistics for a fundraiser, educating local youth, or just showing up to the right place at the right time with the right supplies, you’ll want to be known as a responsible and accountable crusader.

4) Don’t get mistaken for the bad guy. Real Life Superheroes can be activists, volunteers, educators, or neighborhood safety patrollers, but in order to establish an identity as a community crusader for long-term success, you’ll have to work closely with local citizens, civic leaders, and law enforcement. Collaboration and communication are key.

5) Don’t break the law. Never go above the law, and always stand firm behind your actions. As DC’s Guardian says, “If you can’t stand up and say ‘I did this!’ you shouldn’t be doing it.”

6) Be humble. There’s no such thing as a self-serving superhero, in real life or otherwise.

DC’s Guardian is prominent figure in the RLSH community and President of Skiffytown League of Heroes—a national network of original superhero characters dedicated to performing acts of community service.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

GOOD: How exactly did the NOI get started?

JUDITH FREEMAN: In 2004 there was a handful of us who had started doing this work and I organized this retreat of about 20 to 25 people who had really done a lot of innovation with how you integrate, how you link the online work and the technology with the field. It was this group trying to take things to a new level. So that retreat was really what NOI came out of, it was born out of this community of people who really cared about the work and had a vision for how, if we created an organization (which became NOI), we could train a whole new generation of organizers who understood technology, who care about campaign management and who want to integrate the best of our volunteer and field organizing strategies with how you do things online.

G: That first training—was that one of your boot camps?

JF: Yes, exactly. We have three main program areas: We have data and tech, we do a lot on new media and online organizing and how to use the internet for activism and electoral work, and then we have field organizing and organizing strategy. Some of our boot camps are a combination of all three of those areas.

G: What kind of people do you hope to recruit for the boot camps?

JF: We recruit for graduating college seniors, new graduates, or career change professionals. We get a lot of people in the 21 to 25 range and then we get fewer people who are newly interested. We got a lot of people last year who were newly interested in politics and organizing after the 2008 election. We’re looking for people who are totally committed to doing this work as their career for life, people who want to be organizers doing social change work.

G: Now that we have what many people would call a progressive leader in the White House, does that change the kind of work you are doing?

JF: One of our major goals is to promote engagement organizing and to create leaders. Whether there is a progressive or a Republican or a Democrat in the White House there’s always going to be social change that we need to fight for and so we need to have a cadre of people that are trained and doing the work in a way that’s smart and strategic. I think there are going to be places where the organizing work sort of lines up with the current administration and places where we feel like we need to push. Our job is to support the work that’s going to create real change and make people’s lives better.

G: What are your goals over these next couple of years?

JF: Our biggest goal right now is to promote this idea of engagement organizing. We can help with the strategies and the tools and tactics but we really rely on local leadership and the community that wants to get the work done. There were a lot of people who said after the Obama campaign that it was an anomaly, that you can only do that in a presidential election—there’s no way that you can get that many volunteers engaged in other types of campaigns. It’s been proven wrong.

We’re working with organizations that believe that America is full of great people that care about their country, that want to invest their time in helping make people’s lives better and so it's our job to help create a situation where people are able to do that. If we can create these structures that actually keep people engaged then it’s going to help us win victories for people and create a better society.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

Sometimes called a “dinner co-op” or “supper swap,” explains the book’s co-author Alex Davis, it’s a small circle of 3 to 4 cooks living in close proximity who alternate giving and receiving fresh, hot weeknight dinners. “You cook only one night, but can ‘eat homemade’ all week."

“It’s a great way to build community, and it can help save money by cutting down on takeout or restaurant tabs during the week.” Davis continues. And it will allow you to “spend nearly an entire workweek slacking off between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.”—while eating healthy too boot. Here’s how to get started:

1) Who’s cooking? The biggest challenge may be finding the right cooks to trade meals with. “You don’t want to jump in with just anyone who lives on your block,” says Davis. “It’s worth it to take a week or two to recruit the ideal co-chefs.” Davis came up with a compatibility survey to help Organic Fanatics pair up with Asian Mavens and vegetarians, for example. Some people host block parties, have everyone fill out the form, and several dinner co-ops can be born in a night.

2) Kick it off with a spreadsheet. Decide on a delivery schedule and portions (a 30-minute range is good, i.e. 5:30 to 6 p.m.). Exchange contact information. Give and receive delivery instructions. We recommend filling out a food preferences form in case you’d like your co-chefs to leave off the anchovies.

3) Buy containers. Invest in a group set to make life easier. For three households, you’ll want six sets, each with one rectangular and one round container.

4) Hold the salmonella. You’re now responsible for the health and happiness of not just your household, but of your co-op. Take steps to deliver on time, practice food safety in the kitchen, and prevent food borne illnesses.

5) Do your research. Before your official launch, consider a chef’s retreat for inspired menu planning—or a field trip to the gourmet store. Take a cooking class or start a cookbook lending library. Then, on your first night, begin with clean counters, an empty sink, clean kitchen towels, and a mostly empty dishwasher. Bring out your recipes and get started.

6) Make it fit your life. You’re doing this to make your life easier, right? So make sure the dinner co-op is as social—or not—as you want it to be. Do you want friends to hang out when they bring the food by or deliver and dash? Best to decide that ahead of time.

And your reward? “The best part for me is slacking off on a Tuesday night and having my doorbell ring just in time for dinner,” says Davis. “It’s like magic when a great cook is standing on my porch with a homemade dinner that’s hot and ready to eat. I didn’t have to shop for, or even think about those great meals. They just happen.”

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Noël Zia Lee

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

GOOD: How did the Soul Food program originate?

NIYATI DESAI: Through a partnership between the San Francisco Sheriff's Department and Nextcourse, we brought professional chefs into the San Francisco County Jail to teach women how to cook a nutritious meal. Naturally this transitioned to an ongoing, weekly course in nutrition and culinary skills. Classes were well-received but our staff was eager to do more to minimize recidivism and support women post-incarceration. The vision for the Soul Food Project comes from the desire to give women in our community an opportunity to reconnect with their purpose, to identify and define their skills, and to recognize their own desire and ability to thrive in this complex society.

G: Tell me a bit about how you work with the women.

ND: It's important to understand that a typical Soul Food client is likely surviving years of emotional and physical trauma, substance abuse, and isolation from society. Job and family skills are minimal, and access to a fridge, let alone a functional kitchen, is minimal. Understanding that vulnerability, we developed the project components with the following values in mind: affordability, accessibility and sustainability. Each week our nutrition class focuses on issues related to food and addiction, self-image, and illness prevention, while discussing the basics of an affordable, yet nutritious diet.

Our weekly cooking class focuses on doing more with less. Clients learn to prepare recipes at less than $3 per person. Each month, we all take a walk to a market in our local area, which integrates physical activity with knowledge of shopping tips and resources. Last, but certainly not least, the Soul Food Project offers 6-month internships for clients who demonstrate a strong commitment to living a healthier life. This is where clients shine, as they're given an opportunity to tap into another life other than that of crime.

G: What sort of results are you seeing?

ND: My clients fall along a wide spectrum in terms of their readiness and willingness to change. One client told me she only uses olive oil now and her arthritis has improved while another came back to tell me after six months of eliminating soda, refined flours and sugars she's lost 10 pounds and has endless energy. For me, these are all success stories. Just being a witness to these women who, many for the first time, are engaging with the process of change is the greatest gift and a wonderful reminder that a little support goes a long way.

G: Your greatest inspiration so far?

ND: It involves two former clients of mine, both in their late 30's or early 40's with long histories of incarceration. As they describe, they lived a life of gangbanging, hustling, drug dealing – the "fast life." With early release from jail, and on the home detention monitor, they came to the Women's Reentry Center and both participated regularly in the Soul Food Project classes. While deepening their relationship with food and self-care, they told me story after story of how much they loved and missed cooking, reminisced about their favorite recipes, and expressed their desires to open a restaurant and give back to their community.

I hired them both as interns, and now, project assistants. Today, Chiquita has developed nutrition presentations for local in-patient treatment programs, has taken on the role of Childhood Nutrition Educator, and is dedicated to teaching parents the importance of modeling healthy behavior for the next generation. Nicole is completing a Healthy Soul Food cookbook, detailing the history of traditional southern ingredients, describing the health disparities plaguing southern African American communities, and of course, presenting ninety mouth-watering recipes for how to maintain revered food culture, while preserving her people's livelihood.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

Veteran teacher, counselor, advocate, and community activist Steve Zimmer (PDF) has called Los Angeles home since he arrived in 1992 as a neophyte Teach For America teacher. Eighteen years later, 40 year-old Zimmer is completing his first year as an elected school board member for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest district in the United States. Serving LAUSD’s 680,000 racially, ethnically, and economically diverse students at a time when the Obama administration is raising performance expectations—while more than $1.5 billion’s been cut from the district budget and more than 6,000 positions eliminated—is no easy task. We talked with him about why he still believes in public education despite all the challenges.

GOOD: What kind of grade would you give the Obama Administration and Secretary Duncan on education?

STEVE ZIMMER: I’d give them an A on focusing on the lowest performing schools, but I’d give them a C on approach. I think some inflexibility and overreliance on competition has really hampered their efforts. They’re propelled by the notion that there needs to be a school-based drastic turnaround rather than a community-based turnaround. With the schools that need the most support and collaboration, there seems to be a focus on being punitive and I think that’s flawed.

G: Is the solution to run public education like a corporation?

SZ: The reforms I think will actually work aren’t private sector reforms. When we talk about social capital and community capital and harnessing what could be very effective solutions that are right in the communities where children live—I don’t think those are business models. Those are expanding the scope of what a school does and transforming the definition of what a school is, and from that, you transform who has power in schools.

I’m not opposed to private sector influence, but whether it’s private sector or what I call community sector, human sector or labor sector, whatever it is, here’s my problem with what’s happening right now—all of those things can be tried once we have a base level of funding that stabilizes our schools.

G: Some say there’s enough money but districts waste it.

SZ: I’m not talking about throwing money at a problem. I’m talking about stabilizing situations so that you can address the problems. There’s no debate about funding the war, no debate about funding the Wall Street and housing bailouts, but a tiny fraction of either of those funds would provide a baseline stabilization of our schools.

G: Thirty schools in Detroit closed this year and 275,000 education jobs are projected to be lost. How do we fix these cuts?

SZ: The assumption is that one of the things that your taxes fully fund is public schools. When you have a recession, that’s when you need more resources in schools, not less.

G: What do you say to people who want more police at schools and zero tolerance policies where we expel kids?

SZ: I actually think school police, and I’m being very specific, school police have a potentially powerful role to play. School police are like an intersection between social work and law enforcement, and I’ve had phenomenally positive experiences with that when it works. We’re not going to arrest and expel our way out of the social problems that are a) caused by poverty and b) accentuated by concentrations of poverty.

Until we own the fact that the achievement gap is not some accident—that those who are in power and those who have had access to privilege and all the things that go along with it directly benefit from there being an achievement gap—until we own it, it’s never going to go away. Since the achievement gap is intentional, the efforts to eradicate it need to be just as intentional.

G: With all the problems facing public education, and the challenge of being a board member in such a large district, how do you stay positive?

SZ: Last Sunday I spent my afternoon at school fairs and my first family fair was at Selma Elementary, right in the heart of Hollywood. It serves homeless families and has a high concentration of poverty. It’s one of the most urban-feeling schools in the city. There’s no grass. It’s surrounded by buildings, but their fair was really great—tons of families and they’d made their own food and their own games, and it was clear that everything had been made by the teachers and parents.

Then I went from Selma to Roscomere, a school in Bel Air. They had huge trailers with 64-inch screens. They brought in one of those rock-climbing things. They spent $250,000 just on the games for their fair.

One of the blessings and challenges of having the district I have is you really see the disparity. The leaders of this school district have to balance the needs of a Roscomere and a Selma. The teachers in both places still are paid, and they work on the same contract and there’s still the same classroom ratio. But there are inequities because of the money Roscomere is able to raise.

It’s the same school system. It’s public education. Somehow, someway, it connects people who wouldn’t be connected otherwise. We just have to figure the rest of it out.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

 

For Slow Jams’ Shakirah Simley,

“I taught myself how to can, and through many hours of practice, voracious reading, and research, my canning expertise has developed immensely with very successful results,” says Simley, who sells tasty Slow Jams flavors like Cranberry Balsamic Pepper locally and via Twitter at @EatSlowJams.

You can help bring about social justice through jam by buying local, organic products—or by making your own. Simley recommends that beginners “stick to the classics, like berry jams, which happen to be very forgiving fruits during canning and preserving.”

GOOD: What inspired you to create “jam for the people?”

SHAKIRAH SIMLEY: While some folks grew up canning, I did not. I grew up in the South Bronx and in Harlem. We hardly had access to fresh, affordable, abundant (never mind, local or organic) produce. Whenever my siblings and I did have fruit, it was mostly during summer months. My mom would specifically get fruit from street vendors in wealthier neighborhoods, and bring it uptown.

Jam like Welch’s and Smuckers was a requisite for our PB&Js. When I moved to Bay Area, I was amazed at the year-round produce availability, the varieties, and the strong connection to sustainable, local food systems. My desire to make jams and preserves and to start a socially-conscious company like Slow Jams is heavily influenced by my experiences growing up and that lack of access. As I steadily scale up my business over the next year, I want to ensure through Slow Jams that high-quality, local and organic, and culturally appropriate and accessible are not mutually exclusive values.

G: All of your ingredients come from local sources in San Francisco. Tell me a bit about the philosophy behind that.

SS: Some people see canning and preserving as something nostalgic or a dated practice from the past, or even a passing trend with the upsurge in urban homesteading. I’m trying to change that with urban, fresh, and modern products that appeal to a diverse audience and have a social justice mission.

My vision for Slow Jams revolves around a commitment to sourcing a significant percentage of my ingredients and produce from urban growers. We will work to build a sustainable network of urban producers to readily supply the necessary raw product. Urban sources might include urban farms, community gardens, neighborhood fruit trees, urban backyards, and wild and foraged food.

By creating positive economic activity through the vehicle of a local food enterprise, I hope to stimulate the local economy through urban agriculture and green job development and utilize the untapped market of urban farmers and producers. And of course, make really delicious, high-quality jams and preserves that are priced reasonably and distributed equitably.

Photo By Michael Bonocore

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

“Environmental justice,” explains LEJ Executive Director Malik Looper, is “the right of all people to have equal access to their basic needs.” To that end, LEJ has been providing free environmental service-learning programs to classroom and youth groups in the Bayview/Hunter’s Point community for the past decade. This brand of environmental education, explains LEJ Deputy Director Pamela Calvert, “meets youth ‘where they are,’ in the natural environment of their own community, building an appreciation of the connection of environmental health and urban life as an issue of basic justice and equity.

This past Earth Day, the Center opened in a brand new, 100 percent off-the-grid building at Heron’s Head Park that not only houses LEJ, but functions as a showcase for solar power and other green technologies and materials. At both this event and the groundbreaking, which featured grass-mowing goats tended by LEJ volunteers, the pride and enthusiasm was palpable.

LEJ reaches out to youth from kindergarten to 12th grade with programs like “Calling Nature Home,” an engaging curriculum featuring 29 modules on subjects ranging from growing native plants to air pollution monitoring. The wide array of seemingly disparate topics helps youth to immediately grasp the interconnectedness of issues such as pollution in the Bay to prenatal health, subsistence fishing, poverty, and “food deserts.”

Once informed, students can begin to take action. As Calvert explains, “energy efficiency, waste management, water conservation, and green building are powerful and pressing issues in California, and the living systems of the EcoCenter will literally bring these ideas home at a scale that is tangible for youth.”

But perhaps LEJ’s most remarkable effort is its “Youth With a Plan” internship program which engages youth directly with what will be the largest redevelopment plan in San Francisco’s history: Bayview/Hunters Point. Involving communities in development is one thing, but involving youth is definitely a far cry from the status quo. LEJ’s ability to draw them in is nothing short of amazing and could have serious positive impact.

This is no small endeavor. Proposed plans for the 780-acre project include a 69,000-seat NFL stadium, 10,000 units of housing, a marina and ferry terminal, a 300-acre state park land swap, a “greentech” research park, and the demolition and reconstruction of a public housing project.

“Bayview youth will live with the legacy of this project for the rest of their lives,” Calvert explains. “They will either inherit a community that supports their education, health, and empowerment, or one that closes doors to them—or even requires that they move out altogether.”

Over 400 young people have been involved so far. “They are the real heroes in this project,” LEJ Board Member Antonio White explains. ”They inspire all of us with their commitment to care for our city and our planet.”

Photo courtesy of Michael Mustacchi

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today

Is your home turning into a temporary e-waste storage facility? You're not alone. Plenty of us have old computer monitors, cell phones or other electronic components and gadgets cluttering our basements and junk drawers. By now, most folks realize that just tossing these toxin-laden goods into the trash is a bad idea, and that doing so will likely contaminate air and groundwater near the landfill with harmful chemicals.

And, unfortunately, curbside pickup of e-waste is extremely rare. How to get rid of this stuff, then? We talked to Barbara Kyle, the National Director of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition for advice.

1) Beware the e-waste drive. We first wanted to write this "How To" about organizing an e-waste drive for your community. Unfortunately, according to Kyle, these aren't all they're cracked up to be. "Some unscrupulous 'recyclers,'" she says, "actually export e-waste to developing countries, where it causes great harm because of the toxics." And the vast majority of community collection events work with such exporters, so the waste simply "gets loaded up on the shipping container and goes off to China or Nigeria."

2) Donate if possible. If you're just upgrading and the old phone, monitor or television still works, do your best to donate the item before discarding it. There are lots of non-profits around the country working to help reuse these items. The EPA has a good locator resource, or you can check with your local solid waste agency.

3) Go to the source. Today, 23 states covering 61 percent of the American population have electronics take back laws that mandate the recycling of electronic waste and force producers to collect and responsibly recycle the materials. See if your state is one of them and learn more about the program here.

4) Find an "e-Steward." Again, not all e-recyclers are responsible. "E-Stewards" have pledged not to dump the dangerous waste into developing countries, and they're the only way to go. Use this handy map to find a responsible "e-Steward" near you.

5) Take it back. If there's no e-Steward nearby, you can consider a manufacturers' voluntary takeback program. Check this list of electronics makers to find a summary and links to their respective programs. Most will take back the materials for free. Some even offer cash or a rebate on your next purchase. The Electronics TakeBack Coalitions can't formally endorse any of the manufacturers' programs, as none of them are themselves certified as e-Stewards, but you can look into their specific policies and make sure they've pledged not to export the waste.

6) Try retailers. If you're still struggling to find a convenient site, some retailers like Best Buy and Staples have takeback programs. Best Buy will accept e-waste at every store, and will charge you $10 (but you'll get a coupon for another purchase). Staples takes any Dell products for free, or charges $10 for other brands.

7) Send back the cell. Cell phones are easy, as there are a handful of recyclers that invite you to mail them in for free, with postage paid. Kyle recommends Capstone Wireless, where you can print a free UPS shipping label on their website, and where there's a good chance you'll even get some money back for your old phone. Or if you'd rather drop it off in person, she suggests Call2Recycle, which has drop off sites in lots of cities, which you can find using their location finder.

For a closer look at the infographic above, go here.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.
 

noun. a customized bicycle featuring oversized wheels, foil-encased spokes and a spray painted frame?

ORIGIN: 21st century; Oakland

How do you get teenage boys from under-served neighborhoods to maintain a healthy GPA and stay out of trouble?

Each year, a big chunk of our federal education budget is earmarked to figure out this very question. Non-profits like Harlem Children's Zone and Green Dot Public Schools have both built brilliant models and boast impressive statistics on retention and closing the achievement gap. But there may be one element as important in reaching that coveted (and notoriously difficult to retain) demographic: the cool factor. "Kids work on scraper bikes because it's something they want to do and they think it's cool," says Tyrone Stevenson, the 21-year-old founder of the budding nonprofit Scraper Bikes.

Scraper bikes are equal parts art project and pragmatic transportation. Far less than the cost of a scraper car—the lowriders from which the bikes borrowed their name—scraper bikes are tricked out using foil from candy wrappers and soda cans, their frames painted with spray cans from the .99 cent store.

"The frames are donated or found around the neighborhood," says Stevenson. The oversized wheels may be the most expensive component, but all told, a scraper bike can be built with a few dollars and some sweat equity. "Kids show up at my house every day of the week to work on their bikes," says Stevenson.

These are not just any kids. In order to join the scraper bike team you must come with your report card and demonstrate at least a 2.0 GPA (Stevenson checks them every week). While academic achievement and sustainability have not exactly defined street cool in the past, the tactic appears to be working: the group began with just eight or nine and now totals almost 40 mostly 13 to 16 year-olds.

Stevenson's car-free movement has moved beyond East Oakland thanks in large part to the group's YouTube video which has received over three million views.

Stevenson plans to leverage the attention the group has received to build an advisory board and raise funds for a community center and bike shop that could serve more neighborhood kids. "Each Saturday, the group grows," he says. "I'm running out of space in my backyard."

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

1) Write what you know. Whether you're a teacher espousing edible school gardens or a small business owner debating a new tax, own your expertise. Leverage your experience to offer a unique vantage point on a current event or to raise an overlooked issue.

2) Know what you want to say. The foundation of your argument is your thesis. What are you really trying to say? Your thesis can be explicit or implied, but be sure you are clear from the outset on your fundamental point. Your thesis should be supported by your argument, which should include primary sources and first-hand evidence. Try to have at least three points to support your argument and have evidence and a conclusion for each point. And don't forget the power of a compelling introduction and conclusion, which leads us to our next point.

3) Use ledes and hooks to grab your reader's attention. A lede is what will get your reader's attention and the hook is the timely, "newsworthy" component that makes your argument relevant. Be audacious but be sure you have compelling evidence to support your argument. The Op-ed Projects offers these tips for creating a good lede: use the news, tell a dramatic anecdote, turn conventional wisdom on end, use wit and irony to point out a contradiction, use an anniversary, use a major new study, and don't be afraid to get personal.

4) Pitch it. Pitching an article can be intimidating. Break down the process and it will be less so. First, answer these questions: Why is this story relevant right now? Why should people care in the first place? And why are you the best person to write this piece? Once you're clear on those questions, take the time to map out a brief pitch that outlines your fundamental idea and relevant credentials along with the text of the article in the body of an email. Be sure to follow up. Even if the editor says no, it could be the beginning of a conversation that leads to yes.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user kruemi

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

Schoeffler sees the creation of a successful carpool as having two major elements: connecting with others to commute with and coordinating the daily routine.

Making the connection?

You'll need to find someone else to carpool. Here's how:

In the office: It makes things awfully easy if you can find colleagues who live nearby, since you're all sharing the same destination. Schoeffler suggests hanging some flyers in the office with your town or address, and your email or phone extension.

Online: The most obvious resource is Schoeffler's own eRideshare.com, where there are more than 12,000 routes already listed around the country, quite possibly in your area. On the site you can create a profile, search for rides near you, or register your own commute to attract others into your car. Businesses, organizations, clubs, and event organizers can also create groups to lump passengers into fewer vehicles. If you strike out on eRideshare, Craigslist has a rideshare category that isn't nearly as well organized, but might yield a connection if you're lucky.

Due diligence: Fear and safety concerns keep plenty of people from seriously considering carpools. And while these concerns shouldn't be dismissed, they also shouldn't stand in the way of saving some gas, money, carbon emissions, and time (if a carpool means zipping through traffic in an express lane). Schoeffler recommends always meeting up with potential carpool partners right off the bat, before making any plans. "Meet in a public place for lunch," he suggests, "and get to know them a little bit." You can also check out Facebook or LinkedIn profiles, if they're public, to get a sense of who you might be spending your rush hours with.

Go casual: In some cities, so-called "casual" carpools have developed. The most famous and longest-lasting has to be for East Bay commuters traveling into San Francisco. Though "casual," a website (complete with Google map) has been launched to help folks connect. It's more freewheeling, less secure, and certainly requires some guts, but plenty are doing it.

Coordinating the daily routine

"It's so important to establish upfront what the daily routine is going to be," says Schoeffler, adding that "good ground rules are necessary." Here are some points to come to agreement upon before the first ride.

Where will the pick-ups be? Sometimes the driver will pick up passengers right at their homes; but oftentimes commuters will meet up at a predetermined location, like a "Park and Ride" or another convenient parking lot.

How often? If this is not an every day carpool, make sure that's clear upfront. If it's not a Monday through Friday arrangement, consider sharing a calendar at the beginning of every month with the carpool days clearly marked. 

What's the "late" policy? Sometimes, somebody will be late. How long should the driver wait for them? Schoeffler suggests 5 minutes as a reasonable compromise, but any group can set their own terms. Passengers need to know and agree that if they're not at the meeting point by the end of the grace period, they're on their own.

What can you do in the car? Is it alright to drink coffee or stuff down a bagel? How about smoking? Some drivers can't imagine a 45-minute commute with a cig; others can't imagine being in a smoky car. Get this all sorted out beforehand.

Who controls the radio? It's probably best to have a radio routine. Lots of carpool groups opt for public radio or other news stations, according to Schoeffler, because they can substitute for conversation (which not everyone is keen on having first thing in the morning) and also keep commuters in the loop with traffic and weather updates. Regardless, the driver should set the standard and make sure that all passengers are alright with the radio routine.

All of this may seem like common sense, but when asked why they don't carpool, many solo commuters simply reply that they wouldn't know how to. Finally, there's another potential benefit that we haven't mentioned yet. "A lot of people become really good friends with the carpool connections," says Schoeffler. So sharing a ride to work doesn't need to be an anonymous, formal transaction.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.

The "Do Good for the Gulf Initiative"—which some of us here at GOOD have been helping bring to life—will follow the basic format of the ongoing Refresh Project, with $1.3 million in grants being given out to the project ideas that receive the most votes within the different funding levels. 

On July 12, RefreshEverything.com will open up for Gulf-specific submissions. Any projects that "make a positive impact on communities that have been most directly affected by the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico." In other words: we're looking for projects that help out these cities, towns, and communities in their time of need. But not, to be clear, projects that would fall under the jurisdiction of the official Deepwater Horizon Response or losses that should rightfully and legally be covered by BP. 

While BP and various government agencies will be handling those cleanup and recovery efforts directly related to the spill, there's no question that the region could use all the help it can get. And since nobody knows what communities need more than the communities themselves, it'll be exciting to see the ideas submitted from throughout the Gulf region. (Though submissions can come from anywhere in the country; the impact must be within oil spill-impacted areas.) 

So if you've got an idea for a project that will help lift the spirits and put some wind in the sails of Gulf communities, get ready to plug it in on July 12 starting at 12 p.m. EST. The submission window will stay open until Friday, July 16 at 11:59 a.m. EST, or after the first 1,000 submissions, whichever comes first. Voting will begin on August 2, and grantees will be announced on September 2. 

GOOD—in the form of us Refresh Ambassadors—is also planning on heading down to the region soon to help out however we can. If you know of any way we can be of service, or if there's anything we should be covering, give us a shout or post it in the comments.

After returning home and thawing out, Copeland turned the footage he and expedition partner Keith Heger shot along the way into a documentary, Into the Cold: a Journey of the Soul, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. We talked to Copeland about the state of the Arctic; why the heck he put himself through this treacherous journey; and how he hopes others will feel inspired to save the fragile polar environments, and the rest of the planet.

GOOD: Your bio is as long as my arm. What would you say that you do?

SEBASTIAN COPELAND: I can say that just recently I've finally found the real balance of my identity, which is extreme travel and polar exploration and advocating on the protection of these environments and especially on the survival of our species. I'm an artist at heart—a photographer. But my passion has always been extreme travel. And through both of those I've found the way to best speak on behalf of the environment. I'm asked to speak regularly about climate change—I'm on the Board of Directors of Global Green—so I give talks about these journeys and share these stories. I can honestly say that at 46 I'm doing the one thing that I'm really meant to be doing.

G: What course in life brings someone to obsessively travel to the ends of the Earth?

SC: Let me start with my grandfathers, as they were both incredible influences on me. One was a surgeon who lived for a while in India, and then went to Swaziland, Botswana, and Tanzania. He was brilliant at safaris. But midlife he traded his gun for a camera—never shot an animal again. He had a real love of nature, and through his photos and stories, my connection to nature was really brought on by this. My other grandfather delivered "meals on wheels" from the time he was 35 until he was 92. At the end of his life, he was delivering meals to people 30 years his younger. From him I learned philanthropy and the need to give back.

So in my twenties I was supporting some anti-clearcutting campaigns and "save the whales" stuff, but in 1988 I was introduced to the president and CEO of Global Green and he explained climate change and I had an "a-ha" moment, a moment of understanding, and for the past twelve years climate change has been everything.

I changed my entire life on the basis of my understanding of climate change.

G: You've said you were waiting to conquer the North Pole until last year. Why?

SC: Our trip marked the centennial of the first North Pole expedition—Hensen and company reached the pole in 1909. The North Pole is the Grail, really—the toughest expedition on the planet. I've dreamed of reaching it since I was a child, like every child with a streak of adventure. So I saved myself for the centennial. I wanted to put an emphasis on the fact that my childhood dream is one that simply won't be afforded to the children of future generations. Children today have the ability to reach the pole.

G: You say that confidently.

SC: Consider this: our coldest day last year was in the -50s. Our warmest day was -17. The trips this year, happening at the same time of year, the average temperature is -5. There was a 15-degree temperature anomaly this year through the month of March. It was far and away the warmest on record. And then there's the ice itself. Only 3 percent of multiyear ice is left in the Arctic today. Twenty years ago there was 80 percent. This environment is literally melting away. In my opinion, in 10 to 15 years people won't be able to walk to the North Pole like we did. So there won't be a bicentennial walk to the pole. Even 150 years is well out of range.

G: I feel that the polar regions are just a blank space in most people's minds, and telling these stories helps fill in the blank. So we need even more of these stories. What advice would you give others who want to help fill in these blanks and help people understand?

SC: There are a million ways in which to communicate this stuff, so it has to be formulated by someone's individual makeup. I consider myself an artist. Sure, I'm an extreme athlete, but my trade is as an artist. But rather than focus on the commercial photography, now I try to use all the tools I have to fix the problem. I can write, I can shoot, and I can travel. Put those together and what I've come up with is a kitchen sink approach to this type of storytelling.

I'm out there where the impacts of climate change are undeniable, and I have a duty to share that.

Sebastian Copeland is currently making a 45-day, 2,300 kilometer unsupported crossing of the Greenland ice shelf using kites and skis. You can follow that journey—which he's blogging about and filming with a new tiny hi-tech camera that he's awfully excited about—here.

This post originally appeared on www.refresheverything.com, as part of GOOD's collaboration with the Pepsi Refresh Project, a catalyst for world-changing ideas. Find out more about the Refresh campaign, or submit your own idea today.