GOOD

You Can Help Another Oil Spill Victim (and Get a Discount on Flip-Flops)

Patrick James
08.19.10

Kyle Berner always loved flip-flops. Three years ago, during the New Orleanian's stint teaching English in Thailand, he stumbled upon a pair of "Thailand's most comfortable, all-natural rubber flip-flops," and, finding them to be just that, it occurred to him to launch a company that would bring the ethically produced, environmentally sustainable, biodegradable footwear to the United States. In early May, after securing funding from First Light Venture's Village Capital fund for his newly Christened company Feelgoodz, Berner had 10,000 pairs of flip-flops sitting in a cargo ship en route to the Port of New Orleans to be distributed at 75 Whole Foods across the country.

Then the oil spill happened. Because of inbound and outbound congestion, the shipment got stuck at the Port of Freemont in the Bahamas until late June—ostensibly missing its window for summer sales—and now the company is in risk of defaulting on the $50,000 loan that was part of its Village Capital funding. The repayment deadline is August 18.

But the story doesn't have to end sadly. There's still some time to move these products. Berner created a discount for GOOD readers who buy a pair of flip-flops on the site: Enter "GOOD" during checkout, and you will get $5 off each pair you order and $5 flat-rate shipping.

environment bp oil spill feelgoodz entrepreneurism business and entrepreneurship
Articles

The world is rallying around Tori, the Target employee Tweet-shamed by an irate cheapskate

via David Leavitt / Twitter

Anyone who has ever worked in retail knows that the worst thing about the job, right after the pay, are the unreasonable cheapskates who "want to talk to your manager" to get some money off an item.

They think that throwing a tantrum will save them a few bucks and don't care if they completely embarrass themselves in the process. Sometimes that involves belittling the poor employee who's just trying to get through their day with an ounce of dignity.

Twitter is rallying around a gal named Tori who works at a Target in Massachusetts after she was tweet-shamed by irate chapekate, journalist, and Twitter troll, David Leavitt.

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Business

The cost of having a baby even with insurance equals average the monthly income of a woman

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Childbirth is the number one reason American women visit the hospital, and it ain't cheap. In fact, it's getting more and more expensive. A new study published in Health Affairs found that the cost of having a baby with employer-sponsored health insurance increased by almost 50% in the past seven years.

The study evaluated "trends in cost-sharing for maternity care for women with employer-based health insurance plans, before and after the Affordable Care Act," which was signed into law in 2010. The study looked at over 657,061 women enrolled in large employer-sponsored health insurance plans who delivered babies between 2008 and 2015, as these plans tend to cover more than plans purchased by small businesses or individuals.

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babies health insurance healthcare
Health

Scientists just found the crater of one of the biggest meteor crashes in Earth's history

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A meteorite crashed into Earth nearly 800,000 years ago. The meteor was 1.2 miles wide, and the impact was so big, it covered 10% of the planet with debris. However, scientists haven't been able to find the impact site for over a century. That is, until now. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal believes the crash site has been located.

Tektites, which are essentially rocks that have been liquefied from the heat of the impact and then cooled to form glass, help scientists spot the original impact site of a meteor. Upon impact, melted material is thrown into the atmosphere, then falls back to the ground. Even if the original crater has disappeared due to erosion or is hidden by a shift in tectonic plates, tektites give the spot away. Tektites between 750,000 to 35.5 million years old have been found in every continent except Antarctica.

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The Planet