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They're called 'pollinators,' but they're not bees. They're people. And they're heroes.
"With challenge comes opportunity." That pretty much sums up the way we should look at climate change, doesn't it? If we focus on making changes instead of just talking about the problem — which can make it feel so overwhelming that it's easy to shut down and ignore it — we'll see good things happen. Here are nine great independent stories from around the globe that will give you hope. I'd never heard of a single one of these. Finally, a feel-good video about climate change!
Here's an overview of the stories in the video (and where you can find them). But don't rely on my short summaries. These are really cool in-depth stories about people and the interesting, good things they're doing.
India, 1:21
A social business called Pollinate Energy is bringing solar energy to some of the 390 million people in India who have no access to electricity. The solar lanterns are a pretty neat looking solution to a big problem.
Ghana, 3:32
Green entrepreneurship in Ghana is being led by women. The bamboo bikes initiative is building cleaner transportation — and careers for women. (Bamboo bikes!)
Australia, 5:26
1 Million Women is an organization that inspires women to save energy, cut pollution, and reduce waste. 'Cause little actions in our daily lives have real outcomes. I love their honesty about the privilege they have in life and what they can do with it.
Bangladesh, 7:54
ActionAid International works from the ground up to help locals solve problems caused by climate change. The women in a village found a way to protect rice farming and carried out the necessary actions. I'll just mention how positive I think it is that women are banding together to come up with — and execute — solutions to problems that could otherwise be devastating.
Kenya, 9:43
Women living in the arid northern part of Kenya are working with the BOMA Project to adapt to climate change by earning an income from small businesses they're starting. The savings allows them to make it through droughts. In two years, they can double their earnings.
Ghana, 11:47
The Recycle Not A Waste Initiative employs disadvantaged people in poor urban communities to turn recyclable waste into eco-friendly goods. The beads made from cassette tapes are incredible.
Mexico, 14:09
The Mexican government partnered with international development banks. They encourage builders to design homes that decrease carbon footprints.
Philippines, 16:30
The Sustainable Energy Finance Program teaches banks about clean energy and encourages them to lend to sustainable energy projects.
China, 18:20
The country has a national climate fund that supports efforts to deal with climate change.
Don't test on animals. That's something we can all agree on, right? No one likes to think of defenseless cats, dogs, hamsters, and birds being exposed to a bunch of things that could make them sick (and the animals aren't happy about it, either). It's no wonder so many people and organizations have fought to stop it. But did you ever think that maybe brands are testing products on us too, they're just not telling us they're doing it?
I know, I know, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but that's exactly what e-cigarette brands like JUUL (which corners the e-cigarette market) are doing in this country right now, and young people are on the frontlines of the fallout. Most people assume that the government would have looked at devices that allow people to inhale unknown chemicals into their lungs BEFORE they hit the market. You would think that someone in the government would have determined that they are safe. But nope, that hasn't happened. And vape companies are fighting to delay the government's ability to evaluate these products.
So no one really knows the long-term health effects of e-cigarette use, not even JUUL's CEO, nor are they informing the public about the potential risks. On top of that, according to the FDA, there's been a 78% increase in e-cigarette usage among high school and middle school-aged children in just the last two years, prompting the U.S. Surgeon General to officially recognize the trend as an epidemic and urge action against it.
These facts have elicited others to take action, as well.
Truth Initiative, the nonprofit best known for dropping the real facts about smoking and vaping since 2000 through its truth campaign. We don't do PSAs. We also need to update so to explain truth – the nonprofit behind the truth youth smoking prevention campaign – you could also say this in a funny way – best known for sharing the facts about smoking and vaping or pull from some old campaigns. Just layer in a description of truth and who the campaign is., is now on a mission to confront e-cigarette brands like JUUL about the lack of care they've taken to inform consumers of the potential adverse side effects of their products. And they're doing it with the help of animal protesters who are tired of seeing humans treated like test subjects.
The March Against JUUL | Tested On Humans | truth
www.youtube.com
"No one knows the long-term effects of JUULing so any human who uses one is being used as a lab rat," says, appropriately, Mario the Sewer Rat.
"I will never stop fighting JUUL. Or the mailman," notes Doug the Pug, the Instagram-famous dog star.
Truth, the national counter-marketing campaign for youth smoking prevention, hopes this fuzzy, squeaky, snorty animal movement arms humans with the facts about vaping and inspires them to demand transparency from JUUL and other e-cigarette companies. You can get your own fur babies involved too by sharing photos of them wearing protest gear with the hashtag #DontTestOnHumans. Here's some adorable inspo for you:
The dangerous stuff is already out there, but with knowledge on their side, young people will hopefully make the right choices and fight companies making the wrong ones. If you need more convincing, here are the serious facts.
Over the last decade, 127 e-cigarette-related seizures were reported, which prompted the FDA to launch an official investigation in April 2019. Since then, over 215 cases of a new, severe lung illness have sprung up all over the country, with six deaths to date. While scientists aren't yet sure of the root cause, the majority of victims were young adults who regularly vaped and used e-cigarettes. As such, the CDC has launched an official investigation into the potential link.
Sixteen-year-old Luka Kinard, a former frequent e-cigarette-user, is one of the many teens who experienced severe side effects. "Vaping was my biggest addiction," he told NowThis. "It lasted for about 15 months of my high school career." In 2018, Kinard was hospitalized after having a seizure. He also had severe nausea, chest pains, and difficulty breathing.
After the harrowing experience, he quit vaping, and began speaking out about his experience to help inform others and hopefully inspire them to quit and/or take action. "It shouldn't take having a seizure as a result of nicotine addiction like I had for teens to realize that these companies are taking advantage of what we don't know," Kinard said.
Teens are 16 times more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults, and four times more likely to take up traditional smoking as a result, according to truth, and yet the e-cigarette market remains virtually unregulated and untested. In fact, companies like JUUL continue to block and prevent FDA regulations, investing more than $1 million in lawyers and lobbying efforts in the last quarter alone.
Consumers have a right to know what they're putting in their bodies. If everyone (and their pets) speaks up, the e-cigarette industry will have to make a change. Young people are already taking action across the country. They're hosting rallies nationwide and on October 9 as part of a National Day of Action, young people are urging their friends and classmates to "Ditch JUUL." Will you join them?
For help with quitting e-cigarettes, visit thetruth.com/quit or text DITCHJUUL to 88709 for free, anonymous resources.
Handmade cosmetics company Lush is putting its money where its mouth is and taking a bold step for climate change action.
On September 20 in the U.S. and September 27 in Canada, Lush will shut the doors of its 250 shops, e-commerce sites, manufacturing facilities, and headquarters for a day, in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike taking place around the world. Lush is encouraging its 5000+ employees "to join this critical movement and take a stand until global leaders are forced to face the climate crisis and enact change."
Cadbury has removed the words from its Dairy Milk chocolate bars in the U.K. to draw attention to a serious issue, senior loneliness.
On September 4, Cadbury released the limited-edition candy bars in supermarkets and for every one sold, the candy giant will donate 30p (37 cents) to Age UK, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the elderly.
Cadbury was prompted to help the organization after it was revealed that 225,000 elderly people in the UK often go an entire week without speaking to another person.
The fine folks at Forbes are currently falling all over themselves trying to clean up the mess they created by publishing their 2019 list of 100 Most Innovative Leaders.
The problem: The list included 99 men and one woman. For those not so good with the math, that means according to Forbes, only 1% of the country's most innovative leaders are female.
Have you ever watched a movie that's so abysmally bad that you wonder how it ever even got made? Where you think, "Hundreds and hundreds of people had to have been directly involved in the production of this film. Did any of them ever think to say, 'Hey, maybe we should just scrap this idea altogether?"
That's how it feels to see a list like this. So how did Forbes come up with these results?
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