Blood diamonds are a problem for a multitude of reasons and they really shouldn’t be since we can create diamonds from scratch. A company called Pure Grown Diamonds sell diamonds that are grown in a a lab for all your diamond needs. The market for diamonds is largely a social
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Things Are Good: The Future of Green Burials Lies in the Past
The modern funeral industry took something that was natural and safe and converted it into a toxic-filled death. When people die we need to dispose of the body in an appropriate way to ensure diseases don’t spread, human civilizations have been doing this for millennia. However, in the past hundred
Continue readingThings Are Good: Victims of Kodaikanal Mercury Poisoning Protest Unilever
One of the worst disasters in India since the Bhopal incident, the Kodaikanal mercury poisoning continues to cause harm. Obviously this is not a good thing. What is good is that activists in the area are using every tool at their disposal to raise awareness and call for a boycott
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Model Hotel in Vienna Employs Refugees
Vienna is a ritzy and classic city which has seen a lot of history through the rise of the Habsburg family. It’s a city where tourists flock to due to its ornate beauty and opulence. Magdas Hotel is a hotel in Vienna which has done something unique: it employs refugees
Continue readingThings Are Good: Fossil Fuel Divestment Continues to be Profitable
The ongoing process of investment firms divesting from fossil fuels continues to be a good idea for the planet and for profits. It’s worth noting that the big push behind this was a student-led movement to get universities to divest their giant pools of money from unethical investments. Let’s hope
Continue readingThings Are Good: Young Investors Care More About Using Money for Good
It turns out that people born after 1980 care more about investing in companies that make the world better than investing in companies that don’t. Traditionally investors were told to only care about one thing: profit. Younger investors have seen that way of thinking not work out given the ongoing
Continue readingThings Are Good: Tiger Population Recovering in India
The Indian tiger population suffered great losses in the last 100 years. Tigers were killed for the bizarre perception that their body parts could help people have sex. This caused a major population collapse for tigers. Now it looks like the tigers are making a come back! The number of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Abandoned Walmart Becomes a Library
Walmart is best known for predatory corporate behaviour that damages communities and for the “interesting” people who shop there. One thing that Walmart does is pit one small town against the other to get cheap land and better tax rates, this sometimes means that an existing Walmart gets abandoned. A
Continue readingThings Are Good: Bringing Burmese Cats Back From the Brink of Extinction
Cats are adorable, but not all cats get the same respect. There are wild breeds that are threatened due to anthropogenic environmental changes while others, like the Burmese cat, have been negatively impacted due to conflict. Thanks to the effort of focused individuals the Burmese cat is back from the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Get to Know the World, and Stay Informed
How much do you know about the world? Hans Rosling, with his famous charts of global population, health and income data (and an extra-extra-long pointer), demonstrates that you have a high statistical chance of being quite wrong about what you think you know. Play along with his audience quiz —
Continue readingThings Are Good: Go Ahead, Get Rid of it
There is just too much stuff in our lives nowadays. Victorian era maximalism got turned up to 11 thanks to globalization and hyper-capaitlaism. Odds are you have useless items around you right now that you thought at one time was a good idea. Well, here’s a better idea: get rid
Continue readingThings Are Good: New York State Bans Ivory
New York state has amended its existing ivory trade bans to make it harder for illegal ivory traders to practice their trade. This is good news as too many elephants are killed (or otherwise harmed) for their ivory which is used to make decorative objects or crushed to become a
Continue readingThings Are Good: Illinois Bans Microbeads in Beauty Products
In the USA, Illinois is he first jurisdiction to ban the sale of microbeads. Microbeads are tiny plastic spheres used in exfoliants which are cheaper to use than natural products like seeds and nuts. This ban is great news because along the great lakes microbeads are found inside the belles
Continue readingThings Are Good: Why Investors Care About Sustainability
For long term investors sustainability is an obvious concern, but for some investors who look only for profits in the next quarter sustainability can be forgotten. The tide is starting to turn as companies that don’t have sustainable practices in place are being beaten by more efficient operations. The Guardian
Continue readingThings Are Good: When Investing, Millennials Care More Than Previous Generations
Millennials are savvy investors who care about the planet and social justice. Previous generations have treated their investments as risky and didn’t care about the environment or other important issues. Some financial advisors are shocked to find out that not only are young investors interested in creating a better world,
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Young Adults Are More Than Alright
Baby Boomers are just like their parents – they complain about all the problems they think the youth are causing (as if it’s the youth fault the planet is experiencing irreversible climate change and the economy was maladjusted a few years back). The older generations often accuse younger people to
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Day We Fight Back Against Spying
The Day We Fight Back against mass surveillance is today! Thanks to Edward Snowden we have learned about America’s and other countries illegitimate and immoral mass surveillance operations. More revelations about the extent of the surveillance programs are sure to come. Just in the past couple of days it was
Continue readingThings Are Good: New Technique For Restoring Historic Videos
USC Shoah Foundation has a large collection of interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides. Old physical media formats are susceptible to damage from fires to improper storage and USC has had to deal with this. The tech department at the foundation has figured out a
Continue readingThings Are Good: Bill Gates Shares Some (More) Good News From 2013
Bill Gates is best known for his hyper capitalistic behaviour creating Microsoft, but since he left the company he’s trying to change that perception. Indeed, he has done good things for the planet since he left he company he once founded. Gates and his wife have created the Gates Foundation
Continue readingThings Are Good: Think Dirty on Your Mobile to Shop Clean
Think Dirty is an app for your mobile phone (iOS only) designed to help people understand the ingredients in products. It’s focused on cosmetics products as a starting point for how to avoid cancer causing chemicals. Think Dirty™ app is the easiest way to learn about the potentially toxic ingredients
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