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GIVIT is a new Brisbane online giving portal designed to connect a community of givers to our community of people who need to receive. It is a site that requests quality goods and pro-bono services for members of the community who are marginalised, vulnerable and disadvantaged, and anyone can step up to help meet a request. I’m in the process of moving house and it’s been great to use GIVIT to donate several things to the Pindari Homeless Women’s Service. There is something nice about knowing who your goods go to directly. Continue reading ‘givit, got it, good’

no joke.

Published

on January 12, 2010

in Business with a conscience, Design and International

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From Fast Company: Aside from the Internet, no single invention might be as important to globalization as the shipping container. No joke.

chuckel chair

Published

on November 12, 2009

in Business with a conscience and Design

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Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability in childhood and it is estimated that two to three people out of every 1000 will have this incurable condition. Three-year-old Teddy Willoughby has cerebral palsy and will face a lifetime of challenges. His brave personality and endearing smile is the inspiration for Brisbane furniture designer and architect, Brian Steendyk and the creation of his Chuckel chair. To help raise awareness of cerebral palsy, Brian has donated the funds raised from the sales of his Chuckel chair to the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland from October to December. The Chuckel chair combines function and comfort in a unique stool available in two sizes, which is stackable and well suited for both indoor and outdoor use. Using a combination of function, beauty and spirit, these 100% Australian-made, recyclable, UV-resistant plastic chairs are available in black, red and white for the adults, and in three fun colours, such as fairyfloss pink, Kermit green and hope blue, for the little ones. The Chuckel chairs retail at $195 for the adult version and $125 for the Chuckel Jr. Until December 15, the proceeds will go directly to CPL, which will bring a smile to your face and also those with cerebral palsy.

design revolution: 100 products that empower people

Published

on October 29, 2009

in Books and Business with a conscience

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There is a new generation of designers concerned with changing the world through humanitarian design. Emily Pilloton is one of them. Less than two years ago, at the beginning of 2008, with a few-hundred dollars, a laptop and huge ambition, Emily launched Project H Design, a radical non-profit company that supports, inspires and delivers life-improving humanitarian products. The company is most noted for its water-carrying device the Hippo Roller and the Lifestraws. Emily is a great example of what a young designer can achieve, but she’s not only proud of her own work, she wants to share with you what other designers have accomplished. Her book Design Revolution: 100 Products That Empower People profiles the best contemporary designs changing the world we live in, such as safer baby bottles, a waterless washing machine, sugarcane charcoal, universal composting systems and DIY soccer balls. Emily understands that design will be the driving forced behind the world’s major problems like poverty, access to clean water and environmental disasters. Her book is positively inspiring and shows designers the ingenuity of their profession, and everybody else that there is proof of hope for a better world.

phyto-purification bathroom

Published

on October 15, 2009

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The water we use in the shower can definitely be used elsewhere. Having a bucket in the shower to catch the excess is just as suitable for your plants as water from your garden hose is. Four French designers Alban Le Henry, Olivier Pigasse, Vincent Vandenbrouck and Jun Yasumoto have taken the idea of using the off-run in a shower by making the bathroom a mini eco-system. Using a natural filtering principle called phyto-purification, the designers use wastewater from the shower and bathroom sink, filter it through an organic system so it can then be reused. During the filtering process the water goes through different stages. First, the rushes are planted in sand, which filters larger particles. Next, the reeds eliminate larger particles of heavy metals from the water; the floating water hyacinths draw some of the water through their roots. Then finally, the lemnas bind to the remaining aquatic micro-organisms to complete the filtering process. This project not only combines the pleasure of taking a shower and recycling water, but it makes people think about the way that they use water through the this efficient bathroom design.

this inspired me from the day I found out about it

Published

Carl Lindgren

on October 1, 2009

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William Kamkwamba was born August 5, 1987 in Dowa, Malawi, and grew up on his family farm in Masitala Village, Wimbe, two and half hours northeast of Malawi’s capital city. Starting at 14, rather than accept his fate, William started borrowing books from a small community lending library located at his former primary school. He borrowed a 5th grade American textbook called Using Energy, which depicted a wind turbine on its cover … the rest of his story is amazing!

dorjee sun

Published

on October 1, 2009

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Since graduating with a double degree in law and business, 32-year-old Dorjee Sun has made his fortune developing social-networking websites and legal-industry recruitment. Dorjee is a slick entrepreneur. But, instead of finding the next money-spinning adventure, Dorjee is putting his cash into a cause he truly feels strongly about – saving the planet. In documentary The Burning Season, Dorjee’s quest to save many of Indonesia’s endangered species is revealed. Indonesia clears 300 football fields’ worth of forest every hour; the animals that live in these forests, particularly the orangutan, have no hope. Using his expertise gained during the dot-com boom, Dorjee set up a carbon-trading company, Carbon Conservation, and developed a plan to avoid forestation and make money. His concept, centred around ‘avoided forestation’, sees organisations pay to prevent forestation that would otherwise occur. Dorjee’s story shows how dreams are formulated, how hard they are to achieve and how much satisfaction they can bring.

nook

Published

Nhi Pham

on September 21, 2009

in Arts/Culture, Business with a conscience, Local and Opinion & Review

. 1 Comment

How fun would it be turn part of your home into a store, especially if it’s as cute as nook? Fans of independent, vintage and hand-crafted items should check out nook, the latest and loveliest little store to open in West End, Brisbane. Filled with accessories, homewares, clothing, crafts and other knick-knacks, nook is great for those who love eco-friendly and one-of-a-kind finds. Head down to West End this weekend, grab a coffee and visit nook at 19 Browning Street. Image via nook.

new-school toms

Published

Mikki Brammer

on September 8, 2009

in Business with a conscience and Design

. 0 Comments

TOMS shoes just got a little more fancy.

enviroweek

Published

Mikki Brammer

on August 11, 2009

in Business with a conscience and Green

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You don’t need to be a greenie to be green. It just makes good sense to take care of our life support system – our environment. It’s not about sacrifice – it’s about living smarter. Who wants to breathe foul air, swim in polluted water, and live on a poisoned planet? This is your chance to make a world of difference. Cool Australia – your essential website for all things environmental, is embarking on an exciting awareness, behaviour change and fundraising week of action from 11–17 October 2009. To raise funds for various environmental charities and organisations, Cool Australia is urging all Australians to get sponsored and take on an environmental challenge or dare for one week. Challenges will include everything from starting a compost bin, ditching the car and walking, showering with your pets and loved ones, going vegetarian and anything in between. You can register for your challenge from August 13.

can you make a date with the planet?

Published

on June 1, 2009

in Business with a conscience, Green, Humanitarian, Inspire, International, Media and Top 10 Planet

. 0 Comments

If you were lucky enough to see it, Earth from Above was the stirring, photographic installation project of Frenchman Yann Arthus-Bertrand that toured the world. A decade in the making, the collection of images taken from the air, documented both the World’s natural and man-made happenings. Not satisfied with either the exhibition, or DVD of the same images, in 2009, Yann, who was possibly inspired by Jehane Noujaim’s Pangea Day, is releasing Home. In partnership with French film director Luc Besson, and a global PR firm, Yann is simultaneously broadcasting the film on the same day in over 50 countries. That day, is World Environment Day, June 5. There’s no place like home. (Apologies, it’s late…;)

green beans

Published

Tessa Fox

on March 11, 2009

in Business with a conscience, Food & Wine, Green and Local

. 0 Comments

It’s possible that I could be diagnosed with an addiction to soothing coffee blends, silky steamed milk and the ambience of new cafes. Personally, I don’t believe there is anything wrong with my obsession as I’m sure many other people share this love. In saying this, a weakness is evident when you feel as though you have enjoyed every worthy coffee shop in the bustling inner city suburbs. Luckily enough, Brisbane never seems to stop producing the finest coffee shops to uncover each week. Recently taking my senses is Veneziano Caffe on West End’s Montague Road. The vintage chic decorated warehouse is not only a distribution centre but a cafe, serving strong but smoothly finished coffee accompanied with a small menu of breakfast options. As you walk through the open planned dining you are able to peer through windows to view the roasting centre and training rooms. Veneziano Caffe uses these rooms to hold workshops in coffee history and art, grinder maintenance, barista basic skills and roasting. On top of all this, the coffee beans Veneziano Caffe roast are certified by the Rainforest Alliance. How many more reasons do you need to call Veneziano Caffe your new hangout?

cadbury goes fair.

Published

on March 5, 2009

in Business with a conscience, Humanitarian and Live

. 2 Comments

Cadbury chocolate comes from Ghana? Apparently it has sourced the beans from the Ghanaian Theobroma cacao for the last 100 years. And now in an encouraging move, the ‘glass and a half’ multi-national has announced it is going Fair Trade. The company has released an understated site, communicating its intentions and inviting feedback. The glass is half full indeed.

‘junk theory’ in ten days on the island

Published

Frances Frangenheim

on February 16, 2009

in Arts/Culture, Business with a conscience, Gallery Exhibitions, Inspire, Music, Photography, Recent Openings, Social Issues and You're invited

. 0 Comments

In one way or another, murmurs about the Ten Days on the Island festival in Tassie from 27 March keep reverberating around me and inspiring me in different ways so I thought I’d share the chatter. I was one of the lucky ones to be in the audience at Metro Arts’ forum last week where Scott Rankin, director of big hART, and Donna Jackson of hubcap productions spoke under the banner, “Artists as Social Entrepreneurs”. Both Scott and Donna do AMAZING things to instigate social change through high quality art across all forms, guiding receptive communities to tell their stories for the benefit of healing social angst and forging new futures. There isn’t space here to explain the immense scope, intimate research and deep intuition with which they approach their respective projects so check out their websites if you’re intrigued to learn more. big hART’s Junk Theory is just one example of the work they do in social change and it will kick-start the Ten Days festival on 27 March, which is apparently the country’s largest state-wide biennial international arts festival with more than 200 ticketed art, theatre, literature, film, music and the art of conversation events. Through Junk Theory , big hART worked with Cronulla’s Sutherland Shire after the riots in 2005 when the community was thrown onto the national map, looking all grubby and scuffed. big hART encouraged the young people to share their stories and listen to others as a progressive response to the shock and hurt in the community that aimed to prove it’s harder to hurt someone when you know their story. The young people were linked with photographers, composers, filmmakers, older residents, seafarers, local businesses and 35 local community organisations to create Junk Theory. Continue reading ‘‘junk theory’ in ten days on the island’

power to the people.

Published

on February 12, 2009

in Business with a conscience, Design, Green, Inspire and Technology

. 1 Comment

From: Fast Company by Anya Kamenetz

Think: did you leave a light on this morning? What if you could pull up your homepage and find out, right now?

As I wrote about last fall, companies from IBM and GE to startups are getting excited about green IT: Managing natural resources using computing intelligence. In the electricity industry, this means “smart grids” that distribute power more efficiently, avoiding peak loads, and home-based smart meters and software to help people measure and control demand in real-time. The Obama stimulus package would provide 40 million US Homes with the meters, but consumers still need a system to see and analyze the information. That’s where Google comes in.

Google PowerMeter, now in internal testing, hooks up with smart meters to provide simple, clear realtime graphs of electricity use. You can post the gadget on your iGoogle homepage and share with friends to encourage competition. Studies show that simply seeing your home energy use can lead to savings of 5 to 15 %.

Besides promoting environmental goodness, Google obviously sees an opportunity to enter new markets here. They’re investing with smart grid companies, and advocating with state and federal government for open standards and protocols to keep the market free for software solutions like PowerMeter, that are not controlled by utilities. They’ve partnered with GE and are holding a Smart Grid event together in DC on the 17 (GE ran a cute, if puzzling, Smart Grid ad as their first-ever Superbowl commercial).

By putting more information and thus power in the hands of consumers, the potential is to disrupt utilities’ monopoly over the energy industry, the same way the Internet disrupted telecom and media ten years ago. Which makes this a real power move for Google.

the life you can save

Published

Mikki Brammer

on February 5, 2009

in Arts/Culture, Business with a conscience, Humanitarian, Inspire, Local Buzz and Social Issues

. 0 Comments

Tonight Australian philosopher Peter Singer spoke at the State Library of Queensland as part of the 2009 Ideas Festival. Though Peter’s areas of passion and expertise range from The Ethics of What We Eat to Animal Liberation, his focus in this particular lecture was global poverty, and how it can be eradicated through action from individuals within the community. Peter makes his point very simply: “If we could easily save the life of a child, we would. For example, if we saw a child in danger of drowning in a shallow pond, and all we had to do to save the child was wade into the pond, and pull him out, we would do so. The fact that we would get wet, or ruin a good pair of shoes, doesn’t really count when it comes to saving a child’s life. UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, estimates that about 27,000 children dieevery day from preventable, poverty-related causes. Yet at the same time almost a billion people live very comfortable lives, with money to spare for many things that are not at all necessary. (You are not sure if you are in that category? When did you last spend money on something to drink, when drinkable water was available for nothing? If the answer is ‘within the past week’ then you are spending money on luxuries while children die from malnutrition or diseases that we know how to prevent or cure.)” With his new book The Life You Can Save (the proceeds of which will be donated to Oxfam), Peter is trying to change this based on the premise that if everyone who can afford to contribute to reducing extreme poverty gave a modest proportion of their income to effective organisations fighting extreme poverty, the problem could be solved. Continue reading ‘the life you can save’

The meaning at Christmas

Published

Kate Shannon

on December 22, 2008

in Arts/Culture, Business with a conscience and Well-Being

. 0 Comments

Amidst the festive whirlwind of decorations, carols, Christmas parties and shopping trolleys groaning with glazed hams, bon bons and plum puddings; I can’t help but feel reflective at this time of the year. It seems that we collectively begin to regroup around now and wonder how 2008 panned out, seek to spend time with those we love and corral milestones to tick off a lifelong to-do list. Continue reading ‘The meaning at Christmas’

yellow bird project

Published

Lizzy Hoo

on December 13, 2008

. 1 Comment

In a perfect world everybody would have something to eat, somewhere to sleep at night and an education. Unfortunately, for a indefinite number of reasons, this is not the case. Some people are just unlucky. Makers of the Yellow Bird Project think that it’s really important that these people be given more opportunity than they have. So if you consider yourself pretty lucky, fortunate or blessed, here’s something you can do to help. Using the power of music, and the art form’s biggest names, Yellow Bird Project has collaborated with musicians/bands to design a t-shirt. The organisers then print them and sell the t-shirts on the Yellow Bird Project website. All the money made goes to a charity of the artists’ choice. The project has three definite aims: to make money through charity organisations through the artists’ endorsement, to raise awareness for charity organisations through artists’ endorsement and to raise the profile of the artist Yellow Bird Project likes. This includes The Shins, The Magic Numbers, Holly Throsby, Wolfmother and Broken Social Scene. My personal favourite is K-OS’ t-shirt in support of ONEXONE. A close second would Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s t-shirt designed for Art For Change.

share-farming

Published

Sam Proudley

on December 8, 2008

in Business with a conscience, Food & Wine and You're invited

. 1 Comment