Leafpond leafpond.com is a unique media space dedicated to the philosophy that artistic living and aesthetics are essential to a rich life experience. We provide an avenue for people of like mind to nourish their creative spirit. In May for our one-year anniversary, Leafpond introduces its new video series, "Conversations With...".   Read more...

Filmmaker Nic Askew treats his audience with beautiful short films & stories about Life & the Human Spirt. Soulbiographies, he calls them. One of the movies that touched me deeply was an interview with old men and women in Guatemala. Nic wanted to capture the soul of Guatemala but during the interiew he couldn't understand the local language that the old people spoke. He tried hard to listen to their words. And then he gave up. He started to listen to their voice, he looked in their eyes and face and watched their gestures. He immediately understood what they were saying. He discovered that his attempts to understand their words kept him away from being open with his heart directly to theirs.   Read more...

Ships in Gothenburg Sweden pull into port and plug in. The system was pioneered over 8 years ago. Zeebrugge, Belgium, along with Long Beach and Los Angeles, are trying similar technology, which costs about $70,000 to $109,000 for each outlet. But shore-side electricity hasn’t yet replaced diesel oil or heavy bunker fuel. Only a few ships have plugs, not all use the same electrical frequencies,and bunker fuel is cheaper. And much dirtier.

Carbon dioxide emissions from shipping are about twice as high as from airlines.   Read more...

Blind people have introduced a bill that will require hybrids to make a noise while in electric mode, Patagonia embraces transparency in manufacturing, and we look at some Damn Good Designs, ZapRoot, helping you go green.   Read more...

Hello fellow Ode readers,

I am part of a training program, Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders. Five of us are working together on a conservation campaign. You may know that this has been designated Year of the Frog to bring attention to amphibians - 1/3 to 1/2 are in danger of extinction in part due to an infectious disease that has devastated frogs around the world.   Read more...

The five year old who drew whimsical figures with charcoal on the walls of her modest home in the southern village of Gintota, Galle, in Sri Lanka, today is an internationally celebrated children's book writer and illustrator. For over five decades now, Sybil Wettasinghe has been amusing, entertaining and winning the hearts of millions of kids across the globe through her engaging stories and colourful illustrations.   Read more...

Aerogel is the lightest solid substance on earth and the best insulator: it withstands extreme cold and the heat from a flamethrower. With an insulation factor 37 times better than that of fiberglass, you’d think it would be ubiquitous. It’s also expensive: $1300 per pound (albeit that’s a lot of aerogel) in large part because it’s made of pure silica. Now a Malaysian researcher has found a way to make that silica from discarded rice husks and cut the cost of aerogel to $125 a pound.

Because aerogel is transparent, if the new economics prove out, it could be used in double-paned windows, appliances, and even walls. It could drastically cut heating and air conditioning costs, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions through lowered demand for electricity and heating fuels.   Read more...

Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film.   Read more...

LEAF, short for Lake Eden Arts Festival, is a non-profit organization established to build community and enrich lives through the Arts

Last night at Cafe Revolution in San Francisco I learned about a fantastic collaboration between artists and activists who oppose the increased militarization of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

On the walls were photos of the "No Borders Camp" that was set up in 2007 on both sides of the wall between Calexico and Mexicali. Participants camped there for five days "to create an autonomous and unified encampment of peoples from two countries despite the physical, political, and mental barriers that divided them."   Read more...