At 5 a.m. on any given day, Anne Mahlum could be found running the dark streets of Philadelphia -- with homeless men cheering her on as she passed their shelter. But one morning last spring, she stopped in her tracks.

"Why am I running past these guys?" recalls Mahlum, 27. "I'm moving my life forward every day -- and these guys are standing in the same spot."   Read more...

Socially responsible investment assets grew more than 18% between 2005 and 2007, compared to a 3% growth rate for all investment assets during the same period, according to the Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States, produced by Social Investment Forum.

One of every nine dollars under professional management in the U.S. is tied to socially responsible investing.   Read more...

Wal-Mart last week decided not to sell milk under its own label from cows treated with Prosilac (or “rBGH”), the Monsanto synthetic bovine growth hormone.

In doing so, Wal-Mart follows the lead of Kroger, Safeway, and Starbucks, as well as the European Union and Canada. The effect is not so clear-cut, though, because the powerful dairy industry has long threatened lawsuits against "rms that use labels that proclaim the product to be hormone-free. Wal-Mart is not exempt.   Read more...

September 13th, 2007 I embraced motherhood with a beaming face. October 7th, 2007 I bore the anguish of my mother's sudden death. Now seven months later I am still capable of telling my story.

I have grown more than most people at 21 can comprehend. When I first told my mother I was pregnant it was a wonderful horrible surprise. I was not yet married to this person whom I had been with since high school and things had not been easy between the two of us by any means. Although underneath all her frustration, excitement began to settle in. Soon I began getting cards in the mail quite frequently with words of joy and wisdom. You see, mom had just moved to Baltimore one year prior to be with my stepdad. It was the first time in over 30 years that she had move out of Oklahoma, let alone this neighborhood! Anyway the days grew closer to baby Parker's birth she visited more and more. Until finally the day came and mom was right by my side coaching me through labor.   Read more...

Patagonia has a great new tool on their website that sets a standard for transparency. Track the impact of any of its product from the beginning through delivery. It also calculates distance traveled, total carbon emissions, waste generated and energy consumed.

Footprint Chronicles(TM): www.patagonia.com/usa/footprint/index.jsp   Read more...

One man's dross is another man's gold.

A new “mail back” program launched this month by the US Postal Service will distribute free mailers in the lobbies of 1,500 post offices, enabling consumers to send their obsolete cell phones, empty inkjet cartridges, and other small electronics free of charge to Clover Technologies Group for recycling. Clover is footing the bill for the postage.   Read more...

This was the final public message recorded by the late Sir Arthur C Clarke, which closed the global launch of the International Year of Planet Earth, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 13 February 2008. In his unique style, Sir Arthur connects the local with global, and traces the influence of space exploration on the global environmental movement. He ends calling for humanity to listen to the planet's distress call, and respond with knowledge, understanding and imagination.   Read more...

Due to an increase in oil prices, the Bahamas are now proposing a shift to renewable energy. Some alternatives include solar panels (especially concentrating trough collectors), hydrokinetics (including ocean wave and tidal systems), thermal conversion (such as OTEC and biomass systems), gasification (including the capture of biogas from landfills) and wind turbines.

Read full story here: www.bahamapundit.com/2008/04/bahamas-pursuin.html   Read more...

The Egazini Outreach Project in South Africa is is turning a community that was once filled with terror and injustice into one of possibilities through art and dance. The director of this new outreach program hopes to use this project as an outlet for adults and children to express their creativity. Since the project started, many youths have been kept from using drugs and being involved in crime.   Read more...

You can develop a regular meditation practice by converting waiting time into meditating time!

The average American waits 42-60 minutes a day!   Read more...