Conscious Dancer Magazine presents Bodies in Motion, A Transformative Movement Seminar all weekend long inside New Living Expo in San Francisco on April 25th 26th 27th, 2008. Three days of ongoing classes, performances, and workshops in 5 Rhythms, AcroYoga, Afro Cuban, BioDanza, Breathwork Contact Improv, Hoop, Middle Eastern, Nia, Qi Gong, Soul Motion, Hip Hop, Sufi, Tango and many more

Think of it as a smorgasboard for the soul! Bodies in Motion is the largest and most exciting collection of modalities ever assembled under one roof in the Bay Area. Coinciding with the kickoff of Bay Area National Dance week this free workshop sampler represents 27 different forms and flavors of energy movement arts.   Read more...

That's just for starters. The Masdar World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi attracted 11,500 people from 230 companies last week. Bidding to become the "world leader in renewables," the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi pledged $15 billion to the Masdar Initiative, whose goal is to develop alternative energies with lower environmental impacts. This same week, ironically, President Bush abetted the Prince's effort as he imperiled the future of the US renewables industry with a threatened veto of federal subsidies for the fledgling renewables industry--if Democrats financed renewables by rescinding $17.6 billion in oil companies tax breaks.   Read more...

As Ray Anderson was preparing to give a speech at Interface, the billion dollar carpet company he founded, he had a stark realization."I was running a company that was plundering the earth," he recalls. While Interface fully complied with the law, Ray knew that wasn't enough. So he challenged his employees to find ways to turn it all around, and forestalled objections from his own stockholders. "He bet his entire company," remembers one colleague. And the bet paid off. Today, Interface has cut fossil fuels by 45%, reduced water usage by 49% and slowed its landfill contribution by 80%. Plans are underway for it to be a fully "restorative enterprise" by 2020. Oh, and along the way? Interface has saved over $336 million.   Read more...

Chris Jordan makes consumer culture into pictures, EcoPod will keep not only keep you burial Star Trek worthy but biodegradable too, & Damn Good Design with hair mats, a room in a box, and the Soap Bank.   Read more...

One of the keys for success in our lives is to improve the relationships with all the people in our life.

I have previously written about improving all your relationships but a few weeks ago, I learnt and began to apply this one simple trick which will improve all your relationships quite quickly. This is nothing new by the way, and I am sure I read somewhere a while ago about appreciation circles.   Read more...

The National Geographic Society introduces its first Geotourism Challenge collaborative competition to identify and showcase innovators in tourism development, management and marketing. The one-of-a-kind online competition, at www.changemakers.net/geotourismchallenge, will raise awareness about how tourism can help sustain, enhance and preserve local culture and environment. Three winners will each receive a cash prize of $5,000 and all finalists will have an opportunity to present their innovations at a Geotourism Challenge Summit this fall.   Read more...

Global Water Challenge (GWC) and Ashoka's Changemakers have partnered to launch "Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis," an online collaborative competition to discover and support entrepreneurs large and small who offer groundbreaking approaches to the most pressing water and sanitation challenges. The Coca-Cola Company is contributing a lead grant of US$1 million to support the collaborative effort to find and fund truly innovative solutions that address the water crisis.   Read more...

MIT students are at it once again. They have come up with a cheaper more precise way to fit prosthetic legs for those in India, especially rural areas where in the past has been more difficult to reach because of lack of power.

They have created a systems where a mold is taken from the person's stump by placing the stump into a container filled with tiny glass beads and covered with soft silicone rubber, and then creating a vacuum with a hand cranked device so that the beads seal tightly around the limb. This "negative" mold is filled with more glass beads (referred to as "sand") to form a positive mold--an exact replica of the stump--and the socket of the prosthetic leg is made to fit that replica. Alternatively, the two steps can be done with plaster of paris instead of the sand--a process that doesn't require electricity but does use heavy, non-reusable plaster.   Read more...

Dear EarthTalk: I notice occasional solar panels on roadsides, powering individual streetlamps or signs. Is any research being done to expand on this idea and implant solar collectors in roads, parking lots or sidewalks to generate power in a similar but bigger way? -- Emily Eidenier, via e-mail

The concept of using road surfaces to generate clean solar power is actually already moving beyond the idea stage. Roads absorb heat from the sun every day and are usually free of sightline obstructions that could otherwise block the transmission of light rays. And if the roads built for cars and driving are partly to blame for global warming, why not make them part of the solution too?   Read more...

Hi All - I'd like to introduce you to an exciting initiative that I thought would interest this community, especially those involved in the nonprofit sector. One of the biggest, if not the biggest, obstacles faced by nonprofit organizations in achieving maximized social impact is money.

Ashoka's Citizen Base Initiative www.citizenbase.org works with these nonprofits and social entrepreneurs to free their reliance on traditional foundation grants and government aid by inspiring them to tap into a broad citizen base. How do they do this? You can read inspiring success stories on our website. Please pass this on to anyone you know who works in the nonprofit sector and faces this challenge of lack of resources!   Read more...