Friday Featured Friend -- Elgin Draper

I wanted to share a special person with you this week, Elgin Draper. He is my 93 year old neighbor, as sprightly and able as anyone 30 years younger than him and a great source of wisdom.

Elgin has had many roles in his life. He has been a parent, a grandparent, a great-grandparent, a teacher, a farmer, a professional, a cook, a traveler, a gardener, a singer, and many other things besides. He says that he is incredibly fortunate to have lived such an amazing life and that he expects much more to come yet!

Elgin grows a lot of his own vegetables in his year-round vegetable garden and he adores flowers. He says his garden keeps him fit and aware of what nature has to share. Elgin tells me that he understands why it is important for people to have a concept of protecting the environment but it bothers him that this has become a distinct "thing to do", apart from our daily lives. For him, nature, the environment, the seasons, and all that constitutes the "environment" are a fact of his everyday life, to be attended to, cared for, and to remain attuned to. In other words, Elgin doesn't make it into a concept or a cause, he just "is" in his environment, relying on it to sustain him and in turn, doing his best to care for the garden, the native wildlife, the trees around him.

I asked Elgin about his children and grandchildren. He has many! He tells me that it has always been a deep privilege to have known all of his children and grandchildren and that he has always treasured them for who they are, and whatever achievements they make for themselves in life. He is adamant that teaching children includes the subject of "mistakes". Elgin says "Too many people think that mistakes are terrible things. That's not true. Mistakes are simply another side of learning, another way of seeing the world. And from mistakes grow many amazing things." His worry is that by raising children to be afraid of making mistakes, we risk curtailing their creativity and teaching them to be risk averse and fearful. Instead, Elgin says that children need to learn who they are by doing, experimenting, and occasionally getting it totally wrong. In a very gracious and diplomatic way, Elgin tells me I could do with a bit more of letting go of my own fear of getting things wrong too. That touched my heart -- he is such a wise soul!

Elgin doesn't know how many "seasons" he has left but he says he's going to make the most of every season to come. He showed me his penciled plans for the spring garden (it'll be spring in New Zealand shortly) and proudly tells me that he even has some of the grandchildren coming over the help till the soil and plant. I said I'm game for pitching in too, as there's a lot of gardening wisdom for me to learn from! Thanks to Elgin for our lovely chat at the kitchen table with the hot chocolates. You're a very amazing, wise person even though I know you'll never read that here because you don't own a computer -- I'll just remember to tell you next time!

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This is to be my last featured friend. I have really, absolutely enjoyed bringing you a vast array of wonderful friends and I hope that some of them have touched your lives as they have touched mine. And dear readers, it has been a real privilege to have so many of you let me into your lives to share the goodness, kindness, enthusiasm and sheer amazingness of all that you are contributing to humanity and our planet. Keep doing the amazing things you're doing, keep on being the wonderful people you are, and I will be looking out for all of you as you continue to make this world a better place. ~ Felicity

Friday Featured Friend -- Myoo Create

I’m really excited to introduce you to our Friday featured friend this week, Myoo Create (that’s “me & you” combined). Myoo Create is a new initiative with an all-embracing promise that if we're keen to collaborate, we can make a better future together. I love how this company is doing fantastic things combining sustainability-focused crowd-sourcing with brands, in order to come up with answers to sustainability challenges -- it's truly groundbreaking. In fact, Myoo Create is the first community online that is dedicated to crowd-sourcing innovative sustainability solutions, so it's got an exciting future ahead of it.

Launched in April this year, Myoo Create has quickly started making a positive difference with challenges already underway (see below). Essentially a community (kuh-Myoo-ni-tee) for environmental and social innovation, Myoo Create provides a space for people who share a passion for inspiring and co-creating a better world. It's a place where any of us can come together and apply our talents to challenges that matter, and the breadth and diversity of community are an important part of Myoo Create's philosophy.

Charlie O’Malley and Rebecca Petzel form Myoo Create's initial team. Motivated by the power of combining innovation and entrepreneurship to create lasting change for the better, they're people who are passionate about social and environmental change through collaboration. And they’re both very humble: Charlie says “I'm still learning about how change happens, but I'm excited about the contribution that Myoo Create can make. I think I have just about recovered from my education, but I still try every day to make sure I forget at least one thing I learned and to learn something different instead. As I get older, this gets easier and easier! I'm looking forward to plenty of unlearning on this Myoo Create journey.” Myoo Create’s team are wonderfully approachable and down-to-earth people, something I am totally convinced will have this project resonating with an ever-widening community for many years to come!

Rebecca explains that, as consumers, we can help increase the pace and effectiveness of change on issues such as waste, packaging, and use of energy and materials, by engaging directly with brands to suggest our ideas and innovations. In this way, sustainability comes about through what Rebecca terms "harnessing the global brain". Myoo Create facilitates the growing expectation we have as consumers that companies will listen to us and that we will to be able to interact with our favorite brands, taking an active role in the decision-making, especially when it comes to sustainability -- to bolster the point, Rebecca says that 80 percent of consumers have ideas on ways that companies can improve their sustainable practices!

Myoo Create connects organizations faced with environmental and social challenges to a community full of ideas, innovation, creativity, and solutions. It does this through the very simple process of having organizations post their environmental or social challenge with Myoo Create, along with offering a prize for the best sustainable solution.

In turn, the Myoo Create community submits suggested solutions to the challenge. The community as a whole then votes, as well as sharing thoughts and feedback on the contributions in order to ensure that the best contributions make it to the top. Once the winners are selected, the prizes are allocated and then, the solution just keeps on giving because the organization finds a great solution, the entrants and participants are rewarded for their efforts both financially, through being featured, and everyone benefits through ideas sharing and connecting. And, as Myoo Create says, “We all end up with a happier, saner planet.”

At the moment, Myoo Create is running an engaging and fun "Care to Air" design challenge with Levi's. This challenge started on June 1 and runs until July 31 (so you still have some time left to innovate!). After Levi's surveyed its supply chain, it discovered that almost 60 percent of the climate impact of a pair of jeans accumulates post purchase - hey, I'm thinking as I write this, that's when I'm washing and drying my jeans! Levi's realized that the messaging isn't only about improving its own processes but also draws in the consumer's washing and drying habits after purchase. While Levi's is doing its part to bring its carbon footprint down to zero and to build sustainability into everything it does, Levi's wants its customers to join in too. And the challenge is... to find groovy, neat, terrific, fantastic, inspiring, effective ways to dry your jeans. And given the increasing bans on clotheslines in North America (something I found very challenging when I lived there!), the best solution will be the one that combines style, sustainability and effectiveness, to overcome our very modern reticence to using natural drying approaches. So, if you've got some ideas, don't sit on them -- zip them into the Myoo Create community and you might just have the best idea awaiting discovery! (I'm going to ask my little dude what he thinks - he always has amazing creative ideas!)

My deep thanks to Rebecca Petzel of Myoo for taking the time to share her enthusiasm and information about the wonderful Myoo Create with me! You can join the community and leave your ideas, entries, and comments, as well as following Myoo Create on Twitter, or contact Rebecca or Charlie. And enter the Levi's Care to Air challenge here. And please feel free to share with us anything you're doing on Myoo Create.

Friday Featured Friend -- Common Sense Media

Our Friday Featured friend for this week is an amazing organization called Common Sense Media. Melissa brought my attention to what Common Sense Media is doing and I could see immediately why she felt this wonderful organization gels totally with our mission too, so I couldn't wait to share with you what they're doing -- and it's really great stuff!

Common Sense Media was created to provide trustworthy information, education, and an independent voice as a way to help improve the experiences of kids and families participating in the world of media and technology. The growing concern that American children spend more time with media and digital activities than they do with their families or school concerned the founders of Common Sense Media -- they realized that this reality has immediate and long-term impacts on children's social, emotional and physical development. As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, Common Sense Media aims to keep us informed in a fair, neutral and well-researched way, to help us make choices that we feel comfortable with: "We operate strictly independently from any company, industry or political organization. We seek grants from organizations and foundations that are not affiliated with the media. We also accept sponsorships from companies that pose no conflict of interest regarding the media, and that support our goal of helping families make better media choices". This arms-length approach to the media ensures that the site is able to provide trustworthy information and tools for families. I like particularly how Common Sense Media views itself as "an independent forum for families", as that gives us back the sense of control and power over the choices we make for our family consumption of media.

The folks behind Common Sense Media are clear that media is something to be enjoyed, not to be shunned, but that it is the method by which we enjoy it that matters. They say: "Media is fun and our kids love it. We also know that kids now spend so much time absorbing its messages and images that it has become "the other parent" in their lives. We started this organization because we know families need trustworthy information to help manage their kids' media lives."  To this end, using Common Sense media is easy and enjoyable. The site provides advice for parents, reviews of media products aimed at children (movies, games, TV, books, music, and websites) and it also has a brilliant section on educational programs for parents, administrators, and teachers. There is also the very handy ability to sort through media by age, something I think is really helpful.

It's always a thrill when I find a site that gives us the tools to make the changes for ourselves, and Common Sense Media does this fantastically. And as part of this, Common Sense Media offers us (whether we're parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, etc.), the ability to provide our own reviews of media targeted at kids. I like this because it lets me know what other parents and family members think rocks for kids or is something to be avoided, and that's the sort of valuable advice that's really on my level. And kids and teens also get to review the products, so there can be an interesting divergence in likes and dislikes!

I love what Common Sense Media is doing to help us sort through the incredible mass of media information and entertainment aimed at our kids. I've joined up and I was able to tailor my account to get age-specific recommendations (a hint, I used initials as I'm not keen on giving out kids' names but that's just my personal preference; what is good is that the site allows for this, including keeping your child's age private).

It has been a pleasure to feature Common Sense Media this week as our featured Friday friend and I'd love to learn about your experiences on the usefulness of Common Sense Media in your family.

Friday Featured Friend -- Michael Q Todd

Our absolutely lovely and love-inspiring friend for this Friday is Michael Q Todd. He is a self-proclaimed "recovering know-it-all, recovering lawyer, and a love promoter". With such humility, love, and generosity of spirit, I couldn't wait to share his story with you this week! Michael is a New Zealander who now lives in Tokyo because he loves Japan, the Japanese people and because he believes that Japan has a key role to play in creating our sustainable future, given its amazing technological advances. Plus, he says, it is "the center of the world"!

Michael coaches businesses and non-profits on how to use Twitter effectively through his non-profit social marketing organization. Michael does so many amazing things using social media for good that it's hard to
know where to begin or end, but that's just as well because his is an ever-evolving journey!

By way of background to Michael's meteoric rise in the social media world (it seems to me he is connected to everyone, one way or other!), Michael tells me that he used to be a lawyer but that he woke up one day and realized that it had all been about him, and that his dreams from his youth of being more actively involved in environment and social good needed nourishing anew. Although he had continued to donate time, legal skills, and money to various important causes such as Greenpeace, Michael felt that it was time to answer one simple but significant question: "How can I make a bigger difference?". It meant leaving "lawyerdom" and striking out on a completely new and still-being-mapped path of social media as the means for giving back, doing good, and helping us all to make the changes we want to see in this world.

Michael has been instrumental in helping non-profits improve their outreach using social media, and he is especially passionate about helping causes that will make a difference to our way of living and the health of the planet. For example, he is actively involved in transactional giving, the process by which the purchase of a product or service gives back to those in need (for example, MiniMonos does this through B1G1, whereby your children's memberships contribute to the donation of clean drinking water to children in India). Michael has facilitated numerous transactional giving processes including giving bikes to children for each car sold (for Hamilton (NZ) based Bikes for Kids), giving malaria nets for each bed sheet sold, and giving clay pots for each water filter sold (Abundant Water). He is thoroughly convinced of the immediate and ongoing value of transactional giving as a way to ensure that the cycle of virtue continues for all participants, starting with manufacturer, to retailer, to consumer, and back to those with particular needs. I am right with you on the worth of this cyclical way of giving back to the world!

Michael, along with his team, has also recently set the world on fire through his social media promotion of the "Beers for Books" initiative in which a book is donated for a beer. This initiative was started 10 months ago and since then, has donated 70,000 books to children! This has taken place in at least 16 cities around the world (that he knows of, and he says the real success comes when these events are held without his knowledge!). Via Room to Read, the books themselves are sourced from the countries in which they are made, for example, books made in Pakistan, India, and Ghana are given to the children in those same countries. He is also planning a "Bubbly for Books", and to those of you who are New Zealanders, he tells me that there is yet to be a "Beers for Books" in New Zealand, so here's an idea for your weekend! (You can find out how to hold an event here and you can check out the Facebook group here.)

At the moment, as well as developing his value-giving approaches through social media, Michael has some particular environmental concerns that he wanted to share with us. He is very alarmed at the rapid and inexplicable disappearance of our bees across the world. Without bees, our food chain won't be pollinated and all won't be right with the world. He is also extremely worried about the loss of sharks, the ocean's top predator that dates back 450 million years. Without them, he says, the ocean life will be thrown into chaos. And still on oceans, Michael is concerned about the ever-increasing acidification of our oceans through the additional CO2 load entering them, something that will take thousands of years to rectify. He is looking at ways he can actively promote information about what we can do to help.

A committed father, Michael speaks really fondly of his four children, ages 6, 10, 14, and 20. Some are in different parts of the world from him and he treasures each of them deeply. He says much of what he is doing is because he wants to be reassured that the world will be on a better, more mindful trajectory by the time that this generation become adults. He also told me that at least one of his children is dabbling in MiniMonos now and then, and that he thinks what Minimonos is doing is just incredible, which made me feel very proud!

When Michael isn't deeply busy doing all he can to spread the word about the importance of connecting via social media and doing our bit for the planet, he loves to visit his youngest daughter's school, to read to the children and surprise them with his passion for juggling, a hobby he uses to relax and wind down. In fact, Michael told me that he "loves teaching juggling to children because it teaches them balance and self-confidence". And I also found out that he's a top notch golfer, scuba diver, rugby player, and tennis player! Phew!

I will own up to having enjoyed a 2.5 hour conversation with Michael when preparing this post. So, it has been very hard to condense all the amazing things he is doing into one concise article! Instead, I truly recommend that if you have not done so already, that you connect with Michael via his Twitter account @mqtodd and on Facebook. Thanks Michael, both for sharing your time with me to tell me not only more about yourself, and also some much appreciated social media tips too!

Friday Featured Friend -- Whitney Lauritsen

Our Friday featured friend for this week is the dynamic and inspiring Whitney Lauritsen. Whitney is a filmmaker, environmentalist, and vegan. She shares her tips and ideas about healthy living on her site Eco-Vegan Gal, using the mediums of video, photography, and writing (yes indeed, she's very talented!).

Whitney is a change-maker with positive-messaging at the forefront of her approach. She explains that she is passionate about making it clear that “change isn’t as hard as it seems. When I ask people why they’re not taking better care of their health or doing more to protect the planet, they usually give excuses like: I’m too busy, I can’t afford it, I like the way I’m living now, or I’m too lazy.” Whitney is sympathetic but she doesn’t buy into these excuses because she is adamant that change doesn’t take too much effort. She does admit that change requires that each of us is dedicated to making it happen but says that it is her “goal to inspire people to take a chance on change, even if it means taking baby steps at first”. We simply love her respectful and tenacious attitude!

Currently working on ways that she can spread her message to a wider audience, Whitney is contemplating redesigning her website, creating a TV show, making a documentary, or perhaps a combination of all these ways.

Whitney is a devoted vegan and believes that it is important to share the benefits of veganism in a way that people can relate to its benefits. She says: “I believe that pitching veganism as a healthy choice (rather than a moral one) is more appealing to mainstream, so that’s been my focus lately. I want people to see how fun and rewarding being eco-vegan is, and how many options are available.” And Whitney does this with compassion and connection, and she is definitely not one to judge other people, readily acknowledging that she doesn't "point fingers and say that my way of life is the absolute right way." Her caring approach works. She told us that every day she is contacted by, or introduced to, amazing companies that have created something that makes being green, keeping healthy and/or living cruelty-free more accessible to everyone. 

The Eco-Vegan Gal blog site is the way Whitney uses to promote these companies and their forward-looking products and services. In addition, Whitney features information in her various posts to help both our own health and the health of the planet. She discusses environmental issues, health matters, vegan recipes, and she even shares what she eats to help keep us informed about the ease of making healthy choices. It's a beautifully presented site, and a fabulous resource, well worth bookmarking.

While Whitney doesn’t have any children yet, she says she plans on having at least one child and she thinks about how she’ll raise a family all the time. Concerned that children can be easily impressionable and ready to believe what adults tell them, Whitney says this means that "we have an incredible opportunity to educate them". In doing this, Whitney says that "the key is leading by example and making your choices seem effortless and fun: creating healthy meals that taste good, showing how to recycle/reuse/reduce, and being kind to animals are important experiences for children."

We're really happy to have been able to share Whitney's story so far with you. We think she will take eco-veganism to incredible heights yet, with her array of amazing talents, her dedication, and her clarity of purpose. If you'd like to find out more about Whitney, check out her site Eco-Vegan Gal, her page on Facebook, and be sure to follow her delightful tweets at @Ecovegangal. And a big thanks to Whitney for her time in sharing her story with us.

Friday Featured Friend -- Narena Olliver

Our very special featured friend for this week is Narena Olliver, a passionate eco-advocate, dedicated animal lover, author, and creator of the website New Zealand Birds. Narena has a delightfully varied background. She has taught English, bred cattle, published magazines, and entered politics. For six years, Narena was a district councillor and Chair of Planning Hearings for the Opotiki District Council. In addition, she has been a member of the East Coast/Hawkes Bay Conservation Board and of the NZ National Council of Women’s environment standing committee.

A member of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Narena’s passion for caring about New Zealand’s native wildlife is absolute. She tells us that: “I am passionate about natural history, not just birds. I simply bleed for the continuing loss of biodiversity.” And we've discovered that Narena is actively doing as much as she can to help protect biodiversity.

While Narena says that she is neither an ornithologist nor a scientist, she uses her interest in natural history and her superb writing skills to their best advantage by helping us all learn more about our impact on biodiversity. For example, Narena currently writes a monthly column for her local newspaper, raising awareness about the local bird life. She details the threats to birds, and in the tradition of all great people who understand that it’s vital that the message carries a sense of solution, Narena also explains what each of us can do to avert or minimize these threats. Previously, Narena used to write a natural history/environment column for two Bay of Plenty newspapers, the Bay of Plenty Times and the Opotiki News and she writes the occasional article for the New Zealand Herald.

Another string to Narena’s talented bow is her amazing website New Zealand Birds. She started developing this website on New Zealand's birds in 1999 and it is a site well worth exploring (just a hint – given it has over a decade’s worth of dedication lavished on it, you can spend many lovely hours in there enjoying all it has to offer!). A major part of the website is the intensely detailed coverage of the birds found in New Zealand, including illustrations, scientific and historic information on the birds, and other useful information about each bird. There are audio files that allow you to hear the birdsong of various birds and we encourage you take a moment to listen to the beautiful songs of New Zealand birds – you can even listen to the call of the kiwi. And among so much more on the site, there is a section on Maori myth, legend and lore, helpful advice on bird rescue and bird feeding, and information on where to go birdwatching in New Zealand.

As well as Narena’s environmental and writing activities, she runs The Greytown Gallery in Greytown, New Zealand. The store is both physical and virtual, so if you’re not able to make a visit to the delightful Greytown, you can still take advantage of the carefully selected range of items Narena has in stock. Naturally, most of her goodies are bird-themed, but there are also other wildlife items. We love the amazing selection of children’s books which are sure to help you raise an enthusiastic young naturalist, and it’s very hard to overlook the simply gorgeously printed bird cushions. Narena tells us that the beautiful antique bird prints the store sells are used throughout the New Zealand Birds website. She explains that the prints are “an important part not only of our natural history but also our history.” The sale of the prints funds and supports the New Zealand Birds website, as the site receives no other funding.

Narena told us that while she has no children of her own, she does hold a fear for coming generations. We do think, however, that she is doing her fair share and a super job of it too, at ensuring that our children are well informed and prepared. Her beautiful selection of children’s books is one example, as well as the legacy of her website which children could certainly make great use of when researching and learning about bird life in New Zealand.

It is clear that Narena has a lifelong passion to do all that she can to help protect the wondrous nature around us. She is unstoppable in her passion: “I am now 70 years of age but still do everything I can for the environment. I joke about joining the Sea Shepherd and their efforts to save whales but think I am a bit old now.” We’re not so sure about that Narena – your dynamism, passion, and enthusiasm are an inspiration to people of all ages and we wouldn’t be surprised if Captain Paul Watson turns up on your doorstep some day! We’re so proud of your continued gentle, calm, and ever-present efforts to raise awareness and to make a difference for the better in our world. You are a true inspiration.

If you’d like to find out more about Narena, you can follow her on Twitter at @Newzealandbirds and check out her website and The Greytown Gallery. Thanks deeply for sharing a moment of your time with us Narena.

Friday Featured Friends -- Twitter Friends We Love

This week we’re showing our admiration for some of our Twitter followers who keep us well informed at all times about parenting, sustainability, social media, environmental, and other important issues. It’s our way of saying thank you and to show that we appreciate the information you’re sharing with us.

@TaigaCompany -- Julie Urlaub from Taiga Company ("Oxygen for your business") is a sustainability star  on Twitter. A sustainability consultant, Julie consults, blogs and speaks with business leaders to help them address their green/sustainability interests and pressures. What we love about Julie is that she takes the time to share news about businesses that are getting it right, by leading and benefiting from sustainability initiatives.

@Erinely -- Erin Ely from Ely Organics has a total passion for all things organic. A "strategic optimist", Erin is totally committed to sustainable business, social justice and the environment. She spends a lot of time educating herself on these topics and we love it that she then cares enough to share this knowledge with the rest of us.

@MomsofAmerica -- Debra Cincioni is a mom, entrepreneur, technology addict, musician, and a very positive soul! She has a blog aptly titled Never Underestimate a Mother and we love her upbeat, caring approach to highlighting the importance of moms sticking together. All you need to do is check her Twitter stream to see how incredibly active she is interacting with each one of us as a person. We love it!

@mgonyeo -- Melissa Dion works in the fashion industry and she's a passionate vegetarian who cares about the green and eco friendly way of living. She shares information about the environment, animals, fashion and the occasional recipe. We love her blog Welcome to Style MD, where there are personal stories, recipes, eco-fashion tips and information about animal care. A lovely lady to follow on Twitter.

@PositiveParents -- Sue Atkins from Positive Parents is a parenting expert, speaker and the author of Raising Happy Children for Dummies. She is passionate about making life with children easier and more rewarding and we've absolutely loved reading her practical and positive guidance for bringing up happy, confident and balanced kids. Sue has created a range of Parenting Made Easy toolkits and she appears regularly on TV and radio, so we're absolutely confident that her advice rocks.

@pauljimerson -- Paul Jimerson is an amazing artist, brilliant photographer, and avid environmentalist. Daily sharings of the most delightful and incredible photographs are just one treat we love from Paul on Twitter. In addition, Paul keeps a gorgeous collection of photos on his blog, featuring themes from the California coast, art and architecture, to Haiti, so you can visit these photo displays any time.

@GrowFromHereNZ -- Kaye Reardon, a community-minded organic gardener from the delightful Grow from Here garden store in Wellington, NZ, shares gardening tips we love to benefit from! Her store aims to source plants locally and organically. We love her description "We are the little garden store that can..." With such a positive attitude, it's no wonder that we're loving her tweets! Kaye's got a big move coming up on June 15, to share premises with the Kreuzberg Summer Cafe. So now you'll be able to buy plants and sip coffee!

@Giftedmum -- Mary B shares her learning about herself, her family, and her place in the world. She loves nature, metaphysics, true beauty and spirit. She's a keen photographer and also writes poetry. Mary's tweets are always very uplifting and sustaining, as she shares her journey raising her children and all the abundant love she has to share with everyone. Be sure also to check out her delightful blog Living an Abundant Life.

@mommybits -- Shannan is a parenting blogger, a technology geek, and a delightful Twitter resident. We loved the poignancy of her post about her son's fifth birthday and the realization that the years are flying by, which lead us to read her lovely blog Mommy Bits. We love the story Five years ago today -- it brings back that journey for many of us! And we're also enjoying Shannan's tech tips, which are all very useful.

@DanielleSmithTV -- Danielle Smith is the founder and principal author of ExtraordinaryMommy.com, a site dedicated to reminding all moms of the extraordinary work they do every day in raising their children. Danielle is also a host of MomTV and she calls herself a "California Girl at heart". Although Danielle is always busy giving back ("give good, get good" is her motto), we love how she finds time to share her life with us and how she connects so easily with each and every person for real. It takes an extraordinary mom to celebrate the extraordinariness of all moms, and Danielle's doing this to perfection.

We're really grateful for the chance to be able to get to know such amazing people. And we love all our Twitter followers - each and every one of you opens doors to new knowledge and ways of seeing the world every day. For us, connecting with all of you reassures us that we're striving together towards making our world a kinder, more sustainable place.

Friday Featured Friend -- John Peter Thompson

  

Our lovely friend for featuring this Friday is John Peter Thompson. John Peter is a gardening speaker, an invasive species program developer, sustainability consultant, and agricultural research policy advocate. And to top off his expertise, he is also a deep thinker who has the most delightful sense of humor! It's wonderful to be able to bring to light some of his thoughts to share with you today.

John Peter has long cherished the beauty of the world and all of its intricate interconnections. Fascinated by the myriad relationships that nourish and support each other, he says that "whether in music that I compose, or a garden that I plant, a landscape that I conserve, or a world that I conserve, I am looking for and finding beauty woven in the cloth of an ecosystem, or the intricate patterns embedded in the calculus of life, drawn to the flames of life's interaction with the cosmos."

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that one of John Peter's main passions is a concern for the unintended consequences of introducing invasive species to new homes and ecosystems, often something we do without thinking through the possible repercussions first. He explains that an invasive species is a species that is not native - any animal, insect, plant, or even disease, that hurts the environment around us, and spreads quickly by human activity such as trade and recreation, food production and gardening. John Peter considers that "the costs of invasive species are a symptom of unsustainable land use decisions based upon our past needs."

John Peter is working on finding ways to reconceptualize how we see our world, so that we can better understand the implications of how our activities and ways of living impact the planet. As part of this process, he seeks to bring together the many disciplines such as agriculture with ecology, biology with economics, etc., in order to help manage the systems of our world, both human and ecological. His laudable inter-disciplinary approach is targeted at finding new pathways to sustainability, "working," he says, "to bring sustainable ideas to life so that a new generation will have a natural philosophy that is sustainable." We love the idea of a sustainable natural philosophy, an innovation sure to be appreciated for many generations to come.

And by logical extension, John Peter is greatly concerned about our continued unthinking use of finite resources. He explains: "For ten thousand years now, mankind has been plowing the earth each spring and in doing so, disturbing the interactions and relationships of the species around him in order to extract resources to improve his quality of life. When man numbered only a few this made some sense, but as the number of people has grown, the sacred places of the world have waned, and now, indeed, are almost gone. We have lost the idea of the sacred and now live in a time when we think there is no need for sacrifice; we think there is no end to resources to make the things we need." Troubled that there is a conflict between what we as humans want right now and what is good for us tomorrow, John Peter is seeking to "find ways to enhance a sustainable paradigm for the future, a pattern for life choices that will enable humanity and ecosystems to interact and grow together, to sustain each other." And we can follow John Peter's journey as he documents his frequent presentations, discoveries, and thoughts on his fabulous blog Invasive Notes.

While John Peter laments that he sometimes feels "like a Moses trying to lead a new generation to the Promised Land", he has no doubts that children are the way forward for a sustainable future, telling us that "children see the beauty in the complexities of nature without being told how". He believes strongly that it's time we stopped "unteaching" children of their innate ability to see the wonder of the world and ceased trying to "replace this wonder with the craft of waiting in line to buy something we suggest that they really need instead." We heartily agree! And we sense John Peter's great hope when he tells us that while he "will not see a world that thrives on sustainable principles, I can help today's children begin to dream of one in which one day they shall live and play." We love the passion, the conviction, and the certainty of John Peter that children will change our world for the better, facilitated by all of us cherishing and nurturing their dreams of a sustainable way of life.

A big thank you to John Peter for sharing his innermost thoughts and ideas. And you can find out more about him at: 

• Invasive Notes blog
• Twitter
• Facebook
  

Feel free to get in touch with John Peter - he'd be delighted to help your organization with tailored presentations on sustainable sites and sustainability, climate change impact, and invasive species solutions. And he's a dab hand at tackling those invasive species in your garden too!

Friday Featured Friend -- Peace One Day

 
“It is the peoples of this world who can create peace.” Ahmad Fawzi

Peace One Day is our Friday featured friend we’re honoured to introduce you to this week. Peace One Day was launched in 1999 when filmmaker Jeremy Gilley sought to have a calendar date fixed for an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence. He succeeded - within two years 192 member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted 21 September as an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace, known as Peace Day. Peace Day is not only about creating peace between nations - it’s also about non-violence in our homes, communities, and schools, making Peace Day relevant to every human being on the planet. Here is a short introduction about its beginnings:

A non-profit organization, Peace One Day remains impartial and independent of any government, political persuasion, corporation, or religious creed. It seeks to engage all sectors of society, including governments, organizations of the United Nations system, NGOs, and individuals with the aim of encouraging action that will create a united and sustainable world.

Peace Day has had some amazing highlights celebrating the 21 September occasion over the past decade. Steadily the message  about celebrating Peace Day is spreading to all corners of the Earth. Jeremy Gilley is now firmly focused on reaching out to “3 billion people with the message of Peace Day by 2012", and says that "ultimately it is your support that will help make it a reality."

The most important message the team behind Peace One Day wanted to pass on to us is that they’d dearly love for all of you to become involved in Peace Day this year, and beyond: "We are trying to get as many commitments as possible on our website and have a mass participation around the world, especially from young people and children." They have made it easy to become a part by providing an action portal on their website where you can sign up and make your own commitment. In addition, if you can tell others to join up too, it will help get as many commitments as possible, bringing us all closer to a peaceful world.

We asked Peace One Day for an example of making a commitment and the team explained to us that one super way to become involved is through the One Day One Goal football (soccer) campaign. Through this campaign, and with the support of Puma.Peace, Peace One Day is taking a beautiful game that so many people love to spread the message of Peace Day by encouraging football matches in all 192 member states of the United Nations, and beyond, on 21 September! The reason for this is simple: these matches have the ability to unite people from different communities and different cultures who would never normally play together. Since this call to action covers a number of things dear to our own heart here at MiniMonos – promoting peace, getting outdoors and being active, having fun with friends, and being involved in community - MiniMonos has decided to take up this commitment too – we’ll provide a separate update later explaining more about how you can have your own football or soccer game in honor of Peace Day.

Peace One Day does a great deal to involve and enthuse children with the peace initiatives, something we are really thrilled about. Jeremy believes very strongly in educating the next generation about peace, and how children can change the world. He has visited a lot of schools and has even held “Skype” visits to talk directly with students. As well as Jeremy’s direct involvement with young people, Peace One Day provides a lot of free educational resources on the site, with the aim of helping today’s children become tomorrow’s peacemakers. The lesson plans have been created with the goal in mind of getting resources to teach about peace into every school in the world. The multimedia resources are designed to enable students to develop a sense of perspective in relation to our multicultural and interdependent world, and include reflective group and individual activities and development of critical thinking skills, all using modern technology. The principal hope behind these lessons is to awaken the students' awareness of Peace Day and to understand just how they too, as global citizens, have an active role to play in ensuring peace.

The future of Peace One Day includes continuing to liaise with organizations and individuals keen to expand the pathways to peace, using film to spread the message of peace, educating students worldwide, using football to bring peace, holding inspirational live events, and ultimately, continuing to focus on every single one of us to believe in and act on the message of creating a peaceful world. We’ve signed up the MiniMonos team and we’ll be sharing with you over the coming months the ways we're committing to a peaceful world, with the hope our actions might inspire you too. We'd like to thank Patrick Thompson of Peace One Day for helping us to share the Peace Day story with you.

You can find more information at:

• Peace One Day website
• Taking action for Peace Day
• Educational resources
• One Day One Goal
• Twitter
  
• Facebook

Friday Featured Friend -- Michael Coyne and Seaturtle.org

It’s World Turtle Day on May 23rd, 2010, and it occurred to us what a great opportunity this is to introduce you to this week’s wonderful friend Michael Coyne, and his organization Seaturtle.org. 

In starting and maintaining Seaturtle.org, Michael’s ongoing aim is to “organize the world’s sea turtle information and make it universally accessible and useful.” A strong advocate of collating knowledge about turtles, Michael says that “we can better understand and more effectively protect sea turtles by improving the way that we collect, manage, and share information about them.”

Michael's answer to achieving timely and dynamic sharing of sea turtle information was to form a community where sea turtle enthusiasts, advocates, government officials, researchers, and anyone else interested in sea turtles, or learning about them, could connect and open the lines of communication together. By helping researchers more effectively communicate their research results to resource managers, as well as making it easier for researchers to share information with the public and gain public feedback, Seaturtle.org ensures that sea turtle information is made widely available. The site's data management system allows researchers to process and analyze information quickly, and often the data can be communicated as it is being collected.

Of great importance is the ability for the public to access this information and one of the simplest examples of this sharing process in action is the site's Image Library. This allows registered users of Seaturtle.org to submit and share their sea turtle photos with the world. Michael says that these photos are popular, and that in addition to being freely available through the website, the photos frequently appear in both professional and informal presentations, news articles, books, and other websites.

We were fascinated to learn about the successes Seaturtle.org has experienced using its data management for on-the-ground action. The most successful effort to date is the Satellite Tracking website. This site allows all of us to follow thousands of sea turtles that have been fitted with satellite transmitters. You can watch the movements of all seven species of sea turtles and hundreds of sea turtle and conservation projects around the world through this tool, as well as subscribing to daily e-mail updates from your favorite projects, or even adopting your favorite turtles! If you're a teacher, there is also a way to sign up for access to tracking data that will let you follow sea turtles in the classroom. Michael proudly explains that the Seaturtle.org tools that help turtle trackers around the world to manage, map, and analyze very complicated and large datasets have become so helpful that "nearly every sea turtle tracking project in the world uses our system, and a growing number of non-sea turtle projects have started signing up." Indeed, there is now even a separate Wildlife Tracking website for the non-sea turtle projects.

Michael recently launched two similar systems, one that deals with sea turtle strandings, and the other with sea turtle nesting. Strandings are a way of monitoring dead sea turtles that wash up on the beach (or other places) so that resource managers can keep track of how many turtles are dying, and hopefully identify and take steps to reduce the causes. The Sea Turtle Nest Monitoring System is helping thousands of volunteers who monitor sea turtle nesting to record the information they collect in a standardized way and more quickly report nesting information to project managers. Project managers, in turn, are able to share the status of sea turtle nesting in their region with the public, as data are submitted. These are both relatively new systems and it is hoped that they will become more widely known and that more sea turtle projects around the world will participate. And if you're interested in trying this out, sea turtle nesting season is just getting started in the southeastern US and you can follow the progress of sea turtle nesting in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia as it happens.

Another great program Michael wanted us to know about is the International Sea Turtle Observation Registry, or ISTOR for short. This program aims to more directly engage the public and allows you to submit information on sea turtles that you have observed in the wild. This information is used to generate a map of reported sea turtle sightings, and it is also hoped that as more information is submitted, that there will be a better understanding of where sea turtles are, and when. Michael says: "I encourage anyone that sees a sea turtle to report it to ISTOR!"

And we couldn't help but ask Michael about how he involves children in Seaturtle.org. With much love and pride, he told us that his own children are "very much engaged with sea turtles because of what I do. I take them on sea turtle research trips whenever I can, and we are frequent visitors to the sea turtle hospital on Topsail Island in North Carolina, where we learn about the latest patients and talk to Jean Beasley, who runs the hospital." Michael also takes time out of his busy schedule to give presentations to local schools and other groups about sea turtles and the work he is doing. He tells us: "I hope that by sharing my knowledge and passion with children that they will gain an appreciation for sea turtles and the marine environment that they will then share with their friends and relatives and take  this knowledge with them as they get older." We certainly believe the children will!

We're really grateful to Michael for taking the time to explain Seaturtle.org. We think it's awesome that the public plays a vital role in both giving and using the information that can help us to protect and learn more about sea turtles. Projects that involve everyone with an interest will always have more success because we all feel responsible. Great work Michael and we're keen to keep "tracking" your progress over time!