Music videos don’t typically address climate change, nor do the musicians usually give you a shout-out in the video, but the Alliance for Climate Education (A.C.E.) is giving you the chance to declare your independence from fossil fuels by creating your own personalized Crush Global Warming video.

The clever trick places your name throughout the video on newspapers and signs, and aims to get young people excited about going green and combating the climate crisis. Read the rest of this entry >>

laszlo-photo's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons

Access to safe and clean water is a right that should be afforded to everyone, but unfortunately pollution, climate change and privatization, among other obstacles, prevent one billion people obtaining this vital necessity.

This upcoming Thanksgiving week, SYRV, a non-profit that connects travelers with volunteer opportunities in developing countries, will be traveling to Jiquilillo, Nicaragua, one of the many places that lacks access to clean water.  There they will help build desperately needed water-purifiers as well as other community support projects.

And if you happen to be in Los Angeles this evening, you should head down to Venice to attend the SYRV fundraiser where you can learn more and help support the amazing work they do.

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Participant Media presents entertainment that inspires and compels social change. Behind these films and issues, there are thousands of people nationwide who work tirelessly on campaigns that use the films as inspiration to make a difference. As a member of the company’s Social Action team, which develops initiatives that are inspired by the films, I’m excited to announce the first posting of a weekly blog of Sarah’s Social Action Snapshot, which will offer the latest updates on our campaigns and offer specific actions and tools, from our campaigns, for people to get involved in issues in the news.

Food, Inc.
Do you want to know about rGBH dairy, issues facing small farmers or organic yogurt? If so, check out our recent online chats with some of the leading food advocacy organizations from our campaign and Stonyfield Yogurt.

We learned this week that obesity rates continue to climb with an expected 103 million Americans to be obese by 2018. Scary? Yes. Preventable? Yes. Take action by supporting menu labeling and check out our campaign’s 10 tips for healthy eating.

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Hi Readers! I’ve really enjoyed writing for this wonderful site over the past few years but, the time has come for me to leave the TakePart family. Although I will not longer be a Takepart.com blogger, I will continue to be a reader and supporter. And now here’s a oldie but goodie video I’d like to share in honor of my last post.

Feel free to keep up with me on the web at giuliarozzi.com.

Well, it’s been an interesting week for women’s health issues: earlier this week Giulia noted that a panel is recommending fewer mammograms and starting later, and now, new guidelines are suggesting that women start getting screened for cervical cancer later in life, and that Pap smears are not needed every year.

One of the reasons for the change is that overtesting can actually lead to very serious risks. Says Reuters:

The recommendations are based on scientific evidence that suggests more frequent testing leads to overtreatment, which can harm a young woman’s chances of carrying a child full term.

“Overtreatment of minor abnormal pap tests in young women and adolescents can lead to consequences such as preterm labor in some cases. It increases the risk,” said Dr. Thomas Herzog of Columbia University in New York, who is chairman of an ACOG [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists] subcommittee on gynecologic cancers.

So now, women, you’re supposed to start getting Pap smears at 21, and every two years. Read the rest of this entry >>

I will never understand how anyone could abandon a baby. Luckily there are folks like Debbe Magnusen around to help care for those children left behind. In 1996 after reading a newspaper article about the discovery of a dead baby in a file cabinet in Yorba Linda, Calif., in 1996, Magnusen started a hotline called Project Cuddle and announced on TV that women unable to care for their newborns could drop them off on her porch in Costa Mesa, California. Over the past 13 years Magnusen has rescued 661 babies finding most adoptive homes.

And now her life will be the topic of a made-for-TV movie. Tonic.com reports that John Stamos, National Spokesperson for Project Cuddle (best known as Uncle Jesse from Full House) is producing the film about Magnusen and her wonderful work.

Project Cuddle doesn’t just help house unwanted infant, it also offers needed resources such as job and other assistance to allow a mother to keep her baby and shelter and medical aid. You can help Project Cuddle by contributing to their organization wish list or you can volunteer to be a rescue family anywhere in the country. Learn more by clicking here.

Today, November 20 marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the most widely ratified international human rights treaty. The UNCRC laid out the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for children all over the world. The documented has been ratified by 193 countries including every U.N. Member State but the United States and Somalia.

I was surprised to learn that the U.S. was not included in the 193 supporting nations. VOA News reports: Despite the success of the Convention in raising awareness of children’s rights worldwide, one of the largest and most influential countries in the world has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United States has not approved the Convention because it fears government interference in family life and the possible loss of its sovereign rights.

But ratifying a treaty doesn’t always promise results as many are acknowledging that 20 years later, children’s rights are still being violated. Many nations that ratified the Convention have not taken all the steps to protect children leaving many children victim to preventable diseases, malnutrition, violence and exploitation. Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Saad Houry, calls the Convention a milestone, but notes the reality does not always live up to the document’s vision of a world made safe for all children. He says millions of children remain excluded from that dream saying “despite remarkable economic growth in scores of countries over the past 20 years, shocking disparities are also growing, with the poorest children left further behind.”

However many are hopeful that the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child will serve as a reminder to countries to keep their promise and take action to protect our littlest citizens. Click here for a list of worldwide UNCRC anniversary events.

One of the things about language that fascinates me most is that so much of translation is really just a science of digesting a saying comfortably into another tongue. For instance, the phrase me gusta– delineating one liking a person, place, or thing and often translated to mean I like–actually translates literally to mean gives me pleasure. So when I falter on my attempts at vegetarianism and proclaim “Pero [but] me gusta tacos de al pastor,” what I’m saying isn’t “But I like al pastor tacos.” No, more accurately what I doth protest is really: “Al pastor tacos give me pleasure.”  (My inner foodie is in agreement on this one.) As most things do, this brings me to cinema–I’m a lover of food and film, what can I say? As such, I was recently blessed with the experience that is Broken Embraces or Los Abrazos Rotos by acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar.

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Editor’s Note: This post is written by Andrew Winston, a globally recognized expert on how businesses can profit from thinking green and the co-author of the best-seller Green to Gold.

For the past few years, the business world has been swept up in a green wave—a rising tide of interest and concern about environmental issues. The Great Recession has not stopped the pressure pushing this wave. Environmental crises such as climate change and water shortages continue to evolve. Mega-forces such as technology-driven transparency and the rise of the consumer in India and China—which will force the price of oil and other resources up over time—continue to advance. Closer to home, key stakeholders are demanding more of companies than ever, especially corporate customers greening their supply chains. For business, going green is ultimately unavoidable. Read the rest of this entry >>

CREDO Mobile, a cell phone provider that donates 1% of your charges goes to progressive nonprofits, is mailing coat hangers to all the democratic members of the House of Representatives who voted in support of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment in Obama’s health care reform bill.

The Credo site is asking people to sign their petition saying: “We know what happens when women are denied access to reproductive health care including abortion. And we can’t go back to an era of coat hangers and back alley abortions. Reconsider your vote on the Stupak amendment. Tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the final health care bill that emerges from the conference committee can’t turn the clock back on women’s rights.” When you sign the petition they’ll send a coat hanger to the 20 formerly pro-choice Democrats who voted to take away women’s rights.

It’s a harsh action, but it definitely sends a message. To learn more about how the healthcare reform bill is affecting reproductive rights, check out this article on the Frisky.

CREDO is also the company I wrote about earlier this year that offers those great free stickers in support of gay marriage, click here to get yours.