TakePart

Take a few extra minutes when you’re at the grocery store and look for Fair Trade options on your coffee, tea, sugar and chocolate purchases. You can indulge in your vices and still do good! More

Ninety-two years ago today, a group of concerned citizens figured out a good way to protect some of the planet's largest trees: buy them.

After watching the Redwood Highway barrel through ancient redwood groves in Northern California in 1917, a trio of committed naturalists banded together with the head of the National Park Service to protect the imperiled trees. The group raised some seed funding and in 1918 founded the Save the Redwoods League, with a mission to conserve the region's natural wonders.

To this day, the group continues its work, and has "assisted in the purchase of more than 181,000 acres to protect redwoods," according to its Web site. But thousands of acres of unprotected redwoods remain in California and the group has also set its sights on a new target: giant sequoias. Get inspired and get involved here.

You are what you eat, and you could be eating a lot of mercury! Use this calculator to find out how much mercury is in your diet, and discover ways you can curb your mercury intake and protect your health. More

It’s an often-overlooked fact of WWII: beginning in 1943, more than 1,000 women trained to become the first female pilots of American military aircraft.

The Women Airforce Service Pilots—or WASPs as they were known—flew domestic missions for the military so that male pilots could be released for overseas duty. More

Eighty-eight years ago today, revered Indian leader and political luminary Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested for agitation and sedition protesting the iron grip of British colonial rule. An icon of persistence and the embodiment of patience and resilience, Gandhi was hauled into prison on charges that he was attempting to overthrow the government. More

Lung cancer: it’s not just for smokers. Raise awareness that lung cancer is an equal opportunity disease by getting the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act pushed through Congress. More

Twenty-five years ago today, the novel concept of “adopting” a stretch of asphalt in order to keep it clean was born in Texas. Congratulations, it’s a baby… blacktop.

The first section of roadway chosen for the honor was a segment of Texas Highway 69. A Texas Department of Transportation engineer named James Evans noticed trash blowing around the road and decided to take action.  It took a year to organize, but by March 9, 1985, Evans had convinced the Tyler Civitan Club to take on responsibility of roadside litter control. Adopt-A-Highway was born. More

Have you ever tried kohlrabi? What about watercress? Use Local Harvest to find the farmers’ market nearest you and discover a new fruit or veggie. More

"Media That Inspires" is an ongoing conversation at TakePart that recognizes the power that films, books and other media have to compel change and prompt action. TakePart is asking people who make a difference every day what works have inspired them.

Jacob Lief is President and Founder of Ubuntu Education Fund, a non-profit serving over 40,000 vulnerable children and their families in the townships of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Started in 1999 by Jacob, then a student at the University of Pennsylvania, and a local Port Elizabeth teacher, Malizole “Banks” Gwaxula, Ubuntu has created an integrated system of social, health and educational programs that enable a vulnerable child to reach university and the world of work.  

Q:Which film or book was a wake up call and made you truly aware of an issue?

A:Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

It was actually a “Free South Africa” painting by Keith Harring that first got me interested in the issue of apartheid. But reading Kaffir Boy in 7th grade totally changed me. The extremely brutal, visceral nature of the story told from Mark's perspective was not only unique, but resonated deeply with me as a teenage boy.  His story is incredibly hopeful:  despite Mark’s hardship, his determination reaffirms the possibility of transformation.  Stan Smith’s intervention despite his background as a white, American tennis player, exemplified how compassion and unlikely friendships can change someone’s life. I sometimes wonder if this realization, at such an early age, was one of the mysterious forces that ultimately led me, at 19 years old, to a South African township tavern one night. This is where I first met Banks, a black South African 25 years my senior, living in a tense post-apartheid South Africa, who became one of my closest friends and with whom I founded Ubuntu Education Fund in 1999. More