10 Ways To Make a Difference

Concerned about the future? Want to do something about greenhouse gases and climate change? Colin Beavan (founder of the No Impact Project who wrote a book about the year his family reduced their environmental impact to close to zero and found they were healthier, and happier as a result) lists ten actions for you to consider to reduce your carbon footprint. Ideas range from reduce your waste by reusing and repairing rather than replacing, and walk or bike to try an Eco-Sabbath by turning off the electricity and not buying anything for a day (or an hour).

What Can You Live Without?

It all began with a stop at a red light. While Kevin Salwen and his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, were waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other. “Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal,” Hannah protested. She pestered her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something. “What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?” That is exactly what the family did. “We essentially traded stuff for togetherness and connectedness,” says father Kevin Salwen. Hannah and Kevin wrote a book about the family’s experience, The Power of Half, which will be released in February.

Rooster Valentini: Getting Kids to School

The sun hangs low in a cold morning sky, blasting Russell ”Rooster” Valentini’s eyes as he steers the battered red minivan he calls ”The Beast” east into Allentown. Valentini cannot put down the visor to block the glare because 13 parking tickets will rain down on his head. So he squints as he heads to the Salvation Army Hospitality House on Seventh Street to look for students he hopes he does not find. Pulling up outside the emergency shelter, Valentini hops out and plugs the meter. ”Thirty minutes,” he says. ”That ought to do it.” Inside, he finds Lisa Ortiz, 30, who lost her job after giving birth to her fourth child, then could no longer make rent payments and now needs a place for her family to stay. Finding shelter is the Salvation Army’s job. Making sure Ortiz’s children go to school is Valentini’s job