All Change Agent
- In an Afghan refugee camp, she looked to universal principles of law
Setting up services at an Afghan refugee camp meant creating some kind of rules. Sakena Yacoobi looked at 'what was fair, moral, and just – what we could want for ourselves. I now know that these are sometimes called universal principles of law.'
- A teen starts Genevieve’s Crutches to give others an extra boost
Colorful crutches decorated by Genevieve Finn and her family are being sported by wounded warriors, children, and others.
- How to stop global child trafficking
Hilton has become the second US-based, multibrand hospitality company to sign the ECPAT Tourism Code of Conduct, supporting its voluntary principles to prevent child sex tourism and trafficking.
- Hidden environmentalists: India's waste pickers
In Pune, India, a city that suffered a waste disposal crisis in 2010, an alliance of waste pickers has established an inclusive, sustainable model for solid waste management that presents a potential blueprint for the future.
- Vermont sailing barge may be model for carbon-free shipping
The 39-foot Ceres – built by volunteers – is an update on the type of cargo vessels that once plied inland waterways throughout the northeastern US.
- Baby boomers now the largest source of charity gifts
Baby boomers (born 1946-1960) give 43 percent of all the money contributed to charities by individuals. But millennials (born 1981-1995) believe more fervently in volunteering, a new study finds.
- Maggie Doyne went from high school graduate to surrogate mother of 40 in Nepal
At age 19, Maggie Doyne founded a school and orphanage in a remote village in Nepal.
- Cindy Elkind started Kevlar for K9s to protect 'working' dogs
Police and military dogs benefit from body armor, and so far Kevlar for K9s has provided it to more than 140 of them.
- Like shopping at local businesses? Now you can invest in them, too
A newly formed company based in Seattle makes it easy to put your money to work in the local economy.
- A penny saved is two pennies earned for poor women in savings groups
Saving for Change operates in 13 countries with 680,000 members, most of them women. They not only benefit from receiving loans but share in overall profits of 30 to 40 percent.
- Security checks, duty-free shops, and ... beehives?
Beekeepers are using empty public land around Seattle-Tacoma Airport to breed and distribute healthier strains of honeybees.
- When budget cuts hit a Connecticut historic site, a volunteer steps up
At Weir Farm in Connecticut, volunteer Pat Hegnauer tends the historic gardens, teaches first aid, and strolls the grounds as a docent, igniting visitors’ creativity.
- Standards for humanitarian aid to be unified, simplified
The Sphere Project, which produces a popular humanitarian handbook, is working with two other key international organizations on a new standard that will unify and simplify the maze of existing international aid guidelines.
- Ghana's vulnerable till their own garden
A handful of disabled residents in Dazuuri, Ghana, have begun growing their own dry-season vegetable garden, adopting water-saving techniques to make it productive.
- How laundry detergent became a catalyst for green innovation
Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method, a company that has pioneered environmentally friendly cleaning products, tells how his small firm is nudging large corporations toward sustainability.
- Well-designed $20,000 houses for the poor? Rural Studio makes them
20K Houses, a visionary project of the architects at Rural Studio in Alabama, designs and builds innovative $20,000 houses.
- US artist, Syrian children beautify a refugee camp
A mural painting project at the Zaatari refugee camp gives a moment of color and self-expression to kids who have had their lives shattered by Syria's war.
- An 'explosion of human talent' will feed a growing world population
CNN host and bestselling author Fareed Zakaria says the world faces 'enormous challenges, but they are not going to be challenges of decay, but of growth and abundance.'
- In Uganda, better nutrition through school gardens
The Forum for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa found that some 59 percent of primary school students in Uganda went without food during the day. School gardens both feed students and prepare them for careers in agriculture.
- Indian villagers reap the rewards of restoring common land
The Foundation for Ecological Security works with 1.7 million rural Indians to manage their commons sustainably through democratic community institutions, boosting incomes from farming, herding, and forest activities.