Start Good Blog

In the blogosphere there is a lot of content exchange; text, video and images, all are usually willingly shared, but not always. The new internet culture, filled with peer-to-peer sharing, viral videos and the general ease of passing (and changing) information has allowed increased awareness but also new concerns over the rights over digital products and information. So how do you manage being a part of the information age? What are the ways that you can contribute without stepping on anyone’s toes? In addition, how else can I add value to the online community other than by blogging? Here are the list of ways that I try to be a good blogger. Read the rest of this entry »

Nudge is such a complex word. An oxymoron almost by my definition. Officially though, what is a nudge?

nudge1 /nʌdʒ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nuhj] -nudged, nudg·ing, noun
–verb (used with object)

1.	to push slightly or gently, esp. with the elbow, to get someone’s attention, prod someone into action, etc.

“Push slightly” but get “attention” and “action.” Nudging a heavy rock on a cliff is all it takes to get it to topple. I nudge a friend in the side and they will jerk, and maybe hit back! In essence, a nudge is a little action that makes a lot happen and that is the point of this great New York Times article(if it asks for login go here). It tells the story of a San Francisco hospital that instituted a rule that all beds must be propped up no matter what, unless under different doctors orders.

For more than a decade, it turns out, medical researchers have known that people on ventilators should generally have their heads elevated. When the patients are lying down, bacteria can easily travel from the stomach, up to the mouth and breathing tube, and ultimately into the lungs, causing pneumonia. When people are propped up, gravity becomes their ally.

But hospitals have had a hard time translating this scientific knowledge into better medical care. Patients frequently need to be put on their backs, to be bathed or to receive treatment, and once they are lying down, doctors and nurses — busy worrying about dozens of other things — don’t always remember to move the bed back up.

“When you have to rely on someone to do it, it’s not going to happen every time,” said Dr. Michael Gropper, the director of critical care medicine at UCSF Medical Center, the hospital I was visiting.

So Dr. Gropper made a new rule. Unless there was a written order from a doctor saying that a patient should be lying down, every patient on a ventilator had to be sitting up.

How much of an impact did this simple rule have?

[T]he incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia has fallen more than 40 percent since 2005. There are people walking around Northern California this morning who otherwise would not be alive.

Many times people know the right thing to do, but continue to do the wrong thing since that is the status quo. Although changing behavior may seem like a lot of work, many times just inputting a small rule, a “nudge”, is enough, making the default action always or mostly right. The article mentions another example, buying smaller portions, as a way to counter act our extra-large culture and applies the “nudge rule” to various other problems.

A small decision can make a huge difference, in the case of the hospital it saved lives. Are there any areas of your life where you can add a nudge and get big results?

Source LifeHacker
Photo Ypsilanti
Definition Dictionary.com

Gas Works Park became a comforting home to me while attending the University of Washington.  Named for the former occupant, the real draw is the waterfront view, willingly shared to anyone who steps onto its grassy grounds. With each visit, I seem to gleam a new insight. Some way or another, the park taps into my heart and mind, giving me wisdom through inexplicable and intangible osmosis. Through this, one sunny day at that park turned me onto a journey to become more aware of our world and to want to create change. I saw the gorgeous city of Seattle surrounded by nature`s hills and water, a beautiful amalgamation, brought together seamlessly as if the land had willingly allowed the city inside its doors. The more I looked over the site, the more I realized that people, human beings, with their two fragile hands, created the great city. The power we have to build great towers, expansive streets, shops and residences, not only amazed me but also frightened me. The metropolis, intertwining with the land and water, spoke encouragingly and cautiously: I could do something great with my life, but I could also do nothing and, at worst, I could create much harm.  My two hands, no different than others, could build anything. In my case, I wanted not a city but a better world.

That day my heart became compassionately consumed with the thought that we all have a real responsibility to our planet and who we share it with.  The choices and actions of one does not build a city alone, neither does it destroy the land one hopes to build it on.  However, each person who chooses to lay a brick sets a foundation for the next man, woman or child to stand on.  I asked myself if I wanted to build something great, to allow others to reach higher than myself or if I was going to hope for someone else to do it.  I made a choice that day and I am trying to live up to it.

I love that park, it has comforted me each time I have gone and helped me clear my thoughts and opened up new roads in my mind. Although Gasworks Park may not be the impetus to anyone else`s actions, many have a place, person or thing that inspires them most and I encourage you to find what inspires you.  In the end I hope each person can inspire one another, even if the influence is small, inspiration is not a zero-sum game. Add a drop of inspiration to someone’s life and it will build along with each moment that makes them think a little harder and appreciate life a little more.  Luckily, inspiration is contagious.  Inspire one and they will inspire many.

I don’t believe that one person can change the world by themselves, but I believe it only takes one person to start.

Photo Credit: Kris

People have all kinds of excuses for living an unhealthy life style, but those excuses do not hold up as well when you put them in perspective of doing harm not only to yourself, but to others. Being good to others is a good way to be good to yourself simultaneously. Although being good to others is often thought of as a charitable, totally altruistic thing, it reaps benefits for the actor as much as the receiver. Ever give someone a gift unexpectedly? Open a door for someone who had their hands full? Even small actions get you a heartfelt thanks and brings a smile to your own face. If that is not enough, there are some things anyone can do in their everyday actions that give more tangible and larger rewards to you and others.

Read the rest of this entry »

The accession of social and environmental awareness brings along a host of controversy with its popularity. People question the honesty and intentions of big business going the CSR route and people are even skeptical of certain remedies like microfinancing and carbon offsetting. However, I find celebrity endorsement to be the strangest of all these monsters. Movies, TV and music all have had their place in pushing culture towards social movements, whether it be Bob Dylan or An Inconvenient Truth, these mediums often become the impetus that compels society to take action. But now many celebrities not inherently associated with activism, unlike Bob Dylan, are on the forefront, speaking for various causes. An odd contrast to their causes is the fact that society tends to look down upon celebrity culture despite its popularity, even many that love and call celebrity gossip a part of their lives know it as “trash.” Like it or not, the more people that start thinking about social and environmental issues, the more likely that celebrities (who are people also!) will speak out about their own beliefs.

So why write about this? Because they are starting good. Celebrities are an example of how people can have an influence on the world at large. We each have our own strengths, which we can use to leverage and create change. Read the rest of this entry »

Note: My previous post was part of ProBlogger.net’s Group Writing Contest which had bloggers write a top 5 post and then post it to their site to share. Almost 900 bloggers participated creating a huge buzz of people visiting new blogs and sharing their thoughts and love with other bloggers.

Honestly, I did not know what I was getting into. Would people like my site? Will this really get people to visit? Do people even care or want to know about the things I blog? Sharing what I find and learn throughout my experience really is why I love to do what I do here. Getting that many eyes on that one article makes me feel great and hearing all the positive feedback is even more encouraging. However even bigger than that is, did anyone take action or will they in the future? The story of my blogging really is about changing people’s lives and the world for the better. I hope everyone that visits will take something away that they can share with others and also put into action in their life.

In general, the blogosphere has so much to give and the impacts of it will be seen for many years to come. Look at how much content was derived from one project from one website! It is simply amazing. I am enjoying being part of this and I hope everyone continues to blog and share with others. Although my blog is called Start Good, it seems like everyone is doing it someway or somehow already in theirs and that is a sign of great things to come.

Greening my life pretty much has consumed much of my personal growth goals the past year or so. Mostly it all comprises constantly refining my life bit by bit, becoming less wasteful and more resourceful with each step. Last year I made shelves out of some DVD cases I was going to toss, I started using CD spindle covers to hold random cables that my gadgets need and I have made good on a promise not to buy any new clothes. Despite my continual efforts to audit my own waste, some obvious things never crossed my mind until I learned about them and some of the things I was doing, actually were not doing any good! With this in mind here is my list of the top 5 things I never realized until I really tried to go green.

1. Cutting Shower Water: I knew that short showers were the best showers, but I never thought of soaping up without wasting water until reading about “Navy Showers” at Tree Hugger. Now I stick to a quick spray, shutting the water off and then soaping up. Not only are my showers faster, but I am saving a lot of water by not leaving the shower running. The TreeHugger articles says:
   

   [A] typical shower takes as much as 230 L (60 US gallons) of water, while taking a navy shower can use as little 11 L (3 US gallons); one person can save 56,000 L (15,000 US gallons) per year!

   It is a bit tough to give up enjoying a constant flow of hot water but my green angel on my shoulder tells me I am doing the right thing and that feels great.

2. Disposable containers: I see people with coffee cups everyday and it makes me cringe. Read the rest of this entry »
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When I think of donations many things come to mind. Donation jars at grocery stores to help pay for various treatments, writing checks to support organizations, and even giving money to a homeless person on the street. These methods all have their strengths and weaknesses but share some common flaws. What if someone really wants to have an impact but doesn’t know if they can afford to give much money or can not volunteer? One solution is loaning money, however how much trust and reliability is there in getting money back? It might be easy to get money back from a local family or a friend, but what if you want to help someone struggling states, countries or continents away?

Microfinance has risen as a new way to help people but, at the same time, allow people to secure their own finances. Read the rest of this entry »

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
-Buddha

Photo credit: lakerae

Reducing the Earth to 100 people to explain facts about world population is not a new idea, but I have never seen it as effective as is shown on The Minature Earth. A flash short movie, it is eye opening and helps you grasp numbers that often are incomprehensible for our minds to scale. Not the happiest movie, but I thought it was worth sharing, if to only open your mind up a hair more for the day. Enjoy!

Direct link to movie.