Malala Yousafzai’s Fight Continues: Nicholas Kristof–nytimes.com–9/26/15–Photo: Screenshot, Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Bea Johnson On Her Personal Crusade For The Zero Waste Home
By Pamela Burke/January 11, 2011
UPDATE 9/27/13: Bea’s book Zero Waste Home has recently been adapted and published in French. Zero Déchet just reached number one on Amazon in France. Congratulations, Bea!
UPDATE 1/10/13: Bea has just done a photo shoot for Martha Stewart’s magazine and has a new book coming out 4/9/13 on her zero waste lifestyle
Bea Johnson is taking the zero waste movement to a new level in Mill Valley, Ca. She doesn’t just want to “reduce, reuse and recycle.” Her goal is to get rid of packaging and waste altogether.
” I’ve learned that the less I have, the easier it is.” Bea Johnson
Her philosophy is to love, use, and know everything in her household and her motto “Refuse, refuse, refuse!” She says people aren’t willing to sacrifice today for a better future. Her Be Simpler business helps clients and friends make their lives less cluttered and wasteful.
Cheese, meat, and olives stored in jars that Bea brings to the store
Everyday I notice packaging that is becoming more and more difficult to open and dispose of. I wrote a short post last year on Bea and didn’t have the chance to speak with her. That story keeps getting a lot of interest on the EYE.
I had many questions for Bea from how she shops successfully with jars to what it’s like managing a zero waste house with a husband and two sons. We got to talk recently so she could explain to me just how she does it. And it’s quite amazing… [Read more…]
Roz Savage On Her Record-Breaking Row Across Three Oceans
UPDATE 5/9/12: Roz is about to set out to row from Newfoundland to London with Andrew Morris, 2587 miles in 60 days, to land in time for the 2012 Olympics. We wish you well, Roz!
UPDATE 3/3/12: Roz has just announced she will be rowing the North Atlantic to land in time for the Olympics in London.
TWITTER: @rozsavage
Adventurer and environmentalist Roz Savage is the first woman to row across the “Big Three” oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian. Even more impressive, she did it solo, in a 23-foot rowboat, without a support vessel.
“I have battled twenty-foot waves, sleep deprivation, self-doubt and depression, but I have never been happier.” Roz Savage
I interviewed Roz back in 2007 when she was launching her Pacific passage, and learned how she’d transformed herself from an ordinary office worker into a world-class ocean-rowing athlete. She’s accomplished quite a lot since then, having rowed more than 15,000 miles and spent nearly a year and a half of her life at sea.
Arriving Mauritrius after rowing Indian Ocean/Photo: Colin Leondardt-10/3/11
And she has the credentials to prove it. Roz now holds four world records for ocean rowing, and in 2010 was named Adventurer of the Year by the National Geographic Society. She was recently invited by the Queen’s royal command to a reception at Buckingham Palace.
I was thrilled to catch up with Roz recently at a coffee shop in San Francisco, just after she had set her new record by completing the last of her three ocean rows, the Indian Ocean crossing… [Read more…]
Gloria Feldt: Activist On Women Changing How We Think About Power
November 12, 2011
Gloria Feldt
Click to Listen
Gloria Feldt, renowned activist and media commentator; author of “No Excuses–9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power”
Carie Lemack On The 10th Anniversary Of 9/11 And Ending Terrorism
UPDATE 9/11/14: Thinking of Carie and her family today
UPDATE 9/10/13: Thinking of Carie and her family on this 9/11/13
UPDATE 9/10/12: Thinking of Carie and her family on this 9/11/12
By Stacey Gualandi/August 12, 2011
Facebook: globalsurvivorsnetwork
Twitter: globalsurvivors
It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since 9/11. I remember a panicked phone call I received that morning from my office. I went to work (for Inside Edition) and covered the events that unfolded, never fully comprehending what had taken place or how the country would move forward from such tragedy.
“My life’s mission is to live a life that my mom would be proud of. And that’s what I try to do everyday.” Carie Lemack
Now as we approach the tenth anniversary, we meet Carie Lemack, one woman who never stopped working tirelessly on behalf of survivors of terrorism and their families.
Her mother, Judy Larocque, was on American Airlines Flight 11 that tragic day. Carie’s devastating loss took her on an unprecedented journey to make sure no one else suffers as she has.
Carie visits London school to warn against extremism/2009
In 2009 she formed Global Survivors Network, an organization that helps people directly affected by terrorism to reach out across the globe in hopes of preventing future terror acts. Their first documentary short, “Killing in the Name,” received an Oscar® nomination last year. The film will be making its television debut on HBO this Fall.
UPDATE 9/9/11–“Killing in the Name” about one person’s mission to expose the true cost of terrorism debuts Sept. 14, exclusively on HBO2. It can be seen there on other playdates during September.
On the eve of the 10th anniversary, Carie spoke candidly to me about her loss, her work, and the new face of terrorism… [Read more…]
Maman Marie Nzoli, A Congolese Unsung Hero
By Amy Ernst, Contributing Writer and Photographer/Congo
I arrived in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo in April, 2010 from Chicago. I was introduced to Maman Marie Nzoli through a local Catholic priest who knew of my desire to help survivors of sexual violence. I work alongside COPERMA, the NGO that Maman founded in 1983, raising funds, doing identification of new survivors of rape, and helping arrange medical and psychosocial support for all victims of the war.
“I want so badly for the violence against women to stop.” Maman Marie
The work I do is miniscule compared to that of Maman Marie and the loyal COPERMA team. She has established 12 centers that have assisted thousands of men, women, and children over the years around Butembo.
Maman handing out food
Even though they often aren’t paid, Maman Marie and her team work tirelessly, never turning down anyone with need nor hesitating to go into a dangerous situation. They’ve subsisted mostly on selling potatoes cultivated by beneficiaries of COPERMA.
She’s an unsung hero and an endless inspiration to me. Here is what she told me recently in her small concrete office in Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo… [Read more…]
Ovarian Cancer Survivor Sharon Blynn Proves Bald Is Beautiful
Photo: Robin Emtage
By Stacey Gualandi
When Sharon Blynn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2000, she was a vibrant music executive living in New York City…and she was only 28 years old.
“One of the most profound teachings has been about learning to truly love myself at my deepest core.”
It was a devastating life-altering moment followed by three years of treatment and the demoralizing loss of her hair. She bravely shaved her head and eventually conquered this silent disease. Now eight years cancer-free, the actress and model chooses to remain bald.
Sharon at Revlon Run/Walk--Photo: Brad Ross/2008
In 2003, she created baldisbeautiful.org to redefine beauty and dispel the stigma of hair loss from cancer. As a result, Sharon inspires survivors and caregivers throughout the world. She is this month’s Revlon Role Model in an advertisement in People.
Sharon has a powerful message, and after meeting this one-woman ovarian cancer-awareness-advocate in person, it was easy to see her beauty, both inside and out… [Read more…]
Maryam Bibi Fights To Empower Women In Dangerous Northwest Pakistan
By Farzana Ali, guest blogger in Peshawar, Pakistan
Website: hotfrontiers.com
I was just a student in 1996 when I heard about Maryam Bibi’s activities in the press. Her mission as founder of Khwendo Kor, meaning “Sisters’ Home” and the threats she was receiving were known throughout Pakistan. Most of her community centers for women were under attack and her colleagues under fire.
“The vast majority of tribal females are still deprived of the basic rights of education, health, and clean drinking water.”
After 9/11 when I was a working journalist, Maryam BiBi was considered on the side of the U.S. against Muslims during the war on terror. Then I had a chance to meet her, talk to her and watch her leading the womenfolk during the rule of the six religious parties-based alliance MMA.
Maryam protesting for peace/2010
This self-made woman from Waziristan had no family, society, government or community support in the beginning, but now the world supports her. She has an important story to tell, and I found myself the best listener and transmitter for this iron lady of the region… [Read more…]
