RelayRides: Your Neighborhood “Hertz”

Is your thumb getting tired as you wave it around on the side of the highway? Sick of not having your own wheels? Do you just so happen to live in San Francisco? Well, if you answered “yes” to all of the above questions, have we got the program for you!

RelayRides is the California-based (figures) car-sharing program that unites vehicle owners with eager people who want to drive their cars! In other words, instead of paying for an over-priced cab ride or deal with the hassle of catching a city bus, a person is able to borrow a car from someone in their community for only $6 an hour.

Sounds too good to be true? We thought so too! But, Shelby Clark, a Harvard Business School graduate, management consultant, former Kiva.org executive and founding CEO of RelayRides can reassure people that the program makes perfect sense!

Gas and a $1 million insurance policy covering theft and accidents is provided for drivers and the owner’s of the vehicles in the program. Also, online registration initiates driving record approval of applicants. After signing up, approved applicants will receive membership information and access to reserve a nearby car for a few hours or even days.

What’s even cooler is that awkward car key swaps between strangers are now obsolete. When the member arrives to the location of their “rented” car, he or she simply waves a card to the sensor on the driver’s side of the windshield and the door automatically is unlocked paving the way to most coveted item of all: the car keys.

The members aren't the only one reeling in the benefits of RelayRides. The owners of the rented cars have the potential to earn up to $8,000 annually! Plus, if the model works, fewer cars will be on the road which translates to less traffic and cleaner air. You see? We all win!

Since RelayRides is still in its pilot stages, we cannot be sure whether it will take off or stall out. Regardless of its destiny, the inspiration behind the idea is sure to accelerate us to a greener, more sustainable future! Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com, relayrides.com


Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

A “Snapshot” of Insurance Discount Heaven

Everyone is trying to save a buck these days...and understandably so. That’s why Progressive Insurance has developed a new, innovative way to give their customers discounts known as the “Snapshot” program.

The self-described program entails a Progressive customer plugging a device into his or her car which then will display over time whether he or she is a responsible driver. If the device is in favor of the user’s motor skills, then he or she could receive up to 30% off insurance rates!

The main underlying purpose of the “Snapshot” program is to allow Progressive to collet and compile data on its customers' driving habits over a span of thirty days. The devices themselves, which literally are the size of the palm on your hand, plug into the car’s on-board diagnostic port and track a specific user’s behavior such as, when the user is driving, how often the user drives, and tracks how frequent a user makes sudden stops.

However, there’s one small catch. The drivers who receive the largest discounts are the ones who travel during times when accidents are less likely and who spend less time behind the wheel overall. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Since when has an insurance company actually wanted to take on extra risks? After all, isn’t that the point of the “Snapshot?”

Regardless of the reasoning behind the honest device, if it promotes responsibility on both sides of the equation then perhaps it’s a step in the right direction. And isn’t that what “progression” is all about? Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: mashable.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Mission Impossible 4: Starring Mother Nature!

Mother Nature is a stoic entity. Even in the most barren of places where life simply cannot thrive, over time she manages to trump even the most saavy of scientists.

One amazing example of Mother Nature’s fortitude began in 2005 when scientists from the Technical University of Munich began to analyze a rarity in today’s progressive world: a natural, blank canvas.

The test began with a coal mine that became inactive. The scientists then covered the cratered coal pit with with a clay layer which in turn, formed a water basin. Their plan involved a whole lot of nothing. No fertilizer would be used, no seeds were planted, and no organism was artificially cultivated. The scientists’ plan was to simply, sit back and wait.

Soon enough, scientists began witnessing something they had not anticipated they would see for over twenty years: life!

After only five years trees and flowers have encompassed the once barren region. In fact, the scientists have hypothesized that this sudden greenery should result in a forrest during the next twelve years (which is how long the study is scheduled to run).

Nevertheless, the simple question of how this transformation could happen so fast is being argued with no definitive cause being pinpointed. One thing is for sure, Mother Nature is as certain as she is adaptable with the ability to flourish within the impossible. Now that’s a heck of an inspiration for all to live by. Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Make Music, Not War

In a city paralyzed by a civil war between drug cartels, Cuidad Juarez is desperately searching for a hero. A dozen people per day are fatally injured in a body count that has reached over 7,200 since late 2008. Something’s got to give...

Funny enough, Cuidad Juarez has found a hero in a former heroine addict. Alma Rosa Gonzalez, a native of the troubled city, has started a youth orchestra in hopes that it will keep the children from falling victim to (or joining) the perilous gang life.

The kids in Gonzalez’ orchestra aren’t strangers to poverty and struggle. They rehearse in a school built on a garbage dump. Recently, two of the school’s classrooms collapsed, and eight people were murdered at a neighboring rehabilitation center by the Mexican Blood gang.

However, parents are continuing to send their kids despite the threats as they view the orchestra as an opportunity for their children to strive and improve. In a city of 1.5 million, making a big change comes from the small, minuscule ones. In fact, Gonzalez has already begun her march to victory. On December 19, seventy of her students will come together to hold a Christmas concert with music by Bach and Handel. Come one, come all...tis‘ the season to turn your life around. Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Out With the New, In With the Old!

The world’s favorite coffee cup just got greener! Starbuck’s has recently unveiled its plan to turn it’s old, previously used coffee cups into new ones.

In fact, Starbucks is so confident in its green thinking that it plans to provide only recyclable or reusable cups by 2015 and has run various recycling projects concerning the “reusability” of its old unwanted cups.

The recent six-week project involved about 8,000 pounds of cups collected in Ontario (where the coffee mogul has already begun it’s improved greener plan) that were then sent to Mississippi River Pulp, the company that provides the post-consumer content that’s been in Starbucks’ cups since 2006. Today, all of Starbucks’ cups have just ten percent of recyclable content. Tomorrow, Starbucks plans to go all the way!

Why the push for reusable coffee cups? Simple, Starbucks wants to cut down on waste. Only a small fraction of the four billion cups that the company produces annually end up somewhere OTHER than a landfill. What’s even more disappointing is that only cities like Toronto, Seattle, and San Francisco offer recycling or composting. Everywhere else, the cups go directly to the trash can.

Finding more recyclers to take coated cups would not only translate into an innovative solution for Starbucks, but for the fifty-eight billion other paper cups used every year throughout the US. Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: greenbiz.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Care-Wear: How Innovation Gives Us That “Warm and Fuzzy” Feeling

While most college students are out partying and hoping they’ll be awake in time for the next day’s afternoon lecture, Veronika Scott is quite the exception!

A junior at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Scott is fabricating a garment with the city’s 18,000 plus homeless people in mind.

The Element S(urvival) Coat is a self-heated and waterproof jacket that also has the capacity of transforming into a sleeping bag. Anticipating the cold harsh Michigan weather that loom ahead, the ESC couldn't have come at a more opportune time for the needy this holiday season!

So how exactly does this wonder coat heat itself? It’s quite simple really! The jacket is made from the same stuff that keeps your house warm this winter: insulation. The outside of the garment is lined using Tyvek home insulation while the inside contains a winter-season favorite, polar fleece.

Carhartt, a Dearborn based work clothing company was so impressed with the design that they kindly donated an industrial sewing machine, 300 yards of lining, thread, cutters and pattern material. This donation should cover the first twenty five coats which Scott will eagerly hand out upon their creation.

Scott has deemed her project, The Empowerment Plan,”where she will put the homeless to work in making the coats with the sole benefit of being able to keep them when they’re finished. Both parties win, and no one goes cold...Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Trading Silence for Money: The Upcoming Death of Your Twitter Feed

Kim Kardashian will die on the first of next month! Yes, you read correct. The breathtaking beauty who stops hearts with her astounding looks and infectious reality show will soon cease to exist; that is, unless she can raise enough money and awareness in the name of HIV/AIDS.

And by “die” we don’t mean literally (duh!), but in a more virtual sense. On December 1, 2010 celebs from all over the social media map will go silent on their feeds to mark AIDS day, and will remain so until the public raises $1 million for the charity Keep a Child Alive. In laymen’s terms, “the rich and famous want you to ‘buy’ their lives back.” Well, what’s new?

Aside from Kim, what other celebrities are on the virtual “hit list?” Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Seacrest, Usher, Willow and Jaden Smith, Serena Williams, Katie Holmes, and Elijah Wood will all soon meet their virtual maker, so to speak.

Alicia Keys is the mastermind for such a worldly cause. An avid supporter of the Keep a Child Alive charity, Keys hopes to raise funds for medication and patient care services to children and families in Africa and India who are directly affected by HIV/AIDS.

So folks, on Wednesday grab your smartphones and donate $10 by texting BUYLIFE to 90999. Your donation will not only help mend the future for a child and his or her family, it will bring normalcy back to your Facebook and Twitter feeds. Have YOU helped save the world today?


For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Lean Money: A Greener Way to Live

Think about everything you do in a day. Wake up, head to Starbucks for the season’s newest latte trend, stop by the gas station to fill up your SUV, head to the supermarket to pick up some groceries for dinner, then head back home to do it all over again. Now, imagine doing this all on a miserly budget of $1.37! Impossible you say! We think not! According to Ales Cerin, “nickel and dime-ing” has become a better and greener way of life.

The Slovenian father of four has been living on 1.01 Euros per day for a little over two months now. What makes his consumerism martyrdom so astonishing is that he is hoping to raise awareness about global poverty in the developing world and Western over-indulgence.

How does he do it you ask? Cerin starts and ends his day in his elaborate garden where he grows apples, leeks, chicory, beans, salads, and peppers among other fruits and vegetables. Where his garden falls short he simply meanders to the next door farm where he purchases milk and forages through the nearby forrest for chestnuts.

While most of us in the western world don't have access (or time) to an ornate garden, we can certainly admire the motivation behind Ales Cerin’s notable undertaking. Think about this for a moment: While we are constantly counting calories and investing in trendy diets, why not donate the extra calories we’re extracting from our plates to those who inherently need them? How’s that for some food for thought? Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

A Man on a [Solar] Mission

Haidar Taleb, a disabled UAE native, has recently begun his two hundred mile journey across the desert of the United Arab Emirates on wheels. And not just any wheels: a solar-powered wheelchair he designed and built with his own two hands.

The reason influencing such a heroic journey? Taleb hopes to raise awareness of disability and sustainability, and to encourage other people with disabilities to continue their progress in achieving their dreams as individuals.

Occurring over the next eleven days, Haidar Taleb’s momentous journey will span across all seven emirates, eventually concluding in the capital of Abu Dhabi, December 2, 2010.

Developed in collaboration with Masdar (a renewable energy company in Abu Dhabi), Haidar’s wheelchair will hum down the roadways peaking at a hair-blowing twelve miles per hour. Being that there is no shortage of sun in the desert, one would not bet against the chair or it’s driver making it through such an arduous journey.

While setting out to not only send a message to the disabled and to add his name to history books, Haidar Taleb is demonstrating how to extract positivity out of every situation by taking matters into his own hands....or wheels. Have YOU helped save the world today?


For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Teaching Our Children Not To Take Candy From Strangers or Enjoy Rides From Elevators

First Lady Michelle Obama is taking her point of raising awareness for childhood obesity home.

On a stop in Newark, New Jersey, Obama played and raced with the kids from Maple Avenue School in hopes of gaining enthusiasm from our nation’s youth towards defeated this childhood epidemic.

The main point our First Lady is hoping to get across is that anyone and everyone has a role in combating obesity, no matter their background, race, or age.

Not only is she talking the talk, Obama is walking the walk...literally. Since their move into the White House over two years ago, the First Family has sworn off the elevator at their home in the White House. It just goes to show you that obesity knows no boundaries, borders, or bipartisanship. Have YOU helped save the world today?


For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

A Safer Way To Double Your Assets

Let’s be honest. We live in a world where reality blends voraciously with superficiality. People are constantly seeking ways to not only appear but feel younger and many will go to any length in order to achieve the promise from the fountain of youth. But what about those patients who are plagued with cancer? Those who in a plastic world, can only hold on to remnants of their past when they not only had a youthful body, but a healthy one. Have no fear, Dr. Chris Calhoun is here!

The forty-four year old San Diego native, CEO of Cytori Therapeutics, has come up with an unconventional method of tissue engineering. This discovery could well be one of the most momentous medical advances of the 21st century: the use of stem cells. And not just any stem cells-specifically stem cell enriched adipose (fat) tissues which will be used to enhance, heal, and eventually rebuild damaged organs.

The first industry Calhoun plans to conquer is a popular one: female breast augmentation. Now, women with breasts mutilated by surgery-in addition to those simply unhappy with their natural assets-can grow a new and improved pair, with raw materials harvested from their own body fat!

But breast augmentation is simply one development in the company’s widely ambitious plan: to introduce stem cell medicine to the mass market-and NOT using the ethically fraught kind of cells extracted from human embryos. This translates into panaceas for those threatened by chronic heart disease, heart attacks, kidney damage, etc. We hope Calhoun and his inventive team succeed, because in doing so they won’t just be creating more cleavage! Have YOU helped save the world today?


For more information, visit: wired.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Will the Real “Spiderman” Please Stand Up?

Gone are the days of archaic telethons to raise money for a philanthropic cause. No, today people are going to great lengths to earn a buck in the name of their favorite charities!

One brave fellow in particular, Nick Le Souef is literally putting his life on the line in hopes of raising $50,000 for Variety, a children’s charity. So what could possibly be so mind-boggling insane that could raise this exorbitant amount in such a short period of time?

For a three-week period, the sixty-seven year old Aussie plans to live in a shop window along with some pretty scary roommates: hundreds of poisonous and deadly spiders. Four hundred deadly, eight-legged, creepy, crawly, venomous spiders to be exact.

And if the spiders weren’t enough, Le Souef will also be sharing his 12-foot-by-4-foot window with America’s favorite pest: the cockroach. Being that the cockroach also plays the role of the spiders’ favorite snack, it was only fitting to invite the crunchy insect into the charitable festivities.

As I type, the courageous (and partly crazy) Nick Le Souef has started his twenty-one day suicide as of Monday. Whether the real-life spider whisperer makes it out alive, only time will tell. One thing is for sure, Le Souef’s experience has given a brand new meaning to the title,“ The Little Shop of Horrors!”Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Marvin Gaye and The Ocean Do Not Mix

Back in the day, whale mating was a conducted like whispered poetry. Now however, due to a progressively changing world, whale’s courtship is performed in hollered prose! Does this ring a bell to you?

Because of the heightened amount of undersea oil excavation, shipping traffic and wind farms, the endangered North Atlantic right whales are having to practically scream their mating calls, in order to avoid being silenced forever.

In fact, their call is over ten times louder than that of fifty years ago! In an effort to adapt to this new bustling environment, studies are showing that the whales’ “upcalls” have become less intricate and are repeated more often-sort of like “a human being forced to shout.”By emitting much louder noises or calling at a higher frequency, the whales are demonstrating their need for room in an environment that’s slowly cramping their space...and their love lives.

Scientists are noticing a similar pattern in oceans all over the world and are warning that sooner than later, the whales aren't the only ones who will be hitting the high notes. Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

“You Can’t Hug Your Children With Nuclear Arms”

In the nuclear arms race, there are no winners. While over ten countries (that we know of) have admitted to developing nuclear weapons, only one has voluntarily dismantled its deadly bombs.

After voluntarily disengaging its weapons program, and therefore decreasing a government-sanctioned Armageddon by over ten percent, South Africa used its leftover nuclear fuel to produce advanced medical isotopes.

Used by doctors for today’s imaging technology, molybdenum-99 (moly) is used in eighty percent of the fifty million nuclear medical procedures performed on an annual global scale. This is the same element that in it’s previous vocation, was primarily utilized in creating deadly nuclear arms.

In a courageous and game-changing move, South Africa is exemplifying what it takes to be a true world power. By changing their course from destruction to salvation, South Africa is demonstrating how disarmament can lead to true empowerment. Have YOU helped save the world today?


For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

The Irreplaceable Life of the American Soldier

“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” Today all over the country, people took time out of their daily lives to reflect on these famous words once said by the Argentine writer, Jose Narosky.
Celebrating and giving thanks to the many lives of soldiers lost, and the 21 million that are still alive, Americans experienced a multitude of ways to show their gratitude towards America’s realest heroes.

From the parades in the Big Apple and in Portland, Maine, to the speeches made by historical and iconic individuals recounting their past war-time experiences in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, Americans spent the day living vicariously through these courageous men and women.

Brushfire would also like to extend a whole-hearted “thank you” to our nation’s veterans. It is from their suffering that we prevail; from their hard work and toil that we can rest comfortably; and from their love that we shall know no hate. Happy Veterans Day America! Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: www.csmonitor.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Why Gaining Weight Could Help Save the World!

Saving the world takes time, effort, and most of all, a hefty appetite! According to author Jonathan Bloom, Americans exorbitant waste of food is helping to aid in the demise of our planet! In his book, American Wasteland, Bloom says that on any given day Americans waste enough food to fill the Rose Bowl! Every. Single. Solitary. Day.

And if that poignant fact isn't enough to scare you into eating more, think of this: Not only are we wasting food, we are wasting fossil fuel. Think about it: everything that goes into growing the food, processing it, transporting it to the store and into your home, followed by the energy you use just by storing it in the fridge. But wait, there's more.

Unfortunately, according to Bloom our waste doesn't stop there. What ever happens to the food after we chuck it in the trash can? It takes a lot of energy to get your untouched food to the landfill. Once it arrives, it eventually decomposes, which then creates methane-a greenhouse gas that traps an abundance of heat-and becomes yet another contributor to our capricious climate change.

To put it in even realer terms, Bloom cites the previous BP oil spill that took nearly three months to clean up (and counting). The amount of food that is wasted in America ALONE each year is seventy times the amount of the oil that spilled into the Gulf!!! Kind of makes you lose your appetite doesn't it? Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information visit: www.takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG

Can You Dig It?

Finally! Someone has figured out how to out-live a bullet wound thanks to the one and only...shovel!?

Pedro Reyes, hailing from Culiacan, Mexico-which happens to boast the highest rate of gun-related deaths in the country-has figured out how to transform the “agents of death into the seeds of life.”

In his courageous campaign Palas Por Pistolas (“Shovels for Guns”), the Mexican artist collected some fifteen hundred firearms, which he eagerly smashed with a steamroller. Following the guns overtly public demise at the hands of Reyes, they were turned over to a foundry where they were melted and ultimately re-shaped into shovel heads.

Since his public display of hatred towards guns, Reyes has been distributing the shovels to art institutions and schools all over San Francisco, Vancouver, and Paris, where they have found a much different use in their afterlife: planting trees.

Being perceived as someone who has the ability to uncover the positives from the failures of modern society, Reyes seems more like a living deity rather than a omniscient artist. How’s that for a “smoking gun?” Have YOU helped save the world today?

For more information, visit: takepart.com

Want to become a Social Firestarter? “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ BrushfireMG