Featured, Sustainable Living

How to Spur Self-Growth When Traveling

Self-growth requires planning, goal-setting, reflection, and self-awareness. You grow by challenging yourself and going out of your comfort zone. That’s why traveling fosters personal development.  When you travel, it makes you more independent, creative, and empathetic whether you are relocating or taking a vacation. In addition, it’s a way to improve your patience, global awareness, ...

Nathan Machoka

A woman standing on railraod tracks with a suitcase.

Eczema Warriors and Their Battle Against the Skin Condition

Living with the chronic skin condition eczema can be a tough battle. But if you struggle with this, you should know that you are not alone. There are many other eczema warriors out there. Eczema can flare up in any part of the body. It makes the skin dry, reddish, itchy, cracked, and scaly. When a ...

Mike West

A person with eczema on their hands.

Is Van Life for You? 

Are you thinking about packing it all up and living the van life? Over the past decade, van life has grown in popularity. Many people choose to live in vans to have more freedom, travel more, or save expenses on home rental. It must be a dream not to have to pay rent to live, ...

Haidene Go

A couple with their rigged-out van.

In China, Doing a Good Deed Can Lead to Misery

“The Farmer and the Snake” is one of Aesop’s Fables, which contains many lessons and great wisdom. As this story goes, on a chilly winter’s night a farmer found a frozen snake along the roadside. The man took pity on the snake and put it on his chest to warm it up. When the snake ...

Tatiana Denning

Wood engraving from 'The farmer and the snake.'

Britain’s Most Generous Plumber Provides Free Assistance to the Elderly

A plumber in England is being called Britain’s kindest plumber after establishing a social enterprise that has aided over 2 million of the country’s most vulnerable citizens. Who is this hero? James Anderson, 54 years old, operates Depher (Disabled & Elderly Plumbing & Heating Emergency Repairs), a community interest firm that provides significantly discounted services ...

Ratul Saha

Plumber James Anderson with a customer.

A College Trio’s Genius Recycling Program In New Orleans

In 2020, New Orleans was greeted with a game-changing glass recycling initiative led by a team of three college students. The team of three comprised Franziska Trautmann, Max Steitz, and Max Landy, all of whom are founders of Plant the Peace. As part of their advocacy for a healthier world, they devised a genius recycling program ...

Mike West

Glass bottles for recycling.

10 Ways to Overcome Despair

As anyone who has experienced it firsthand can attest, despair is a fearsome foe. It drains our energy and motivation, tells us that we are unworthy of happiness, and threatens to engulf us. Despair is the kind of emotional pain that feels impossible to escape from. And yet, somehow, people do find their way out ...

Raven Montmorency

Signs for hope and despair.

A Brief History of Hot Dog Diplomacy

So, what is hot dog diplomacy? And how did the hot dog come to be a White House diplomatic symbol? The story goes like this:  In 1939 — when the war drums were sounding across Europe — the British royalty visited the American president Franklin D. Roosevelt. And this journey included a visit to FDR’s ...

Nathan Machoka

Man holding an American hot dog.

How Pearl Meat Became the Freshest High-End Ingredient in Australia

Who would have thought that the once unremarkable pearl meat would one day be sold at AU$200 per kilo? Now, when you’re cracking into a pearl oyster, you’re presented with two treasures: the shimmering splendidness of the pearl itself and the luxurious delicacy of the fleshy oyster muscle.  Pearl farming was Australia’s most valuable aquaculture ...

Arianne Ayson

An oyster with a pearl and pearl meat.

Why Short Videos Are Taking Over the Internet

Millions of people have flocked to social media, so it’s no surprise that apps such as TikTok and Facebook have become mainstream today. People of all ages across different countries are well-familiar with the biggest social media brand names, like YouTube, Tiktok, and Facebook. Images and text posts still work quite well on social media. ...

Mike West

Instagram Reels.