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Farmer Rescues Kittens From Flood With Broom Handle and Baby Wipe Box

By
McKinley Corbley
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This 24-year-old farmer might be the new Macgyver after he rescued two kittens from rising flood waters with just a broom handle and baby wipes container.

Duncan Bridges and his stepdaughter had just entered their Sheffield, New Brunswick farmhouse on Thursday morning when they heard a faint mewing coming from inside the walls.

Bridges leapt into action, prying off two of the boards and shining his flashlight into the wall’s interior.  Sure enough, there were two small kittens stuck on the ground between the walls – and the space had already filled with 4 to 5 inches of water.

WATCH: Baby-Whispering Cat Strokes Baby To Sleep With Its Paw

The farmer quickly created a makeshift bucket out of half of a water gallon attached to a string, but it proved unsuccessful. He then struck a broom handle into a plastic baby wipes box and scooped the kittens out of the water.

He later escorted the newborns to the Oromocto SPCA for treatment and care.

“I’m thinking that [the mother] had the kittens in there, went out to find food, and the water came up so quick she couldn’t get back in,” Bridges told CBC. “They needed somebody that knew what they were doing with them. It was a stress off my shoulders.”

(WATCH the video below)

 

Click To Share This Pawesome Story With Your Friends – Photo by CBC

Woman Donates $20,000 to Repair Anne Frank Memorial

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Good News Network
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It is not the dastardly acts that define this community – it is the kindness that reportedly follows.

The Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial was vandalized earlier this week with hateful graffiti. While Boise police investigate the incident, however, one city resident is stepping up to help.

RELATED: “Every person deserves to rest in peace” – Muslims Help Repair Vandalized Jewish Cemetery

Dena Gray may be a Christian woman, but she was still mortified by the anti-Semitic language used on the memorial. So when the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights gave a $20,000 estimate for the repairs, Dena was happy to pick up the bill.

“When I finally saw a figure that they said it was going to take, I jumped on it. I had the money to do it and I thought what better place to spend it?” Gray told KTVB. “You can’t sit back and let things like this happen or you’re just going to end up in a mess, and I just felt that somebody’s got to do something.”

(WATCH the video below)

 

Click To Share The Inspiring News With Your Friends – Photo by KTVB

Saudi Woman Defies Driving Ban to Save Man’s Life

By
McKinley Corbley
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This Saudi Arabian woman is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of a bus driver who suffered a stroke while on the job.

Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are not allowed to drive – but that didn’t stop 20-year-old Ashwaq al-Shamri from getting behind the wheel to save her bus driver’s life.

Ashwaq and her female friends were being transported home from university when the driver said that he felt dizzy. When he suddenly pulled over, the girls leapt into action, helping him off of the bus and running to a nearby store to get him cold water.

CHECK OUT: Guy Sacrifices Tesla to Save Unconscious Driver, Elon Musk Offers to Repair It

Because the nearest hospital was miles away, Ashwaq drove the man to his house where his family was able to transport him the rest of the way.

The student says that her father taught her how to drive when she was a youngster so she could help out on their farm. Her father, upon hearing the news of her rescue, was extraordinarily proud of his daughter, according to The New Arab.

Many Saudi Arabian activists have rallied for the driving ban to be lifted, since the dated restriction survives only in the kingdom. Though there is no sign of the country allowing women to drive, they have been taking other small steps towards gender equality.

Earlier this week, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud announced that women will finally be allowed to work, study, and seek health care without needing a man’s consent. Additionally, the country held its first public election in which woman could vote and run for office. The election, which was held in December 2015, voted in 20 different women to public office.

Click To Share This Inspiring Story With Your Friends (Photo by Robert Reed Daly, CC)

Man Homeless For 33 Years is Overjoyed to Take First Hot Shower in New Home

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McKinley Corbley
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Rob Marriner had been homeless for 33 years – and he had not had a hot shower in over 10.

That all changed, however, when he moved into a cozy Sunnyvale, Auckland home in New Zealand earlier this week with a flatmate.

The 54-year-old had been living on the streets since 1984, restlessly sleeping in alleys, looking for food, and surviving how he could. But after working with Taniwha Tales, an organization that helps homeless people find their place in society, Rob finally has a home to call his own.

RELATED: Couple Gives Back to Homeless Man Who Offered His Coat in the Cold

According to Stuff New Zealand, Rob stood under the hot spray of the shower head until the water ran cold. Then, he took a 9 hour nap – the longest uninterrupted sleep he has had in decades.

Rob was reportedly so confused by home living, he ate cold pie during his first night in the residence because he couldn’t figure out how to turn on the oven.

“We left our pies in the oven for two hours and still ended up having them cold,” Rob told Stuff NZ. “I did not know there was a switch.”

Though it will take some adjustment to get used to his new home, Rob said that having his own home is not a luxury that he is going to take for granted.

(WATCH the video below)

 

Click To Share This Sweet Story With Your Friends – Photo by Stuff NZ

Virus That Caused a State of Emergency in Brazil is Now Cut by 95%

By
McKinley Corbley
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By Aedes Albopictus, public domain

Due to almost a full elimination of recorded Zika cases, Brazil has just announced on Thursday that the virus is no longer an official public health crises.

Zika wasn’t connected as the cause of microcephaly until 2015, when the government recognized the virus as a full-on epidemic. Microcephaly, which is shown to cause birth defects, an enlarged head, and stunted speech in newborns, affected thousands of children after the initial outbreak.

According to Brazil’s Ministry of Health, there have been 95% less reported Zika cases in the country during 2017, as opposed to 2016. Sources say that there have only been 7,900 reported cases between January and April of this year, as opposed to the 170,500 cases reported during the same period in 2016.

RELATED: New Alzheimer’s Vaccine Could Be As Common As The Flu Shot

Though the accomplishment is cause for celebration, Brazilian officials say that they will not forget about the thousands of citizens who have already been affected by the virus, and they will continue fighting it until it is handled in its entirety.

“The end of the emergency does not mean the end of surveillance or assistance. The Ministry of Health and other entities involved including states and municipalities, will maintain their policy to combat Zika, dengue and Chikungunya,” stated the Secretary of Health Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Adeílson Cavalcante, according to sources.

Though there have been dozens of discovered methods that can be used to fight the virus, it is unclear which has had the most efficiency. Since the epidemic began in 2015, scientists used FDA-approved drug compounds to create a cure, a Filipino teen created an all natural and affordable mosquito repellant,  and the Brazilian government erected mosquito-killing billboards that smelled like humans.

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Vibrating Watch is Game Changer For People With Parkinson’s

By
McKinley Corbley
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This Microsoft worker was given the challenge of changing Emma Lawton’s life – and she did that by building a vibrating watch.

33-year-old Emma has Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that causes her hands to shake. Being a lifelong lover of sketching and writing, the diagnosis was heartbreaking for her.

Then Microsoft Research Innovation Director Haiyan Zhang was charged with inventing something that could help Emma draw again.

After months of research and development, Zhang finally finished designing the Emma Watch – a wearable device that contains tiny vibrating motors for canceling out the user’s hand tremors.

RELATED: Robo-Spoon Allows Disabled People to Eat With More Control

Emma’s first time using the device was aired in a BBC documentary series called The Big Fix. When she puts her pen to the paper without any shaking, she can’t help but burst into tears.

Though there is currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease, the Emma Watch is a huge breakthrough for dealing with its symptoms.

“I’m trying to figure out a way to move this forward, because I’ve got hundreds of messages from people who want the device for themselves or their family members,” Zhang told Microsoft. “That’s all the messages I get. I have close to 100 in my inbox, and then people contact me on Instagram, Twitter, on LinkedIn, on my blog, it’s just every whichway.”

(WATCH the video below)

 

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Fukushima Rice is Safe For the First Time Since Nuclear Disaster

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McKinley Corbley
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Japanese rice farmers have finally been able to plant their first crop of rice since the nuclear meltdown six years ago.

Three nuclear reactors in Fukushima were hit by an earthquake in March 2011, reportedly creating the worst nuclear accident since the incident in Chernobyl.

The evacuation order was listed in March, however, allowing farmers to start sowing rice on about 17 acres of land. Though the allotted farming area is only a fraction of the 1,700 acres used before the meltdown, rice farmers are reportedly excited to get back to work.

RELATED: Indian Farmers Harness the Monsoon Waters to Overcome Drought

The regional government is also supporting the resuscitated area by launching several initiatives that will help build stronger infrastructure around the fields development.

The harvested rice will be tested for radiation before being shipped off to consumers, but the crops have shown no sign of radiation since experimental crop testing first began in the year following the disaster, according to the Japan Times.

Plant Some Positivity: Click To Share With Your Friends (Photo by Héctor de Pereda, CC)

Brewing Company Has the Tastiest Solution for Food Waste

By
McKinley Corbley
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There is so much surplus bread being created in the UK every year, that homeless shelters can’t even take in any more loafs destined for the trash.

That’s why this brewing company has a delicious solution for their country’s food waste problem.

Toast Ale is a UK-based craft beer company that has created a tasty beer recipe that is made out of bread saved from landfills. The founder, food waste activist Tristram Stuart, makes sure that 100% of the proceeds go towards Feedback, a charity dedicated to stopping food waste and hunger worldwide.

Toast is so dedicated to ending food waste that they have even made their bread beer recipe available for free online.

RELATED: New USDA Guidelines Will Prevent Thousands of Pounds of Food Waste

The company has recently taken to Indiegogo in order to fund their expansion into America.

According to the crowdfunding page, over one third of fresh bread that is made in the United States goes straight from the oven to the landfill. The company hopes to divert at least 100 tons of bread from landfills in the next three years, which is the equivalent of saving 40 cars worth of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere.

Their $30,000 goal will fund the production of 31,000 gallons of beer at Toast’s new location in New York City starting in July.

(WATCH the video below)

 

Bottoms Up: Click To Share With Your Friends

Community Helps Blind Lady Who Spent Savings on Sick Miniature Guide Pony

By
McKinley Corbley
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Panda the miniature guide pony and her blind owner Ann Edie have been together for 14 years – so when Panda fell sick one year ago, her adoring companion spent thousands of dollars in order to save her.

For the last 12 months, Panda has suffered from intestinal blockage, pneumonia, and severe diarrhea. In order to survive the strenuous road to recovery, the pony has been in and out of the hospital for weeks at a time, wracking up over $30,000 in veterinary bills.

Ann wasn’t about to give up her beloved guide horse, so she and her retired husband tapped into their life savings in order to pay for the procedures.

RELATED: Thousands of Blind Dogs Get New Leash on Life With This Wearable Device

In a bid to help her desperate friends, Alexandra Kurland, the trainer who first paired Panda with Ann, started a YouCaring crowdfunding page with a goal of $10,000 to help pay for the medical bills.

Without hesitation, the community stepped up, donating thousands.

“Panda has been the best guide imaginable for me for the past 13 years. But she has been so much more than just a service animal,” says Ann. “She is so much more than just a means for letting me, as a blind person, travel smoothly and efficiently around my community. Her joy in her work and in her life always puts a smile on my face.”

“Thanks to our wonderful community of family and friends, we have been able to make a considerable dent in Panda’s vet bills, and we are feeling very optimistic about her prospects for health and happiness in the new year.”

(WATCH the video below)

 

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Amazon to Include Homeless Shelter Inside New Building

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McKinley Corbley
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The newest Amazon headquarters won’t just be the home of the best online shopping company – it will also be a shelter to 200 homeless women, children, and families.

The company announced yesterday that they will be dedicating 47,000 square feet of the new building to Mary’s Place – an organization that runs several homeless shelters in Washington.

“To have a permanent downtown Seattle location within Amazon is a game-changer for Mary’s Place and the families we serve,” said Marty Hartman, Executive Director of Mary’s Place. “We’ve loved being Amazon’s neighbor, and now the opportunity to move into their headquarters permanently is truly a dream come true. This unique, first-of-its-kind shelter will remind families that they matter and that their community wants to help them succeed.”

RELATED: Microsoft Co-founder Pledges $30M Towards Housing For Seattle’s Homeless

The families of Mary’s Place are due to move in with Amazon in 2020. The company boasts that their employees have spent a lot of time volunteering at the old Mary’s Place location, and the first-of-its-kind merger is suspected to encourage more workers to participate in shelter activities.

“Mary’s Place does incredible, life-saving work every day for women, children, and families experiencing homelessness in the Seattle community,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “We are lucky to count them as neighbors and thrilled to offer them a permanent home within our downtown Seattle headquarters – Amazon employees and Mary’s Place residents will move in together in early 2020.”

(WATCH the video below)

 

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Driver Saves 56 Kids in School Bus Seconds Before it Goes Up in Flames

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Good News Network
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If it weren’t for this bus driver’s quick-thinking, there may have been a disastrous tragedy inside this flaming school bus.

Teresa Stroble was dropping off 56 kids at their respective bus stops on Tuesday when two children in the back said that there was smoke coming from inside the vehicle.

Stroble pulled the bus over, and evacuated every last child on the bus, leading them to safety just seconds before the vehicle went up in flames.

RELATED: Teens Are Instant Heroes For Saving a Boy Who Fell Off a Cliff

The South Carolina school district’s superintendent Scott Turner recognized Stroble in a Twitter post shortly after the event, saying: “Hero!! Ms. Teresa Stroble … evacuated 56 students in under a minute. God bless her. So grateful for her quick action.”

Though the cause of the fire is unknown, pedestrians who witnessed the blaze reportedly said that they could feel the heat from all of the way across the street.

(WATCH the video below)

 

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Mosque Opens Its Doors to Stressed Parents Waiting in the Heat

By
McKinley Corbley
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Dozens of parents waiting on their students amidst examinations were waiting out in the sun without proper shade or hydration earlier this weekend – so this mosque opened their doors to them instead.

Hundreds of families arrived in Kerala, India on Sunday morning for their aspiring students to take the Central Board of Secondary Education’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (CBES NEET) – an entrance examination for youths planning to study certain government or medical courses.

Some of the parents who had to travel from farther away had left in such a rush, that they had forgotten to eat or drink anything for the journey – and since it was Sunday, no restaurants were open to cater to their needs.

Fortunately, Muhammad Navas and several of his friends were leaving the mosque across the street from the school when they saw the crowd of exhausted parents.

CHECK OUT: Mall Opens its Doors for Stray Dogs During Winter Storm

After asking around, the parents explained that they were waiting on their kids inside.

Muhammad, who happens to be the secretary of the foundation that runs the mosque, the Vadihuda Trust, opened the doors of the religious sanctuary and invited everyone inside, away from the sun. Muhammad and his friends called a friend of theirs who ran a nearby tea shop and asked if he could open the store and cater to the parents.

The secretary then got clean drinking water to serve throughout the day.

The gesture of kindness has garnered widespread applause on social media – especially in light of reports that dozens of students were unnecessarily harassed and frisked to prevent cheating on the exam. Four teachers have since been suspended for their ‘overzealousness’, and representatives of the CBES expressed their regret and apologies.

Click To Share The News With Your Friends (Photo by Yousuf Pulappatta Vynippadath)

Girls Show Adults How it’s Done: to Stop Using Styrofoam School-wide

By
McKinley Corbley
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These two 9-year-olds weren’t going to wait around for the adults to do something about their school’s waste problem – so they took matters into their own hands.

Lyla and Katie are both third graders at East Cooper Montessori Charter School in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. During one of their lessons, they learned about the negative effects of styrofoam on the environment – from how long it takes to biodegrade, to how much it contributes to landfills worldwide.

Mortified by how the cafeteria still used styrofoam trays instead of plastic, the kids wondered whether the school could simply buy a dishwasher and reusable dinnerware.

RELATED: 12-Year-old Girl Outsmarts Carjacker and Saves Little Sister

The girls spoke to the head chef about their dilemma. The chef then contacted the school district for a quote on the dishwasher. The price of both new plastic trays and a dish washing machine came to $10,000.

Unfazed by the sum, Lyla and Katie got to work – and with a little assistance from Lyla’s mother Eliza Hardman, who is also a school teacher at East Cooper, the girls kicked butt.

“I was thrilled to help! I wanted to make sure the girls had done their research, which they had,” Eliza told the Good News Network. “They had already talked to the school chef, who contacted the district about getting a quote for the dishwasher. They had also made posters to put around the school and a donation box for the front office. Then, after they wrote up their mission statement, and I saw how serious they were, I knew it was time for me to get involved.”

CHECK OUT: Boy Who Sent 3,500 Comic Books to Soldiers is Rewarded With Best Day Ever

Eliza created a GoFundMe campaign to help with the third grader’s goal – and they’ve already raised $1,500.

Though there’s still a long way to go, Lyla and Katie are turning heads with their gusto and determination.

“I am so proud of Lyla and the efforts she and her friend Katie have made to help their school. It’s inspiring to see two people so young make such a positive impact. Both girls have really big hearts and already are developing an awareness and concern for environmental and social issues, so to see them put their ideas into action is really exciting!”

Click To Share This Sweet Story With Your Friends (Photo by Eliza Hardman)

Morning Cup of Coffee Can Now Easily Create Biofuel

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Good News Network
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Future Americano, cappuccino, and latte drinkers could help produce the raw material for a greener biofuel that would reduce our reliance on diesel from fossil fuels.

Purpose-grown feedstocks (used to extract oils) for biodiesels are controversial because of the cost and the demand that they place on land and water. However, used coffee grounds, which have a high calorific value, offer a good low-cost alternative feedstock. However, most used coffee grounds are currently just dumped. In 2014 more than nine million tonnes of spent coffee grounds were sent to landfill.

Although a small number of businesses are using spent coffee grounds to make biofuels, researchers at Lancaster University have found a way to significantly improve the efficiency of the process, vastly increasing biofuel from coffee’s commercial competitiveness.

RELATED: These Logs of Coffee Grounds Are a Lifeline for Encamped Refugees

The chemical engineers have consolidated the existing multi-stage process into one step (known as in-situ transesterification), which combines extraction of the oils from the spent coffee grounds and the conversion of it into coffee biodiesel.

In the traditional process, manufacturers mix spent coffee grounds with hexane and cook the mixture at 60°C for between 1-2 hours. The hexane is then evaporated to leave behind the oils. Methanol and a catalyst is then added to make biodiesel, and a glycerol by-product – which also needs separating.

MORE: Good News For Pregnant Women Who Love Drinking Coffee

Lancaster University researchers, led by Dr. Vesna Najdanovic-Visak, found that they are able to combine the processes by using just methanol and a catalyst – removing the need for hexane altogether and saving on chemical waste. In addition, they also discovered that the optimal time for the process was 10 minutes to gain the same yield of oils from the spent coffee grounds – a significant reduction in time needed and associated energy costs.

“Our method vastly reduces the time and cost needed to extract the oils for biofuel making spent coffee grounds a much more commercially competitive source of fuel,” said Dr. Najdanovic-Visak, Lecturer in Lancaster University’s Engineering Department. “A huge amount of spent coffee grounds, which are currently just being dumped in landfill, could now be used to bring significant environmental benefits over diesel from fossil fuel sources.”

The process has the potential to enable 720,000 ton of biodiesel to be produced each year from spent coffee grounds.

(Source: Lancaster University)

Thanks A Latte For Reading: Click To Share With Your Friends (Photo by Rockindave1, CC)

Man With Down Syndrome Completes 33 Years of Dedicated Service in Fast Food

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Good News Network
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Daniel Lybrink has spent 33 loyal years working for a McDonald’s restaurant – so on Monday, in honor of his contagiously cheerful personality, the special employee was given a surprise retirement party.

Daniel, who has Down syndrome, has been working for the golden arches in Howell, Michigan since 1984 as a lobby manager.

RELATED VIDEO: Teen With Down Syndrome Shocked When Friend Uses Doritos to Ask Her To Prom

A neighboring branch in Brighton hosted the party joined by friends, family, guests, and employees. Everyone was encouraged to sign a memory album, so he could be reminded of all of his acquaintances in his golden years.

According to WHMI, Daniel will be moving to Lake Michigan with his roommates to kick back, relax, and roll in his retirement with his favorite outdoor activities.

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City of Atlanta Legalizes Tiny Houses

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Good News Network
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Tiny houses are now free to be erected within the city of Atlanta.

As a means of addressing affordable housing issues, the Atlanta City Council in Georgia just approved an amendment within their city zoning legislation that allows “accessory dwelling units.”

The amendment applies to two family residential neighborhoods within the city, eliminating the need for restrictions on the size of a housing structure. City ordinance previously required structures to be over 750 square feet.

CHECK OUT: Man Builds Tiny House for Homeless Woman Sleeping in the Dirt

A statement within the legislation reading: “accessory dwelling units without off-street parking on parcels without a curbcut or parcels without off-street parking” also implies that residents who don’t own a car are encouraged to move in to the city.

“The sky’s the limit to what’s possible,” Atlanta city councilman Kwanza Hall told Atlanta magazine. “It’s just up to us as a community to figure out what we want to do, what we envision in the future, and opening up as many possibilities as we can dream up.”

Click To Share This Big Story With Your Friends (Photo by Tiny House Scotland)

Watch College Grad’s Reaction When She’s Offered Job During Commencement

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Good News Network
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Some students might be worrying about how they’re going to land a job after they’re finished with school – but not this happy graduate.

Melanie Sanchez was in the middle of her graduation commencement ceremony when her phone rang.

When she saw that she didn’t know the number, she thought maybe it was the job offer that she had been waiting for.

RELATED VIDEO: Adorable Reaction of Little Girl’s Friends to Her New Pink Prosthetic

Though it’s technically not allowed, Melanie picked up the phone only to find that she was correct – she had been given a position as a marketing specialist with a Florida health care company.

Unable to contain her joy, Melanie’s reaction inspired her friend to film the excitement she was experiencing as one chapter of her life ended and another new one began.

(WATCH the video below)

 

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These Blobs May Be the Future of Plastic Water Bottles

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McKinley Corbley
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These funny looking globs might spell the end of plastic bottles polluting the ocean.

The Ooho! is an “edible water bottle” made entirely out of sustainable packaging.

Designed by London-based startup Skipping Rocks Labs, the biodegradable container is made out of a thin, flexible membrane composed of sodium alginate – a natural derivative of brown algae – and calcium chloride. It can be either ripped open, allowing the individual to drink the liquid out of the membrane, or simply consumed whole.

Each glob contains 250 ml each, costing only about 2 cents to make.

RELATED: Man Creates ‘Shoes That Grow’ So Poor Kids Don’t Outgrow Them

Skipping Rocks already designed the Ooho! in 2014, however they are now seeking funding on CrowdCube for the product’s large-scale manufacturing.

The startup is currently producing only about 2,000 Oohos! a day, but they start marketing the globule and music festivals and outdoor events next year.

With 1 billion plastic containers making their way into the ocean every year, Skipping Rocks hope that the Ooho! will be the new, cheaper alternative to convenient plastic packaging.

“I think a lot of the issue with sustainability and being greener is that it leaves the consumer out of the experience,” Sean Coary, a consumer behavior expert at St. Joseph’s University told The Christian Science Monitor. “If you buy a plastic bottle that is made of 30 percent less plastic, you really don’t experience your contribution to a greener society, whereas if you ‘eat’ your water bottle, you’re actually reminding yourself and consciously thinking of this step that you’re taking to be sustainable, to be greener, and that could have a more positive impact on the consumer.”

(WATCH the video below)

Click To Share The News With Your Friends (Photo by Ooho!)

UK’s First Zero Waste Store Just Opened – and it’s Wildly Popular

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McKinley Corbley
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Everyone knows the common saying “waste not, want not” – but this couple has taken it to a whole other level.

Nicola and Richard of Devon, England became tired of taking heaps upon heaps of their recycling to the city center. They were frustrated by the journeys back and forth, and surprised at just how much waste the two of them made.

Then, the couple got an idea.

“We had seen an article of a zero waste shop in Berlin, and thought what a great idea it was,” Nicola told the Good News Network. “This combined with our ever growing heap of ‘recycling’ at our apartment … made us want a different way to shop, and there wasn’t one- so we created one!”

MORE: Solar Water Wheels Prevent 1Mil Pounds of Trash From Entering Baltimore Harbor

Nicola and Richard opened the first Zero Waste Shop in the United Kingdom – and it has been wildly successful.

“All food (even liquids and nut butters) comes loose and gets put directly into the customers own reusable container,” says Nicola. “We reuse, reduce, or recycle as much of the packaging that we get as possible. We donate the large paper sacks to customers to use as mulching on their allotments and we reuse the plastic drums with each new order of our cleaning products company.”

The store is just as conscious about food waste as well – since the food isn’t pre-packaged, customers are also able to buy as much of a product as they need without having to worry buying to much and using it all before it goes bad. Plus, everything sold is organic;  the cleaning products are non-toxic; and the soap is locally hand-made.

CHECK OUT: New USDA Guidelines Will Prevent Thousands of Pounds of Food Waste

People have reportedly come from far and wide to check out the wares, which only serves to spread the message of conscious, responsible consumerism.

Though Nicola and Richard don’t plan on opening up any more stores – they are just one humble family, after all – they are working on putting out a downloadable PDF manual on how you can open up your own zero waste shop in your area.

“The opening of our shop has brought plastic pollution to the forefront of peoples minds. We have had emails thanking us for taking this step, people have expressed that it made them analyze their plastic usage, and that it has encouraged them to make changes in their lives. We feel we have also demonstrated to people that it takes just one person to make one change for it to have a huge impact.”

(WATCH the video below)

 

Click To Share This Tasty Story With Your Friends (Photo by Zero Waste Shop)

Boy Who Sent 3,500 Comic Books to Soldiers is Rewarded With Best Day Ever

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McKinley Corbley
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This 9-year-old boy loves comic books so much, he wanted to share his passion with American soldiers – and in return, they gave him a day that he won’t soon forget.

Carl is the mastermind behind Carl’s Comix: a website dedicated to comic book reviews and interviews. When one of his subscribers asked if he had ever thought about donating comic books to those in need, the 9-year-old had an idea.

Carl contacted Jennifer Myers of the Department Veterans Affairs and Veterans Benefits Administration, asking her if he could donate some of his comics to veterans and soldiers deployed overseas. After she said yes, Carl got to work collecting comics.

RELATED: Family of 6 Boys Donates Combined 17 Feet Of Hair After Friend’s Death

The boy called up a few of his friends and started asking for donations at a comic book show. Through his campaigning, Carl managed to accumulate 3,500 comic books – 300 of which were his own.

After donating several hundred of the books to Lyons Veterans Hospital in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, he then planned to bring several more boxes to the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Trenton.

“They felt really grateful for the donation because all of the books would go to veterans in the hospital who need something fun to read and something to cheer them up,” says Carl. “I was really happy that they were so excited about them.”

CHECK OUT: Teens Are Instant Heroes For Saving a Boy Who Fell Off a Cliff

When he arrived, however, he didn’t expect to be greeted with a hero’s welcome.

Several high-ranking officers were waiting to give him a VIP tour of the base. Carl was allowed to try on military gear and explore the inside of a plane and helicopter. Then, the officers awarded him 3 different medals of excellence in recognition of his kindness.

“They all gathered around and Commander Lowery said that she had a medal for me. I was so surprised when she handed me her coin of excellence. It made me feel very special and excited. Everybody who was outside applauded for me. I was so surprised I could barely stand!”

“Jennifer Myers spoke with me to make sure I understood what these coins meant and that I would always treasure them. We all hugged goodbye and thanked her for setting up such a special day. I do not think I have ever felt as special and welcome as everybody at Joint Base MDL made me feel!”

Click To Share This Sweet Story With Your Friends (Photo by Carl’s Comix)

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