Direct Action

Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty

- Adam Clare 3 Comments


Today is Blog Action Day 2008 and this year the topic is poverty. Over 10,000 sites are participating to discuss poverty, and yes this site is one of them.

here’s some good news on poverty from Asia:

Asean countries have made strong progress in reducing extreme poverty and hunger in the region, said Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Yu-Foo Yee Shoon.

She said a recent report completed by researchers under the Asean-Australian Development Programme showed Asean countries had been able to reduce poverty among its populations.

Speaking at the 6th Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication here Monday, Yu-Foo said although there were still considerable differences across some member countries, all 10 member-countries of the regional association aimed at achieving goals set by the United Nations to combat global poverty.

Election Day in Canada – Go Vote!

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Yes, it ‘s finally here! All Things Are Good Canadian readers need to make sure they vote today. If you don’t know where exactly to vote check out elections.ca. It’s not a difficult task to vote since you don’t even need to be registered.

Remember that the most important thing you do today (if not this year) is to vote for the environment.

I Vote Toronto Wants New Torontonians to Vote

- Adam Clare

I Vote Toronto is all about getting people who live in Toronto to show their support for their city and democracy come voting day. I Vote Toronto wants to help people new to Toronto (and those unfamiliar with the Canadian electoral system) figure out how to vote. Canada’s federal election is happening on Oct. 14th and hopefully people will vote showing respect for each other and vote for a party that looks to help the people of Canada.

From their website:

I Vote Toronto is a coalition of individuals and organizations who believe in creating a more inclusive and representative city. Our coalition consists of community centres, settlement and integration services, social justice groups, employment agencies, environmental organizations and concerned residents from all areas of Toronto. While the coalition represents many different interests, we are united in our understanding that Toronto’s electoral process must reflect the makeup of its residents.

The I Vote Toronto campaign will engage communities all across Toronto, building awareness and providing the facts about immigration, integration, civic engagement and the health of our neighbourhoods. We will then make our case to provincial and municipal politicians, and urge them to update our voting laws, which currently leave hundreds of thousands of Torontonians without a voice.

Local Currencies Have a Good Return

- Adam Clare

Doulgas Rsuhkoff is guest blogging on boing boing and today he wrote a neat post on his small town. A restaurant owner there is trying to expand, but in order to do so he needs to raise cash. The owner turned to the community instead of a bank by selling local credit.

So Halko’s idea is to sell VIP cards. For every dollar a customer spends on a card, they receive the equivalent of $1.20 worth of credit at either restaurant. If I buy a thousand dollar card, I get twelve hundred dollars worth of food: a 20% rate of return on the investment of dollars. Halko gets the cash infusion he needs to build the new restaurant – and since he’s paying for it in 20% tab adjustments, it just comes out of profits. He gets the money a lot cheaper than if he were borrowing it from the bank, paying back in cash over time. Meanwhile, customers get more food for less money.

But wait, there’s more: the entire scheme refocuses a community’s energy and cash on itself. Because our money goes further at our own restaurant than a restaurant somewhere else, we are biased towards eating locally. Since we have a stake in the success (and the non-failure) of the restaurant in whose food we have invested, we’ll also be more likely to promote it to our friends. And since we have already spent a big chunk of money on Comfort’s food, we’re more likely go get food there than dish out more cash for a meal somewhere else.

Grow Your Own Food in a Small Space

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

A grow box is a small container that can be used to create a large quantity of food, the people over at Eat Drink Better have guides to create your own grow box.

With a small amount of space, a nominal investment in supplies, and a little bit of sunlight, you too can have delicious, fresh produce at your fingertips in the middle of the city, the country, or even (gasp!) the ‘burbs! Oh, and you’re going to be pulling CO2 out of the air and fixing it in a very delicious form.

If you want to affect global climate change, why not do it through fresh, homegrown food? Oh, and if you live in USDA plant hardiness zones that have double digits, you might be able to do this until November or later. Lucky!

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