Things Are Good

Second Harvest

In the spirit of the holiday season, it seemed appropriate to highlight a charitible organization that is making a difference to many in the Toronto area on a year-round basis. Second Harvest was founded in 1986, and is dedicated to ensuring that fresh food from GTA grocery stores and restaurants does not go to waste. Using six refrigerated trucks, the organization picks up high-quality fresh food and produce on a daily basis and delivers it within hours to over 230 community centres, shelters, breakfast programs, and drop-in centres across the city.

Second Harvest distinguishes itself from food banks in that it collects perishable foods, such as meat, milk, and vegetables. Its efforts help provide 13,000 meals each day to children, the elderly, women who are fleeing abuse, and the homeless.

In addition to its main program, Second Harvest undertook two other initiatives that are making a difference in Toronto. The Feeding Our Future program began in 1999, supplying lunches to inner-city children who were otherwise unable to attend free summer camps because their families could not afford to send a lunch along with them. Harvest Kitchens was launced in 2001 in four Toronto facilities, where unemployed individuals were trained in food preparation with the aim of giving them valuable skills to help them find jobs. The refrigerated trucks deliver raw food from donors to the kitchens, where folks are trained under the supervision of food service professionals.

Ramp up the Power

traffic Highway off ramps have started to generate power in England by using a speed hump in the road. Each time a car passes over the hump 10kw of energy is created by compression – so the heavier the vehicle the more energy generated.

Many local authorities in England have expressed interest in purchasing the Â£25,000 ramps to power street lights.

Congo Opts for Constitution

People in the Democratic Republic of Congo have voted for a new constitution in a recent referendum. The post-war constitution paves the way for national elections next year.

This is a big step for a nation that is plagued by violence and high in mineral resources. Next year’s elections would be the first free elections in forty years.

No Pain, Mo’ Gain

This month’s Scientific American contains an article about how testing chemicals for human safety is becoming both more effective, and less dependent on animal suffering. From the article:

Safety testing of household, agricultural and other chemicals as well as medical products traditionally uses many millions of animals every year in protocols that are often painful. New methods involving cell and tissue cultures, noninvasive imaging, or plain statistics are greatly reducing the need for, and the suffering involved in, animal testing. The new toxicology is more rigorously based on scientific evidence and can save time and money.

For more information, check out the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing.

Not Wasting Waste

Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka, the garbage is piling up in the streets and sewers, and that’s a good thing. A small company has started to use the methane created by the city’s organic waste and turning it into energy.

“By converting trash into organic fertilizer, they reasoned, small communities could sell it to farmers desperate for an alternative to soil-stripping chemicals. This would help clean city streets, increase crop yields and provide the urban poor with a steady stream of revenue.”