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“Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world.” --Paulo Coelho
Hello everyone! This week we have a number of ‘firsts’ that are changing the world. Australia implemented an innovative national wellbeing dashboard in an effort to balance the country's social and economic objectives. The first cargo ship that runs on green energy has started its voyage from South Korea to Denmark. And low-cost bamboo homes that help mitigate the effects of the climate crisis are being built in Pakistan for families impacted by last year's floods. All around us are stories of creativity, innovation, and hope. May they invite us into a more expansive space and bring new possibilities for our future!
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Finn | Unsplash
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In an effort to develop stronger connections between social and economic objectives, Australia launched a "national wellbeing" dashboard" on July 21st. Updated annually, the dashboard will track and reflect data across five categories - sustainable, prosperous, cohesive, secure and healthy. Wayne Cole and Alasdair Pal from Reuters reported that according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, people have historically believed that social and economic objectives are in conflict with one another. However, the intention behind the new wellbeing dashboard is measure progress on social issues, alongside gross domestic product, employment and inflation. After the release of a 127-page government report titled "Measuring What Matters," Chalmers believes social and economic objectives "can be in concert and that is what the national wellbeing framework is all about."
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Maersk
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A new container ship sailing from South Korea to Denmark this summer is the first to run on green methanol -- made from methane captured from food waste at landfills -- which can cut a ship's emissions by 65-70%. Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping companies, ordered the ship two years ago, has another 25 on order, and is retrofitting older ships to use the fuel. By the end of the decade, Maersk --which operates more than 700 ships, and owns 300 of them -- plans to transport a quarter of its ocean cargo using green fuels. Globally, shipping is responsible for around 1 billion tons of CO2 emissions per year, and while other technology to cut emissions is being developed, Maersk chose to move forward with green methanol because it was feasible. Three years ago, no ships of this type were on order. Now five other major carriers are also buying them, with 120 in the works. The next challenge is scaling up fuel production and reducing the cost.
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Heritage Foundation of Pakistan
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A year ago, Shani Dana's mudbrick house was swept away in Pakistan's devastating floods. She was awaiting government money to rebuild when she heard that the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan was building one-room homes in neighboring Pono village. Then the foundation agreed to help her village and 50 new homes were built. HFP homes, made of fully cured bamboo, cost just 25,000 rupees. The lime in the plaster and bamboo absorb and store carbon from the air, helping mitigate effects of the climate crisis. "People are now turning to these low-cost materials that we have been working with for nearly two decades," says HFP project manager Naheem Hussain Shah. "Our design is open source, available free," says award-winning architect Yasmeen Lari. "We can also identify many trained master artisans. It is up to the government. We are there to further the cause." An essential part of her work is involving communities in the rebuilding process so they learn a trade. Local people collect the mud and rice husk, and provide the labor.
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Angell Ray
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Shayden Walker found friends in the most unlikely place when he went looking for them in Amarillo, Texas this past month. When Brennan Ray, 23, got a phone alert that someone was at his front door, he answered it through his Ring doorbell app. What ensued was a beautiful and authentic conversation between the two, with Walker earnestly sharing that he needed friends 'really bad.' Ray's wife, Angell, jumped into action after Ray shared the video of the Ring doorbell video with her, starting a GoFundMe campaign for Shayden and well as posting it on TikTok. According to the Washington Post, the video received over 70 million views in 10 days. When Walker's mother, Krishna Patterson, found out about the GoFundMe campaign, she asked Angell to shut it down, but not before 3,185 donors raised more than $37,000 in two days. Patterson and her son, Walker, have since met the Rays, developing an instant connection and strong friendship. Walker, who is diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism and oppositional defiant disorder, has struggled to make friends and has been bullied throughout his childhood. But Brennan and Angells' act of kindness has since created a ripple effect, with dozens of adults and children reaching out to Shayden's mother, asking to connect with and befriend her son.
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Carolyn Best
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On July 25, Frank Best realized his bucket list dream by co-flying a Jet Provost T4 trainer from a Regional Airport in Ontario, Canada. Interested in aviation since childhood, Best received the gift of a lifetime when his family came together to plan a co-piloting flying experience for his 89th birthday. Best's wife, Patricia Devlin-Best, his two daughters, Carolyn and Susan and his three grandchildren were there on Tuesday to cheer him on. His daughters fondly remember the many times their father took them flying when they were little. It was a full-circle moment for all watching Frank soar 3,000 meters into the air and tip his wing to them during a fly-by. Although Frank was unable to take off or land on his own, he flew for an hour, taking the jet into the air with the help of a certified co-pilot sitting next to him. Frank shared with Isha Bhargava from CBC News, "I can best sum it up as just the fulfillment of a dream. It's something that I've felt for a very long time and I hope to walk away saying, 'I've done it.'"
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