Saving leftovers
Possiblity From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 In 2011 Ben Simon, then a student at University of Maryland, noticed that his school was wasting massive amounts of food, with one dining hall throwing out between 100 and 200 pounds of leftovers every day. Simon started taking the leftover food to Read More...
More monkeying around
Possibility From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Bullrush used to be a popular chasing game at schools in New Zealand. It starts with a “chaser,” one child who tries to tackle other children as they run to the other side of a field. But at some point, it got banned at schools. The reason: Read More...
Wildlife whistle blowers
Possibility From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 WildLeaks.org is a whistle-blowing website where people can anonymously submit information about wildlife and forest crime. Andrea Crosta, executive director of the Elephant Action League, an elephant-welfare group, started WildLeaks in early Read More...
Peace Warrior
Possibility From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 The Maasai of East Africa are famous for their warrior culture. Tradition dictates that the boys of this nomadic tribe earn the respect of their clan by fighting with lions or with rivals. Disputes between villages over grazing rights for cattle or Read More...
Speaking from the heart
Possibility From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 When it comes to avoiding heart attacks, new studies suggest the best medicine might be music, prayer, and just having someone to talk to. “Coronary heart disease is not just physical but also has a psychological component,” says Zoi Read More...
Doctors without orders
Possibility From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 “We will once again give you the facts that show that our secretary of health, Adonis Georgiadis, is lying systematically and shamelessly.” This statement is flaunted on the home page of the Metropolitan Community Clinic, in Athens. Read More...
First of the season
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Time to celebrate the asparagus. A fear of hunger is lodged in human beings’ DNA. So it’s logical that creating nonperishable foods was a crucial priority as we evolved. We’re so good at it that today we can eat whatever we want, any time of year. But Read More...
Ode to Ruth Buendía Mestoquiari, Pakitzapango Canyon, Peru
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Saving the forest For the Asháninka people of the Amazon rainforest, the Ené River Valley is their ancestral birthplace. This sacred home of the Asháninka was nearly taken away by the 2010 Peru–Brazil Energy Agreement, which aimed to build 60 large-scale Read More...
Ode to the Aescher-Wildkirchli hotel, Switzerland
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Into the mountains Nowhere is the contrast between the rolling hills and the sharp, craggy cliffs of the Alps as great as in Alpstein, Switzerland. Rock formations reaching heights of 8,000 feet rise up out of nowhere, separated by deep ravines. Built into one Read More...
We are still here
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Photographer Jimmy Nelson pays tribute to indigenous peoples—while it is still possible. Jimmy Nelson received international praise 25 years ago when he published his first photos of Tibet, which had been inaccessible up until then. Since then, he has Read More...