01 January 2008

Web-based ways to make a difference

To help those of us making resolutions this week, here is a sampling of web tools for making a difference, inspired by TEDTalks speakers:

+ Share Ron Eglash's cool math tools, for studying math via breakdancing, Latin beats and cornrow braids
+ Dive into Richard Baraniuk's Connexions, a massive repository of open-source class materials
+ Visit Phil Borges' Bridges to Understanding site, which rounds up student films from all over the world
+ Browse Erin McKean's booklist "So You Want to Be a Lexicographer?"
+ Check out the beta of Gapminder World, powered by Hans Rosling's Trendalyzer software
+ Watch video and take action at The Hub, a platform for human rights media and action -- presented by Peter Gabriel's WITNESS
+ Discuss sustainable design and materials on the Cradle to Cradle forums, inspired by the work of William McDonough
+ Learn more about Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child
+ Catch up with Majora Carter's Sustainable South Bronx -- or make a specific gift to SSBx via Changing the Present
+ Calculate your personal CO2 production -- and start helping the planet -- at the website for Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, produced by Jeff Skoll

TEDTalks is full of ideas for making change for oneself and for others -- many more than we can list here. Please share your suggestions for other TEDTalks-inspired change!

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20 April 2007

William McDonough on TED.com

Green-minded architect and designer William McDonough asks what our buildings and products would look like if designers took into account "all children, all species, for all time."

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16 November 2005

How green is your roof?

William McDonough (TED04, 05) regularly drops jaws with imagery from the world's largest "living roof," which he designed for the Ford Motor Company plant in Dearborn, MI. Green roofs also feature strongly in the cities he's designing for China. Their benefits are obvious: They improve air quality, restore migratory patterns for birds, and look a lot better than black tar. So when will your roof go green? WorldChanging this week assesses the state of the art in eco-roof technology, explaining the barriers to entry (cost, bureaucratic red tape) and pointing out the visionaries (including the city of Chicago, which offers $5K grants for green roof projects). Stay tuned for: Majora Carter at TED2006. She's bringing green roofs and more to the South Bronx.

Posted by June Cohen | Permalink

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