small business
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9-year-old builds the world’s cutest recycled cardboard arcade
[vimeo 40000072] Nine-year-old Caine didn’t build his home arcade out of cardboard because he wanted to recycle — he did it because he likes arcades, has access to a lot of boxes, and is a DIY genius. But you can’t help but be inspired by his innovative remaking. And you definitely can’t help but be a little […]
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Supporting mom-and-pop stores in food deserts
The Obama administration’s initiative to fight food deserts will help, not harm, mom-and-pop stores.Photo: arbyreedGary Nabhan and Kelly Watters are right that it will take a diversity of new and expanded fresh food stores to truly solve the crisis of inadequate access to healthy food in many low-income areas. Small grocery stores, farmers markets, and […]
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Smize! You’re on America’s Next Top Energy Innovator
Sure, we’ve learned to harness the power of the sun and the wind for renewable energy, but have we harnessed the awesome power of reality TV? That may be what Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is going for with “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator.” Okay, you don’t get coaching from Solar Tim Gunn, or critique […]
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How wiring the developing world can help save the planet
Envaya helps people in Africa build ultralight websites, on the ultracheap.Like most equatorial countries, Tanzania is feeling the impacts of climate change. Malaria is spreading to areas at ever-higher altitudes. Lake Victoria, which feeds the Nile, is retreating. The rainy season is starting later and getting shorter — last year, the typically four-month season lasted […]
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Farming is the new hipster occupation of choice
Twentysomethings don’t know what to do with their lives. Industrial food can’t be trusted. The public image of farmers is (slowly) improving — but the average age is going up and up. These are perfect conditions for a new generation of farmers, people in their 20s and 30s who are starting small farms and joining […]
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The Chamber of Commerce is darkening our skies
It’s always darkest before it goes pitch black.Photo: Twig is the FutureThis essay was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom’s kind permission. In Beijing, they celebrate when they have a “blue sky day,” when, that is, the haze clears long enough so that you can actually see the sun. Many days, […]
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For once, developments in Washington could make things better on the farm
The outlook for small farms could be getting a bit sunnier.Photo: andyrobeI write on Grist about my small farm, but my day job is different. I’m an organizer for the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA). One of the things we do at CFRA is try to tweak federal farm policies in ways that help […]
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‘Piecycle’ makes it OK for hipsters to eat dessert
Max Kraushaar has ridden his fixie right out of an episode of Portlandia to bring you some lemon meringue. It’s like a hipster Mad Lib: Skinny guy with [handlebar mustache/fedora/giant glasses] delivers [pie/cupcakes/pot brownies] on a [bicycle/bicycle/bicycle]. In this case, the skinny dude is a University of Washington student named Max, the cranial accessory is […]
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Would a Walmart solve West Oakland's and Nashville's food problems?
Getting fresh, healthy food into low-income urban areas known as "food deserts" isn't as simple as it appears. For example, should food-justice advocates be celebrating when Walmart is the one bringing an oasis of fresh groceries to these deserts?