Mike.Delponte

The following is a guest post by Patrick Lebedinski, an up-and-coming writer and social activist.

There are countless places where young people are working for social change. One spot in particular is near-and-dear to me because it's located in my hometown, Santee, CA. This past May, at West Hills High School, members of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) organized a Day of Silence to spread a message – a demand even – that social equality must include people of all sexual orientations.  read more »

Conscious Lifestyle is proud to be partnering with Slow Food on Campus, the student engagement initiative by Slow Food USA. Slow Food is "a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world." Slow Food has over 85,000 members and a presence in 132 countries.  read more »

Daniel Zoughbie is an inspiring social entrepreneur. As a student at UC Berkeley he launched the
Global Micro-Clinic Project, which "seeks to empower people to prevent and manage diseases in economically depressed and conflict-ridden areas of our world."

Daniel has won a variety of awards for his humanitarian work, including the Marshall Scholarship. Mostly recently, he was selected as a BRICK Award winner and is currently up for the big prize of $100,000, which will be given at the Teen Choice Awards. Check out the video below and vote for Daniel today.

What is greywater?

Water that’s kinda dirty because it’s been used once, but clean enough to be used for something else.

Examples: Water from rinsing fruit that can be used to then water plants; or water from washing hands, laundry, or dishes that can be reused to flush the toilet.

Why I use greywater:

Last year I saw this Greentime video and began using greywater in my apartment. I was amazed by how easy it is to save lots of water.  read more »

At Conscious Lifestyle, social responsibility means realizing how our lives and institutions affect other humans, animals, and the environment; and then doing everything we can to benefit, or at least not harm, those entities. Social responsibility involves awareness, concern for others, and courage to do the right thing. I started Conscious Lifestyle as a way to replace apathy and extreme self-interest with social responsibility.  read more »

Last Christmas was Michelle Finholdt’s worst. Shortly before the 2007th anniversary of Christ’s birth, Minnesota’s Supreme Court ruled that Finholdt’s nonprofit agency was too much like a for-profit business, meaning that come April 15th, she would be expected to cough up $16,000 in property taxes for the first time since founding the Under the Rainbow Child Care Center in 1994. She probably prayed for a holiday miracle, but even St. Nick isn’t foolish enough to go flying around with that much cash on hand.

As the New York Times dutifully reported last week, nonprofits are becoming increasingly business-like across the country, and the questions are piling up like dorm room laundry. Are these agencies doing anything for the pubic good? For the ones who are not, should they really be given a considerable tax-exemption for doing so? And festering underneath the questions is growing pressure for some non-profits to start anteing up.  read more »

Responsibilities:

-Manage content of the web site
-Encourage community participation in site
-Build relationships with potential online partners
-Work with the director of web development to create long-term web strategy

Qualifications:

-Very knowledgeable about online trends
-Working knowledge of Drupal preferred, but not required
-Ability to work as a team
-Dedication and commitment
-Ability to remain on task while working virtually
-Passion for the mission of Conscious Lifestyle

Benefits:

-Get marketable professional experience
-Receive mentoring from a manager in the software industry
-Learn about the nonprofit sector
-Help a growing nonprofit organization

Duration:

-June 1 to August 20, 2008
-Opportunities for prolonged involvement
-Minimum of 20 hours per week

Send a resume and cover letter to mike@consciouslifestyle.org.  read more »

Responsibilities:

Take part in the formalization of our development strategy. You will create an annual calendar of fundraising events, solicitation campaigns, and grant opportunities. You will also engage in writing grant proposals and managing donor relations. There are also opportunities for event planning.

Qualifications:

-Fundraising and/or grant writing experience preferred.
-Must have strong communications skills.
-Dependability and commitment is crucial.
-Must be passionate about the mission of Conscious Lifestyle.

Duration:

-June 1 to August 20, 2008
-Minimum of 20 hours per week
-Opportunities for prolonged involvement

Benefits:

• Learn about the nonprofit industry and fund raising.
• Plug into a network of high-achieving social entrepreneurs.
• Improve your skill set (e.g., strategy, communication, organization).
• Gain a marketable internship experience.  read more »

*This post was written by Christina DesVaux, a friend of Conscious Lifestyle. You can learn more about her year in Montevideo, at "cdesvaux.wordpress.com.""

I was recently invited to be a guest lecturer at the University of Montevideo, in a seminar entitled Communication and Fashion. I am living in Montevideo, Uruguay for the year as aRotary Ambassadorial Research Scholar. I am taking courses at the University of Montevideo, in their School of Business and Entrepreneurial Studies. My research project will focus on female Uruguayan artisans and the North American based fair-trade organizations that buy from them.  read more »

The City of Santa Barbara has set a goal to end its use of fossil fuels by the year 2033. The Ellison-Phelps Sustainability Project will use the city’s efforts to motivate campus departments to create ambitious energy efficiency programs, especially in terms of reducing energy usage. The Sustainability Project will raise awareness, advocate for eco-friendly purchasing, and host the 2008 energy reduction competition between two buildings at UCSB, Ellison and Phelps Halls.