It is easy being green.

At GlobalGiving, we try to keep our ego in check. We're so proud of all the work and progress our projects and partners are making, so we would rather laud their accomplishments. But today is different. Today we're going to toot our own horn.
(Toot toot!)

Today we launched GlobalGiving Green, our new site dedicated to helping people and the planet.

All of the projects featured on GlobalGiving Green are hand-selected to reflect their impact on postively affecting climate change and providing sustainable, positive economic growth. This will help address the problem of alleviating poverty without using environmentally detrimental solutions.

The projects are broken down into four categories: emissions reduction, reforestation, green technology and climate change education.

The GlobalGiving Team is thrilled to launch this site. Everyone on our team has helped with this campaign at some point in its development, and now that it has happened, there are a lot of beaming faces walking around the GG office.

I hope you take some time to visit the site and donate to some of these innovative and carbon-friendly projects. Share the news with your friends, and let us know what you think.

Also, be sure to check out GlobalGiving Green in today's New York Times!

TAGS: globalgiving green

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hi there,
People call me Dennis G here in the States, as my last name is pretty hard to pronounce. It is always good for a laugh when I introduce myself in a group of people, especially for the people who have heard me say it more than once. It's funny, but it's not that funny :)

I'm Dennis Goedegebuure, 34 years old
I'm an eBay Inc employee originated from The Netherlands.
In February 2006 I moved with my Girlfriend to San Francisco, to work at eBay Headquarters. 2006 was an incredible year for me. Who can say they moved across the world, got promoted on the job, got married with the woman you love, and got a baby, all in one year! You can say I lived a lifetime in just one year.

I work for eBay already since April 2002, and I enjoy it still everyday.
Off course there are challenges, but that makes live interesting.

While living in the US, I became a fanatic blogger on my own blog: TheNextCorner.com, the blog is in Dutch but you can enjoy my photo's :)
I regularly meet interesting people, read inspiring books or have ideas that can make the world a better place if I share these. I will try to limit myself to these on WhatGives.

I will be writing under the name D&G. This does not come from my obsession of brand names and stylish clothing, but more from the fact that my full name is Dennis Alexander Goedegebuure, where the & stand for the A in my initials.

Dennis stems from the Greek god Dionysos; who is the god of the wine. Alexander means protector/ savior of mankind. Goedegebuure means good neighbor.
So if I live next to you, you can count me in to help you anytime, where you can thank me with a good bottle of wine, preferably red!

TAGS: Introduction, D&G

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July celebrates Eco-Libris’s first birthday! I am happy to write this blog to attest the many accomplishments this amazing company has achieved in just one short year! Eco-Libris has had measurable success in its first year, success that pacifies both the environmentalists and book enthusiasts in each of us.

As many of you know, Eco-Libris strives to lessen the environmental impact of book production, allowing readers the chance to plant a tree for every book they read. Eco-Libris also works with many book publishers, as well as authors, who seek to become more green. One goal of Eco-Libris is to work with readers to balance out half a million trees by the end of 2008, a goal that is challenging but attainable through the efforts of readers like you and me.

The success of their first year in business has been quite monumental! Already 50,005 books have been balanced, consequently planting 65,586 new trees in developing countries with help from their planting partners. Eco-Libris has also formed alliances with publishers and bookstores to help make balancing books even easier for readers.

Eco-Libris seeks to be an agent of change for the book industry, urging book publishers to make reading more environmentally sustainable by using recycled and eco-friendly material in book production. Please read my previous blog about his extraordinary company or visit theEco-Libris website if you’d like more information.

(above photo courtesy of AIR)

TAGS: Eco-Libris, Birthday, Green, Trees, Books, Balancing

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The Library Project seems to think so, as do I.

The Library Project is an organization which donates libraries to underfinanced schools in developing countries in hopes that the educational tools they provide may help bring an end to poverty in these nations. To them, "education is change".

There are many ways to get involved with this organization. They love monetary donations (who doesn't?), you can adopt an entire library, volunteer by hosting local events such as a book drive or by introducing The Library Project to people where you work who are in charge of corporate donations and/or of facilitating employee volunteerism campaigns.

I think I may just organize a book drive here where I work. Salt Lake City is known for having a plethora of children running around and I am sure employees here have stacks of old kids books just gathering dust which they would love to donate to such an amazing organization.

Be sure to check out their Facebook Group and please spread the word.

Do something and do it now!
JD

TAGS: library, education, kids, children, learning, books

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Countless lives have been altered due to the recent tornados and floods that have plagued the Midwest, and many people are still in need of aid. The tragic floods have been incredibly personal for Indie artist Mark Kozelek, as he grew up in Massillon, Ohio. Since Mark has such ties to the Midwest he felt compelled to help raise funds for The American Red Cross Disaster Relief efforts by conducting a charity auction on eBay Giving Works.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mark Kozelek I highly recommend you check him out. Mark is the front man of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters. He also has an amazing collection of solo work, and has been featured in films like Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, and ShopGirl. He is an incredibly inspirational artist and philanthropist.

Mark will be auctioning 5 of his rare and vintage guitars; proceeds will benefit victims of this tragedy through The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. This is a great way for music enthusiasts to get involved and help expedite the reconstruction of the Midwest. I am excited for this auction, not only because I love Mark’s music, but I really do believe in this cause. The auction began July 20th (this past Sunday) and ends July 27th, so mark your calendars!

People affected by these tragedies genuinely need our help, especially with food and gas prices rising so drastically. If you can help, please do. The American Red Cross also accepts donations and volunteers, and every little bit helps.

View Auction

TAGS: Mark Kozolek, eBay Giving Works, American Red Cross, Floods, Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon

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Who can resist "Bullseye," Target's super-cute, bull terrier mascot? But now the supermarket is giving Seventeen another reason to love the brand!

Target, partnered with the National Association of Town Watch, will sponsor the twenty-fifth anniversary of National Night Out - a traditional neighborhood-watch event aimed at crime prevention. This year's festivities will be held August 5 and are expected to attract 35 million Americans in 12,000 communities from all 50 states!

Want to add to the guest list? You could help organize a front port vigil, block party or cookout for your friends! Check out nationaltownwatch.org to connect with a community organizer in your neighborhood!

Near Washington, D.C.? NNO will honor its anniversary year with a national celebration on the National Mall. Open and free to the public, it will feature a musical performance by a soon-to-be-announced celebrity performer, fun crafts, police safety demonstrations and food!

So will you get involved with NNO? It's as easy as hanging out with your neighbors! Tell us how you plan to help!

PS - If you're organizing a block party, check out seventeen.com to get yummy recipes!

TAGS: national night out, national association of town watch, target, bullseye, seventeen, seventeen magazine, national mall, block party

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A quick dash of makeup can rev up your look and brighten your mood, but a little goes a long way, environmentally-speaking. All those plastic lip gloss tubes, mascara wands and old, nasty blush brushes make up a percentage of landfill waste. Luckily, these cosmetic celebrities are taking a stand! Check out Seventeen's list of biodegradable beauty options:

1. Model Josie Maran is creating luxury with a conscience. Her makeup products from her collection, launched in 2007, contain ingredients such as natural jojoba oil and are housed in biodegradable packaging. Seventeen's favorite is the Plumping Lip Gloss, which uses marine collagen to pump up your pout. Check out her Web site!

2. Smashbox, an animal-cruelty free company, has created a collection called "Green Room" with environmentally-friendly bronzer and lip gloss! The products contain Moringa seed extract for healthy skin, and the packaging is biodegradable and recyclable! With every purchase of a Green Room product, a Moringa tree will be planted in a developing country for Trees for the Future. Find out more at smashbox.com!

3. CARGO Cosmetics scored a nomination for The Best of Sephora with its PlantLove Botanical Lipstick. The stick is made entirely from corn! The outer carton is made of flower paper embedded with real flower seeds! So when your color is gone, simply plant the tube and wait for flowers to grow. For more info, go to cargocosmetics.com!

So is your makeup bag 'green?' Do you think all-natural products give you just as great of a look as regular products? Give us your take!

PS: Get the latest beauty news, trends, and more from the Seventeen Beauty editors in the Seventeen Style Blog!

TAGS: makeup, eco-makeup, beauty, environment-friendly beauty, sephora, cargo cosmetics, josie maran, seventeen magazine

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After I attended SXSW earlier this year, I posted a blog entry as a "call to marketers" to cut the crap, that is try to control all the junk that gets handed out at that and other conferences. At this BlogHer, Susan Etlinger posted a similar rant about all the swag that gets handed out here. Rather than be redundant to her post, I'm going to tackle one simple area - t-shirts.

First, the TNT shirt, which was provided in the tote bags. I thought, this is strange, a conference where we celebrate our uniqueness, and they're giving out a one-size-fits-all shirt? I opened it up, expecting an "XL", to find it was a "M". I wondered, is it better to NOT do a promotion like this than possibly offend your audience by giving them a product that's too small/too large for them? For something where everyone gets the same thing, like a conference bag, I think that's the wrong way to go. TNT also gave out a CD of the premiere episodes of some of their shows, so I think they could have found something a bit more appropriate and useful to accompany that then a shirt that maybe 1/3 of this conference will fit into. For the record, but not that you care, it does fit me, but I swear it's a men's cut not a women's.

Kathy Sierra spoke at SXSW and laid down the day for marketers - if you want to get the attention of your customers, offer t-shirts in men's AND women's sizes. You'll make friends fast. I've tried to follow that, especially when creating shirts for co-workers to wear at trade shows. We at work range from XS to XXXL, so it's nice to have something for everyone.

I was at the Six Apart party tonight where they gave out in the gift bags teeny tiny American Apparel shirts in size large. A size, BTW, that fits my eight year old. To their credit, they were also giving out shirts in the suite in all sorts of sizes.

I can't tell you how annoying it was to be begged to take t-shirts at TechEd that were a men's L or XL. Where was Kathy Sierra when you need her?

BTW, BIG kudos to the recycle room sponsored by Zwaggle where people can give up the stuff that they don't want from swag land. They've got piles of stuff already, and it's only the first day of the conference. I've visited, but unfortunately, I keep picking up stuff people left behind. Got to make some contributions myself, as I don't need to drag all this junk home. Maybe Susan wants some of it? I should ask her.

TAGS: crap crap and more crap, BlogHer08, SXSW, swag

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It's a Sunday night and I promised myself I would write up quick post about the Coldplay show that Tiana and I attended (different cities/shows). If you want the setlist of the San Jose show, you can check it out here. But the really great thing about the show IMO was the presence of Oxfam America. They had hundreds of volunteers signing up people who want to learn more about how to eliminate poverty around the world. One of the volunteers mentioned to me that they had a running blog about the tour, and it's really insightful in an altruistic and "concert attending" manner.
So I encourage you to sign up if you attend the show, and to actually speak to one of these volunteers. They signed up for the cause, not for the show :)

Oh, and Coldplay also rocked!

TAGS: Coldplay, Oxfam America, Volunteers, Poverty, Blog, San Jose

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I work with a wonderful non-profit organization called Life Rolls On, whose aim is to raise funds and awareness towards spinal cord injury related research and programs. July is always busy for us so I wanted to share a few events we have lined up!


They Will Surf Again - Saturday, July 19 - Zuma Beach, CA (Malibu)
They Will Surf Again is a no-cost program designed to enhance the quality of life of young people with spinal cord injuries by providing them with the opportunity to surf. This Saturday (July 19) we will be teaming up with Nike and Hurley on Zuma Beach (Malibu) at 9:00 AM between the Lifeguard Headquarters and Tower 6. I encourage you to come see what we're all about! Don't feel bad if you can't make it this weekend as we have events on both coasts throughout the year. We are set to have one August 9th at Little Island Park, Virginia Beach and will be back on the west coast August 16th at Bolsa Chica State Beach, CA (Tower 21). If you are interested in participating please register today! I will definitely keep you updated! In the meantime please watch this wonderful video about our program.

10th Anniversary Golf Tournament presented by Disaboom - Malibu
On Monday July 21st Disaboom will host our 10th Anniversary Gold Tournament at the Malibu Country Club. This year promises to take the LRO Golf Tournament experience to a whole new level with fantastic prizes for the winning teams, an opportunity drawing featuring awesome items, and--most importantly--a fun filled day of golf for a wonderful cause! If you are interested in playing there may be a few slots open so sign up! There may still be opportunities to volunteer as well. Please contact me if you are interested! There are various shifts from 8AM to 6PM in registration, on-course assistance, and breakdown.

Honda US Open of Surfing presented by O'Neill - Huntington Beach
I look forward to this event every year! I love working the Life Rolls On Booth and we have once again been named the official charity of the US Open of Surfing! We will have a booth in the Festival Village this coming Thursday (July 24) - Sunday (July 27) just South of the Huntington Beach Pier. We will be running the LRO Prize Wheel, promoting LRO gear and informing people about our cause. There may still be opportunities to volunteer (especially Thursday and Friday) during various shifts from 7:30AM-5PM. Please register and give me a heads up! We will also be hosting an Expression Session on Saturday July 26 at 1:50PM. The Life Rolls On Expression Session presented by Disaboom features LRO Ambassadors (including Jesse Billauer) charging waves along-side some of the best surfers in the world. Do not miss out!


I hope you will be able to check us out, but if you can't make it to these events we will definitely have more in the future. This charity means a lot to me and they are all such inspiring individuals. They impress me with their unique programs and goals and I have never seen so much effort to enhance the lives of people living with spinal cord injuries by getting them back into active sports and defying the notion that disabilities limit people. Spinal cord injury is something that had received little attention until a little over 10 years ago, thanks to the amazing Christopher Reeve, and so much has been done since then. If we continue to work together I can only imagine what wonderful things will come in the next 10 years.

TAGS: Life Rolls On, Spinal Cord Injury, They Will Surf Again, Golf Tournament, Disaboom, Honda US Open of Surfing, O'Neill

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