05 Do-Good Goodies: hand-in-hand soap
DEPARTMENTS FEATURES
06 How I See the World: the importance of being a young advocate
12 Thoughts About: traffic control - separating animal and human travel
14 Beautiful, Innovative, Sustainable: the future of green architecture
20 Maker’s Corner: build a solar heater
22 The Pacific Garbage Patch: a young inventor tackles ocean pollution
27 Activist Activity: save the Great Barrier Reef from dredging
Greetings and welcome to the very first issue of Silver Lining Magazine! We couldn’t be more excited to have made it to this point. Please take some time to get to know the layout of our magazine. We’re starting out our monthly publication by bringing you the Green edition. Inside, you will find a variety of informative and inspiring content dealing with sustainability, and emvironmental responsibility. We at Silver Lining set out to create an online and print magazine that would promote healthy and deliberate living, through the spreading of good news. The Silver Lining strives to bring you the best of what is happening in today’s world, because we believe that what the world needs most is a little more positivity. Good moods translate to great achievements! What you will find in the pages of Silver Lining Magazine is a collection of inspired and instructive articles written by real, honest, down-to-earth
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folks who work very hard to live deliberately, but who are not afraid to admit the struggles we sometimes face. We don’t always have hours to exercise every day. Our houses aren’t perfect. We stay informed and eat as healthy as we can, but we are also realistic and flexible. We try to be great examples for our kids, but we sometimes forget to appreciate every moment of life fully. We are honored to share the work of so many extremely committed and thoughtful people. Please take time to visit our online edition to see the wonderful contributors and read their bios. Also, feel free to leave comments on the articles to share your thoughts or ask the author a question. We appreciate your support and are so happy to have you as a reader of Silver Lining Magazine. With warmest thanks,
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THOUGHTS FROM BRITTANY DIAMOND I did not experience the white picket
apart. My mom trusted us with other
fences of the 1950's and 60's. I grew
people's parents, and when we acted
up in the ghetto, in a neighborhood
out, she trusted them to correct us,
where the biggest business was an old
without having too much ego as to
factory that shut down in the 1980’ s,
allow it to reflect on her own parenting.
leaving many unemployed and poor.
Having two jobs in our neighborhood
This neighborhood became a side note, forgotten by the rest of the city, left
was normal, and everyone both needed help, and gave it when they could.
to its own devices. My family was one
Our neighborhood, our community, was
of two white families in the area. The
functioning, because we, the people,
people I grew up with I consider family,
participated. A community is a living
even to this day. We did not have
organism, and if no one feeds it, it dies.
neighborhood programs. My friends
Democracy is the same way, I feel. With
nicknamed ourselves the 'Tres-Four
no participation by the people, it fails.
CDC,' which was the Thirty-Fourth Street Community Development Crew. One of my brothers actually has that tattooed on his chest. My brothers, my sister, and our friends played together after school, in neighbor's yards and houses. We would have dinners and slumber parties all over the neighborhood, because our parents believed in community, and believed that we are all stronger together than
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I vote based on issues that seem highly relevant to me - issues that I consider to be important in the community, and world, that I live in, or want to live in. I vote for positive changes; things that seem like they will have the most positive effects, for the most people; positive changes that will have long-term effects. I vote based on my conscience. I vote based on my belief system, and my values. This means,for me, that I do not normally vote for a certain party all the time. I consider myself to be middle of the road, but there are some who would call me liberal. I think that is because right now, I might be more of a liberal, with all of the things that are going on in the world. I see the need for big changes right now, so that is what I vote for. Things that some consider “hot button issues,�I might not consider important because I just can't see how they hold any longevity or positive effects for a large group of people. With these issues, I find myself simply objective and unemotional as a result of not having any personal attachment to these things. I still vote though, always.
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I grew up in the ghetto. I grew up as a minority. I had to work very hard to have the things, see the things, and do the things that a lot of my peers considered rights, not privilege. It is no one's fault or choice to be born into what they are born into. What we do after we are born, that is what matters. I cannot say what I would be like if I had been born under a different set of circumstances. I just wasn't. I make decisions based on the experiences that I have had. I believe in karma. I believe in duty, and justice. I believe in celebrating differences, people, ideas. I do not think anyone should ever be silent. I believe everyone has worth.
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The ways that I find myself working
second nature to lend a helping hand
within my community most effectively
where needed. I have tried to be this
is by being a natural advocate to those
way for my entire life, and I think this
who cannot help themselves. I have
is the first step for anyone to be an
worked with children as a caregiver,
active participant in any community.
and as a coach, I currently work with
If you don't know who needs help, or in
elderly and disabled people, and I try
what way, how can you be an effective
to be a good listener in my daily life.
advocate? Sometimes I have had to
As much as that last one might seem
choose between helping one person or
unimportant compared to the others,
another, and have had to make value
I think it is the most important, and the
judgments based on need. I think people
first step in being an advocate.
do that everyday without realizing it.
I like to hear people's stories. I think all
I hope to one day have children and to
people are interesting and unique, and
teach them this way of thinking. I think
they fascinate me. Sometimes, I am
helping others should be second nature
taken advantage of, but I believe I am
– it shouldn't be something you even
a very strong person, and I have a lot
have to think about. If you have a
to give. I am not naĂŻve, I know when I'm
sandwich and the person next to you
being manipulated or taken advantage
is hungry, give them half of your
of, but in some situations, I choose to
sandwich. That is the way I think. That
give because I see what is at stake for
is the way I act, also. Making community
the perpetrator. At times, it hurts me
a better, and more functioning a thing,
far less to ignore a thing than to not
is about action, not just about beliefs.
help someone who actually needs it. I try to live my life as someone who is always watching and paying attention to others around me, so that it is
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Article written by Nathaniel Baker Illustration by Maggie Sommers
The oceans are so vast and deep that until fairly recently, it was widely assumed that no matter how much trash and chemicals humans dumped into them, the effects would be negligible. But ocean pollution has become a more pressing issue, and has scientists and ecologists around the globe searching for answers. Now, Boyan Slat, a 19-year-old boy from Holland, has developed a solution to tackel the ocean’s biggest enemy - plastic.
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There is evidence to suggest that oceans have suffered at the hands of mankind for a millennia - as far back as the Roman empire.
Pollution is the introduction of harmful contaminants that are outside the norm for any given ecosystem. Common man-made pollutants that reach the ocean include pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage, plastics, and other solids. Many of these pollutants collect at the ocean's depths, where they are consumed by small marine organisms and introduced into the global food chain. There is evidence to suggest
Solid waste like bags, foam, and other
patches. One in the North Pacific,
items dumped into the oceans from
known as the Pacific Trash Vortex,
land or by ships at sea are frequently
a massive collection of accumulated
consumed, with often fatal effects, by
plastic particles, is estimated to be
marine mammals, fish, and birds that
the size of Texas.
mistake it for food.
One of the most serious threats to our
that the oceans have suffered at the
In certain regions, ocean currents corral
oceans is plastics pollution. Plastic
hands of mankind for millennia - as
trillions of decomposing plastic items and
constitutes approximately 90% of all
far back as the Roman empire.
other trash into gigantic, swirling garbage
trash floating on the ocean’s surface,
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with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square
and one million seabirds die each year
accumulations of disposed plastic
mile. Why is there so much plastic in
from ingesting or becoming entangled
material, was considered impossible.
the ocean? Unlike other types of trash,
in plastic. Approximately 380 billion
Scientists have tired to develop a simple
plastic does not biodegrade; instead,
plastic bags are used in the United States
solution for years. Now, 19-year-old
it photo-degrades with sunlight,
every year. This translates to the average
inventor, Boyan Slat, says he and his
breaking down into smaller and smaller
American throwing away approximately
foundation has a way to clean up the
pieces, but they never really disappear.
185 pounds of plastic per year. It takes
world’s oceans, and not only does he say
These plastic pieces are eaten by marine
500-1000 years for plastic to degrade.
we can do it, but that we can do it in five
life, wash up on beaches, or break
Even if we stopped using plastics today,
years time and produce a profit from it.
down into microscopic plastic dust,
they will remain with us for many
With a concept he calls an ocean cleanup
attracting more debris.
generations, threatening both human
array, we can remove nearly 20 billion
and ocean health.
tons of plastic waste.
health of sea creatures, both big and
Previously, the task of cleaning up
It is made from a massive series of
small. Over 100,000 marine mammals
the world’s oceans, with their vast
floating booms and processing platforms
Plastic poses a significant threat to the
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that gradually suck in the floating plastic
booms, making it suddenly possible
affecting all of us. Best of all, the arrays
like a giant funnel. The angle of the
to actually visualize the oceanic garbage
operate on the power of the sun and
array is set up to allow all of the plastic
patches. We need to stress the
the oceans themselves.
to move toward the floating platform
importance of recycling, and reducing
processing centers. At the platform
our consumption of plastic packaging.”
processing, naturally occurring life and organisms, such as plankton, are separated from plastic materials, which is then kept and stored, to be recycled.
Not only is Slat's concept self-powered, it would also be very profitable from
Slat was able to come up with the idea
the all the recycling, which is estimated
while in school, and so he wrote a paper
in the amount of 500 million dollars
on his concept. Once Slat's paper was
(U.S.) per year. According to Slat's
published it immediately caught the
website it "would make in fact more
What is most impressive about the array
attention of many marine experts. His
money than the plan would cost to
is that once it goes operational it would
paper won all manner of prizes, which
execute. In other words; it's profitable."
clean up the oceans in only 5 years time.
included the Best Technical Design 2012
He also makes a point in saying that
from the Delft University of Technology.
due to the vastness of our oceans most do not know how badly polluted the oceans really are.
When he and others realized that the concept would work he took a leap of faith and created a non-profit
“One of the problems with preventive
organization he calls The Ocean Cleanup
work is that there isn’t any imagery
Foundation. This group will focus on
of these ‘garbage patches’, because
the goal of developing his invention,
the debris is dispersed over millions
raise funds for it and make it operational
of square kilometers,” Slat says on
as soon as possible. His concept would
his website. “By placing our arrays,
save numerous aquatic species and
however, it will accumulate along the
help reduce PCB and DDT contaminants
His concept would save numerous aquatic species and help reduce PCB and DDT contaminants affecting us all.
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US $7.99 / CAN $10.99