December 17, 2013, 1 Comment. See and add yours.
Good is: Easy, Saves energy, Saves money, social, and Useful.
Issues: Community, Disability, Environmental, Food Waste, and Inter-personal Contact.
Casserole Club (http://www.casseroleclub.com/) is a community-led network where members who cook a little extra are matched up with other local users to share it with, with a particular focus on those who find it a little extra difficult to cook.
The tool provides an opportunity to get to know local people, encourages people to cook fresh, healthy meals, gives them a reason to try out new recipes and could reduce food waste. It also makes it easier to help members of the community that are less able. We like the practical, facilitate approach it takes, and the fact that it builds local social capital whilst tackling environmental issues, but we wonder how you could make the social aims more implicit and whether this would make it appeal to an even wider audience.
Casserole club is currently running in Reigate and Banstead, Tower Hamlets and Barnet and we hope to see it grow in the future.
September 10, 2013, 1 Comment. See and add yours.
Good is: Easy, Saves money, and social.
Issues: CO2 Emissions, Community, Environmental, and Inter-personal Contact.
Have you ever made one of those journeys that take forever, where there’s nothing to do but stare at the countryside and dip in and out of radio stations as you weave up the motorway. With BlaBlaCar (http://www.blablacar.com/) that can now be a thing of the past. BlaBlaCar is a trusted community marketplace that can help you make some extra money by filling up the empty seats in your car. So not only will you make back some of your petrol money and have someone more interesting to talk to than the voice in your head, you’ll also help to save the planet. So far BlaBlaCar reports that it’s 3 million members have shared over 1.8 billion miles and shaved almost 500,000 tonnes off of our global CO2 output, making this a really great example of environmental behavioural change for the masses.
August 6, 2013, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: Cool, Fun, and social.
Issues: Community and Education.
As part of the yearly series of Priceless London Lates presented by Mastercard, spanning London Zoo, The Victoria & Albert Museum and The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum Lates (http://bit.ly/ZXvdVh) provide a fun and nostalgic experience for big kids looking for an alternative night out in the city. Filled with after-workers and friday night socialisers clutching beers whilst rehashing the science lessons of their youth, the Science Museum pits itself as a quirky alternative to bars and pubs for over 18s.
We think Lates, as well as being a cool night out, are a great device for kick starting adult learning, taking grownups back to school with all the fun of not being a child.
April 16, 2013, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: Cool, Fun, and social.
Issues: Community and Environmental.
Can “Fun Theory”, as demonstrated in these previous posts (wearewhatwedo.org/good-ideas/piano-stairs/) be used to break down the barriers between strangers? The 21 swings project (http://www.dailytouslesjours.com/project/21-balancoires/) , created by Daily Tours Les Jours, suggests it can. Taking over the high traffic area in Montreal, a set of musical swings was set up, each sounding a different note, and when they were all swung together, acted like a giant musical instrument. Super-fun to use, the swings encouraged outdoor play, gentle exercise, and, perhaps most noticeably, the idea of cooperation. Speaking on their project, Daily Tours Les Jours said, “We believe we can achieve more together than separately.” The project provides a different perspective on connecting citizens with public space, and provides a meeting and talking point for people of all ages and backgrounds. It reminds us of a couple of other projects that involved putting pianos and pingpong tables in public places around cities.
February 5, 2013, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: Cool, Fun, and social.
Issues: Community, Education, and Poverty.
When Skateistan’s founder Oliver Percovich first travelled to Afghanistan in 2007 he was met with groups of local children very eager to learn how to skate. What began as informal lessons, and Oliver giving away the boards he brought with him, has expanded into a real skateboarding scene in Afghanistan and the development of an International non-profit charity providing skateboarding and educational programming in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Pakistan.
The charity works with anyone between the ages of 5-18 but tries to keep a focus on street working children and girls. In the charities own words, ‘Skateboarding is simply “the hook” for engaging with hard-to-reach young people’ and from there they work to provide the children with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment programs.
http://skateistan.org/
January 22, 2013, 1 Comment. See and add yours.
Good is: Fun and social.
Issues: Communication and Education.
The idea, Nick Hornby declares, is that kids “are basically duped by the fun they have.’’ Very Incidental Effect. To the kids it’s simply a world of crazy tales of monsters, zombies, spies and detectives. But the Ministry of Stories http://www.ministryofstories.org/ aims, through running creative writing workshops, to inspire children to transform their lives through storytelling. Using one-on-one mentoring, young people can enjoy improving their language skills, increasing abilities in communication as well as developing their social and educational confidence.
Inspired by the work of a friend, who opened a similar centre in San Francisco, Nick Hornby, Lucy Macnab and Ben Payne founded the Ministry of Stories in 2010. The project involves mentoring young people aged between 8-18 in the art of creative writing from a centre in Hoxton, East London. It encourages and assists the children in writing films, horror stories, soaps or whichever other form of storytelling they wish, without being too prescriptive. So far they have worked with 5000 children in East London and with the right donations and sponsorship they aim to set up a nationwide network.
January 15, 2013, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: job providing and social.
Issues: Community and Local Business.
TaskRabbit (www.taskrabbit.com) is an online and mobile marketplace that allows you to outsource your chores, getting people in your neighbourhood to do them. People in your area, already approved by the site, bid to complete the small jobs with the lowest bid accepted. Its great if you can’t be bothered to assemble your Ikea furniture, need someone to walk your dog or wash your car. In turn, you are providing creative ways for people to make money in a sour economy and many of the workers and users testify to building strong, friendly relationships with the new neighbour who weeds their garden or what have you. The workers do not need a high level of qualification, just ample energy and enthusiasm. TaskRabbit is based in the US but similar services are popping up everywhere including TaskPandas (http://www.taskpandas.com/) and Sorted (https://getsortedapp.com/) .
October 16, 2012, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: Saves money, social, and Useful.
Issues: Recycling.
There are tons of things in our lives like tents, electric drills, or sleeping bags that are occasionally, for short periods of time, really useful to have around. The rest of the time however they tend to just take up space and clutter our attics and basements. Oborrow attempts to relieve this by creating an online platform where friends can register for free via Facebook and list all the things they have that they think their friends may want to borrow. That way instead of having to buy a table saw to build that book case you can just borrow one from your neighbor and return the favor by loaning him your lawn mower. Great way for you both to save money and avoid needless waste.
July 24, 2012, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: Cool, Fun, Saves money, and social.
Issues: Communication and Inter-personal Contact.
This helps people befriend new people, reciprocate hospitality and get to know new cultures and languages, but for the users, it is primarily a practical tool to find cheap accommodation in other cities. It’s packed with incidental benefits. CouchSurfing has a network of almost 4.5 million users spread across 253 countries. This completely free service can help you connect with people while traveling, or even in your own town, by allowing users to create profiles and search for people in areas they want to stay or offer up their own home. CouchSurfing hopes to create, “a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter” and they are well on their way to achieving that goal.
June 1, 2012, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: Cool, Easy, Fun, Saves money, social, and Useful.
Issues: Recycling.
The art of Swishing (going to parties to swap clothes with your friends, preferably ones brought with rather than those currently being worn…) was launched in 2007 and became all the rage (as our Mums would say) amongst certain trendy circles. Making recycling populist, sociable and even a little bit edgy. Find out more.
May 25, 2012, 1 Comment. See and add yours.
Good is: Fun and social.
Issues: Health.
A vast number of people have started getting into cooking by copying the simple format of this awesome show. Community groups, universities, cookery schools, secondary schools and have run copycat events and informally groups of friends across the country are getting together to compete over who can make the most impressive canape. A much better way to get people eating fresh food than the posters like this, found in your local surgery waiting room.
May 22, 2012, No Comments yet. Add yours.
Good is: Cool, Fun, and social.
Issues: Health.
An idea that came out of Volksvagen’s “Fun Theory” campaign. Simply ace. Never before have it been so appealing to run up stairs.
