Living in RO Colors

In perioada 13 Mai – 31 Iulie 2008, are loc concursul international PICNIC Green Chalange 2008. Competitia provoaca oamenii sa vina cu idei creative si inovative pentru reducerea emisiilor gazelor de sera. Ideea castigatoare va aduce echipei premiul cel mare de 500.000 euro, inmanat de Richard Branson, pentru punerea ei in practica.

Concursul, organizat de Loteria Postei Olandeze, cauta oameni creativi si inovativi care sa provoace schimbari in domeniul ecologiei. Produsele si serviciile ce vor intra in concurs trebuie sa contribuie la un stil de viata prietenos cu mediul inconjurator, reducand direct emisiile de gaze de sera. De asemenea, conteaza accesibilitatea, calitatea si design-ul lor. »

In 1993, Adunarea Generala a ONU a decis ca ziua de 15 mai a fiecarui an sa fie in continuare sarbatorita ca Zi Internationala a Familiei, decizia fiind adoptata prin rezolutia 47/237 din 20 septembrie. Anul 1994 a fost Anul International al Familiei, dedicat unei mai bune întelegeri a problemelor familiei si unei îmbunatatiri a capacitatii tarilor de a rezolva aceste probleme prin politici corespunzatoare.

In tara noastra, Ziua Internationala a Familiei este mai putin cunoscuta si sarbatorita; insa, datorita internetului, aceasta sarbatoare devine din ce in ce mai cunoscuta: 155 rezultate gasite prin google.

Pentru ca tu sa nu faci parte dintre cei ce ignora aceasta zi, iata cateva activitati propuse de mine la care tu sa te gandesti si sa iti alegi una pe care sa o faci cu placere impreuna cu familia ta:

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Galeriile de arta Saatchi din Londra organizeaza un clasament cu cei mai renumiti artisti ai secolului XX. In acest moment, Constantin Brancusi se afla pe locul 15, la 388 de voturi distanta de locul 10.

Te invit sa votezi si tu – un singur vot pentru fiecare vizitator. Cu siguranta ne putem uni cu totii fortele pentru a creste numarul de voturi si a-l aseza pe Brancusi acolo unde ii este locul: printre primii 10 artisti ai secolului XX.

Daca ati uitat cine a fost Brancusi si ce inseamna el pentru romani, consultati resursele:

1. Brancusi.ro – site dedicate artistului;
2. Articolele Wikipediei despre Brancusi;
3. evolutia restaurarii ansamblului de la Targu Jiu;
4. comentariile de pe Cotidianul privitoare la acest clasament

Succes!

[English Version]

Vote from Constantin Brancusi in the top organized by the Saatchi Gallery from London!

Brancusi was the Romanian sculptor that became the central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction.

For more information about Constantin Brancusi, please visit brancusi.com, Wikipedia or the Noguchi Museum’s Website.

Thank you!

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Imi place sa citesc: carti, reviste, ziare, pliante, cataloage, brosuri…mai nimic nu-mi scapa. Insa nu imi place sa risipesc nimic. Combinand cele doua obiceiuri a reiesit, evident, varianta reciclarii intregii cantitati de hartie (si carton) ce trece prin mainile mele.

Prefer hartia sa fie reciclata; des si in cantitati mari. Urmaresc sa nu-mi scape nimic: de la cele evidente (si enumerate mai sus) pana la ambalajele diferitelor produse cumparate. Am amenajat un loc special in casa unde strang hartia reciclabila, iar la sfarsitul saptamanii o scot pe balcon unde o depozitez. Cand se umple spatial destinat depozitarii, o duc la reciclare.

De cand am descoperit Copacul de Hartie, treaba asta cu reciclarea s-a usurat mult. Eu strang cat de multa hartie pot iar ei vin si o ridica cand au timp. Nimic mai simplu. Ne ajutam reciproc si nu avem nimic de pierdut: eu castig timp iar ei materie prima pentru proiect. »

Last year I’ve spotted a beautiful tag on a Lee Cooper T–shirt. The T–shirt was nice but the tag attached to it was even nicer; I wanted to buy the T-shirt because of the tag, but I do not year black …

The thought stuck with me though: why so few of the tags attached to clothing and shoes are beautiful. How come the big brains behind the products do not come up with interesting and gorgeous tags? How about cool or glamorous?

Tags should say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in December and Happy Easter in April – to mention only two holidays. Tags should be so beautiful that you want to keep them, collect them, share with friends, and hang them as ornaments in your house during holiday times (as long as the brand’s name is not too obvious).

I have a tag from an Only for You jacket – I used it to customize my rucksack.

I wonder why the tags are not used as a way to bond with your customers. In my opinion an apparel product should have, besides a price tag, another tag – beautifully designed – with the web address of the company (a must), a suggestion / picture on how to wear the product and other interesting information related to the product.

Like this Puma tag Mr. Seth Godin shared with us. I like it. That’s why I’ve chosen to help spread the word.

From my point of view, apparel and cosmetics (for start) tags should be seen as a new kind of business card: the type of information they contain is up to the business’s imagination and the customer will definitely take it home (being attached to the product). Maybe there should be a tag contest with customers voters only …

What do you think about this Puma tag? Do you collect tags and labels? Do you have any cool apparel tags? What do you do with tags and labels you like? What is the most beautiful or interesting apparel tag you have ever seen?

{{ It´s important to carry a good umbrella. I always say, “Men who carry a high–quality umbrella will move up in life. Women who carry a high–quality umbrella will be showered in happiness.” It´s the truth. The umbrella above your head, the belt that goes around your middle, and the shoes you use to trod the earth, if those three things are of high quality, you can´t go wrong. The people I´ve met in my life, pretty much all the men are of good status, and the women are happy. It´s a funny thing, though, isn´t it? Umbrellas and life are connected. It´s really very deep. }}

These are the words of Mr. Kitazawa Yoshihiro –– an old umbrella craftsman from Nagano, Japan. It makes your heart skip a bit and wonder what on earth are you doing, right? These words make you think what you have done lately to improve the life of the people you interact with. Life, not business.

After all, I think that leading a simple life really un–clutters your point of view and purpose in life. It makes you appreciate the real value of thing around you and the value of the things that you build.

The moral: Put a little bit of soul in every piece of work you do and the world WILL become a better place. I believe it.

If you are interested, read the rest of the interview with Mr. Kitazawa Yoshihiro.

How do you recycle your bottles? If you are Romanian, I bet you don’t. If you are foreigner, I bet you have options. I’m a big fan of recycling. I’ll recycle everything I can and it hurts my heart when I throw away bottles and plastics. Just because I do not even have 1 option for recycling them. There are no services for the population to recycle their waste.
I do recycle paper and cardboard via Copacul de Hartie (the Paper Tree) - they plant trees bought with the money from selling the paper — and I donate old clothing to the needy. It feels good.

But I would like to do more. A quick google and I learned that there are nice ways to recycle bottles. Some smart people have given this issue a serious thought and came up with this solution: reduce the volume of the glass using a cool machine to do all the hard part. All you have to do is remember to recycle.

Here are some versions of the same idea:
1. Bottler Cycler - Recycling and Waste Management for Bottles
2. Smash and Grab - “Little Smasher”
3. Reverse Vending Corporation - reverse vending machines which utilize advanced technology to identify, sort, collect , process and recycle used beverage containers including cans, glass bottles, PET (plastic) bottles and vending cups.

To have some success with these ideas in Romania, they have to be private initiatives; like initiatives from private companies: malls, super/hypermarkets & co.
Dear Manager from a Big Company, please invest in a bottle recycling machine in front of your big hypermarket - your customers will thank you on their way to spend their money on your business.

I would love to go shopping and leave a bag of bottles at the smashing machine in front of the store. Maybe even get a receipt that says “Thank you Mihaela for recycling with us today. You’ve just recycled x kilograms of glass. You balance so far is y kilograms of recycled glass. You’re on 10th place in your community. ” Only 10th? I have to pay mom a visit and talk to her about her bottles. How many of my friends are not recycling? Hmmm….

Do you get my point? There is a HUGE opportunity on the Romanian recycling business. We need smart and stimulating ideas; business people with guts; green education for the masses.

And at the end of the year, we want to know where our recycling goes: how much energy was saved? Which companies used the recycled materials? Make people’s lives easier and greener and they sleep better at knight.

So….how do you recycle your bottles? (use the form below to leave your opinions)

While catching up with reading blogs over the weekend, I’ve found an interesting post: play tag online with books. I’m sure you’ve played tag in you childhood, you remember the fun you had.
I loved this version immediately and here’s my challenge for you:

1. Pick up the book closest to you, no matter where you are right now.
2. Open it on page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence/phrase on that page.
4. Post below, in the comments section, the next 4 sentences/ phrases.
5. Send this post to a friend or more, and invite them to do the same.
6. Do NOT search around for a cool or smart book; just pick up the one closest to you.

Here is my book: Romanian-English Dictionary, by Andrei Bantas (I’m at the office now ).
Ha (interj) = ha!
Habar (sn) = idea; (grija) care
Hac (sn) = a veni de ~ cuiva to get the better of somebody.
Hai(de) (interj) = come on!

Now it’s your turn! You’re it!

I was wondering, the other day, why there aren’t pro bono lawsuits in Romania. If there are, I haven’t heard of any.

In Romania, most of the people suffer wrong doings without having the power to fight back - the lawsuits are too expensive and the system is very little understood. So why not empowering them?

The system of pro bono lawsuits should work like the our medical system: the lawyers have a number of people under their “protection” and each people have the right to 3 or 2 or even 1 free of charge lawsuit during their lifetime. Like in a game: you have 3 “credits”, use them wisely.

This system will bring benefits to both parts:

- familiarizing the people with the laws and procedures;

- the lawyers will gain more experience and prestige, and get to keep the clients they do good work for;

- more justice will be done in Romania.

So think about it: if this lawsuit is free of charge, who would you sue? Is your problem worth addressing the court? Is it worth spending this “credit” or there are other solutions to the problem?

This is just an idea and needs improvement. But would it make the world a better place?

For your amusement, check this collection of stupid lawsuits.

Just to make things clear, here is a simple definition of fog: Fog is a cloud in contact with the ground. Fog differs from other clouds only in that fog touches the surface of the Earth. The same cloud that is not fog on lower ground may be fog where it contacts higher ground such as hilltops or mountain ridges.

Fog is distinct from mist only in its density. Fog is defined as cloud which reduces visibility to less than 1 km, whereas mist is that which reduces visibility to less than 2 km. Fog forms when the difference (Δ) between temperature and dew-point are 3 °C, or less, especially around rivers. (Courtesy of Wikipedia) »