Peace Corps

You’ve thought about joining or maybe you’re a past Corps volunteer. I came this close to going to Estonia or Guatemala in 1996. It’s the Peace Corps, perhaps one of the best service programs sponsored by the federal government.

Although many argue its value to our modern society, the Peace Corps continues to send volunteers to far away places on two year stints, doing everything from building bridges and digging wells, to helping artisans and farmers get their products to market.

This March, the Corps celebrates its 44th year. In that time, there have been 178,000 volunteers who have served in 138 countries. There are currently 7,700 volunteers, 58% of whom are female, with an average age of 28. The oldest volunteer is 82. Some famous returned volunteers include Representatives Christopher Shays and Christopher Dodd, both of Connecticut, television news show host, Chris Matthews, and home improvement guru, Bob Villa.

If you’re thinking about it, maybe you should check it out. The Peace Corps has many offices around the country and is always looking for great people. If you get in (yes, it’s a competitive process), please let us know so that we can look for your dispatches from the field.

Above photo courtesy of the Peace Corps. Dana Carson is an agriculture volunteer serving in Nicaragua. She works with farmers and agronomists to improve soil conservation. (May 2000)

Plenty Magazine

A new environmental magazine has hit the streets, and it’s not your father’s Sierra or National Geographic.

Plenty, a magazine professing to be about “smart living for a complex world,” published its first issue in the fall of 2004 and is looking to do six more in 2005. The magazine seeks to do what many who follow all matters environmental have been pining for for a long time: It’s injecting a sense of youth, relevance, sex and style into the conversation over conservation.

Citing Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, as a starting point of the environmental movement, Plenty is focused on healing the environment by changing consumer habits and sensibilities. Undoubtedly, it will use slick journalism to help sell not only the magazine but the latest environmental ideas and technologies to the “savvy, environmentally conscious consumer.” Similar to Organic Style, a highly successful magazine published by the Rodale, Inc., Plenty will introduce style and star appeal to help sell the movement.

However, Plenty will be noticeably different than the competition. Recent covers feature Ford agency models scantily dressed in eco-friendly clothing and engaged in campy antics like kicking cartoon villains named Smogman. Certainly, Plenty will stand out on the magazine racks from other eco-mags.

Acts of Kindness

Here’s a cool product that seems to be inspired by the whole Kindness Movement (see Things, February 2005).

Carma Design, a St. Louis, Missouri company, makes stickers pre-printed with nice phrases such as, “I find comfort in your voice,” and “Your passion for life is contagious.” Seems a bit close to being cheesy, but sometimes you just have to go there to prove a point. These acts of kindness™ help you to do so.

The stickers are not permanent – much like Post-It® notes – so you don’t run the risk of ruining your best friend’s new leather handbag by sticking an act of kindness™ on it.

They come in sheets of (lucky) seven and feature different messages for each sticker. Every sheet has a theme, like friends, family, for him or for her, and fun packs that include several different sheets are available.

This product gets on the NICE Things pages, however, because Carma Design donates 5% of their profits to charity. In this case, the company supports Child Advocates, a non-profit that works with and advocates for abused and neglected children.

Giving Game

It’s Missouri month at NICE Things.

St. Louis based, The Giving Game Foundation, runs a very fun and effective program that encourages people to “pay it forward.” The game is simple: You obtain a playing card either online or via the mail, then, quite like being “it” in a game of chase, as the holder of the card you are compelled to commit a kind act – known or in secret – to someone else. Once you do so, you pass that card on to that person. Each card has a unique identification number. So, after doing your act of kindness, you register the card and the nature of your kind act on the Giving Game website. As the card continues on in its travels, you can login every once in a while and chronicle its journey of kindness.

That’s it. No scoring, no winners or losers. You simply have a front seat in the game of nice acts.

The durable plastic game cards ordered through the mail are free and come in packs of 25. You can put as many cards as you like into play. Or, you can get a group of friends together and get them going that way. The cards are also available online and through your printer, but it is recommended that you have them laminated to ensure durability.

The Giving Game Foundation is a project of the National Heritage FoundationNational Heritage Foundation of Virginia.