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Write Down 3 Things That Make You Smile Each Day

Each night, write down 3 things that had a positive impact on your day. Whether it be something huge, like completing your first 5k or receiving news of a friend getting engaged, or something small, like the rollerblading ride you shared with a friend or being woken up by your dog, this daily routine will help you focus on the good things in life, appreciate each day as it’s own, and be present.

Posted by GOOD Community member, Emily Rathmanner in Culture, Art and Design

Continue to 3-things-that-make-me-smile.tumblr.com

“We Are The 15 Percent”: Interracial Families Respond to Cheerios Backlash
- Tasbeeh Herwees shared in Lifestyle, Families and Race

Last month, Cheerios debuted a commercial featuring an interracial family to much acclaim. Some people, however, didn’t find it so heart-warming. Racists rushed to the comments section with xenophobic invectives. In response, a husband-and-wife interracial couple created this Tumblr of crowd-sourced photos of interracial families. The title refers to the percentage of interrcial families in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.

Continue to wearethe15percent.com

Infographic: How Do You Know if Antibiotics Are in Your Meat?
- Column Five wrote in Food, Infographic and Lifestyle

According to the Food and Drug Administration, approximately 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to livestock to promote faster growth and to prevent and treat disease. Mounting evidence now reveals that this widespread use of antibiotics, coupled with overuse and misuse of the drugs for human treatment has resulted in a new millennium health threat: a bacterial superbug resistant to antibiotics. Click on the infographic above to learn more about how antibiotics enter the food system and how you can help identify if they are in your meat.

‘What Good Shall I Do This Day?’ Asked Benjamin Franklin Every Single Morning
- Yasha Wallin wrote in Living, Creativity and Lifestyle

We all have different ways of working. Some make lists of their day ahead, others charge right in and see where that takes them. Benjamin Franklin, inventor of the lighting rod and the odometer to name a couple, not to mention his work as a author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat, was a list man. How he managed to get everything done in 24 hours still seems like a miracle, but clues to his productivity lie in looking at his daily schedule.

Continue reading on good.is

Announcement: The New GOOD Pets Hub Launches Today!
GOOD Partnerships wrote in Culture, News and Lifestyle

Starting today, we’ll be bringing you more than cute and fuzzy posts about cats and dogs. We’ll provide food for thought, including content like:

• Pet Diaries: Our continuing column features comedians, authors, musicians, and other pet owners writing about how their relationships with their neighbors and communities changed after pets came into their lives. 
• Profiles about animal shelters and nonprofits that are finding inspiring ways to get their communities involved.
• Stories about people who are driven by curiosity to fuel change in their neighborhoods.
• A series elevating the extraordinary pet research that’s helping to improve the lives of our companions, including mapping the dog genome, studying dog happiness, tracking cat ancestry, and working on ways to help sustain a bright mind for dogs as they age.
• A GOOD Guide to keeping your pet healthy and happy in an urban city.
• Infographics that will include scientific facts about pets.
• And Maker Challenges, which will result in donations to a pet welfare nonprofit or shelter.

Continue reading at good.is

Illustration by Jessica De Jesus

Airbnb’s Hurricane Sandy Plan: How We’re Helping and How You Can Help - by Airbnb

Hurricane Sandy has affected millions of people. But it has also provided an invitation to share our space in truly meaningful ways.

Shell, an Airbnb host in Brooklyn, is offering her five guest rooms to stranded travelers and locals—for free. She provides an example of how we can all help.

There are more than 20,000 Airbnb listings available in affected areas. Airbnb is waiving all of our fees for these spaces. We encourage our entire community to help anyone who has been left stranded or in need because of the hurricane.

The fee-free traveling and hosting applies to both guests who book and hosts who accept new bookings that start between now and November 7 in New York City, the Hamptons, Providence, New Haven, and Atlantic City. (The max trip length is seven nights.)

If you’re an existing host in an affected area and can help, please consider lowering your price. You can do this in your account settings. We have created a Discounted Sandy Listings Wish List that showcases hosts in the affected regions who are reducing prices for stranded travelers and locals.

If you are in a position to share space, please consider listing your space so others might find you.

We started Airbnb so that what’s most inspiring about people and their spaces could be shared. Thanks, Shell, for providing this inspiration for our global community.

For more information about how your can help, or to read a list of frequently asked questions, please visit our blog.

Airbnb is a global community marketplace that connects travelers seeking authentic, high-quality accommodations with hosts who offer unique places to stay.

Dealbreaker: He Was Jealous

I was a 16-year-old on the verge of turning politically liberal and religiously indifferent. Josh, on the other hand, was a budding conservative who did what he was told.

Find out where the relationship took a wrong turn on GOOD.is

Birth Control Costs More Than You Think—Even for the Lucky Ones

Representative Tom Price dared us to bring him “one woman” who couldn’t afford birth control. We found 25.

Check it out on GOOD→ 

Our Lifestyle Editor Amanda Hess today delves into the haunting recesses of people’s embarrassing internet histories with “The Eternal Shame of Your First Online Handle”:

Those of us who came of age alongside AOL must contend with something even more incriminating than a lifelong Google profile: A trail of discarded online aliases, each a distillation of how we viewed ourselves and our place in the world at the time of sign-on. The dawn of the Internet was an open invitation to free ourselves from the names our parents gave us and forge self-made identities divorced from our reputations IRL.

So how did I choose to define myself in this new world? I booted up my parents’ modem and launched head-first into online forums with an alias inspired by my cat’s name. 

Ouch! Can you remember your first humiliating handle?

Read more on GOOD →