This Is Just Cool!

Greensburg, Kansas is a city that has done something really cool. It has taken a tragedy and turned it into an opportunity. The town almost got obliterated only a few short years ago but got back on its feet in a big way. By turning itself into a truly green city, Greensburg has put itself back on the map and can now serve as an inspiration to other local communities.

In the spring of 2007 Greensburg, Kansas was hit by a devastating tornado. A whopping ninety five percent of the town was completely destroyed by the natural disaster. The five percent that remained might as well have been gone, too, since it was completely damaged and almost beyond repair. Can you imagine trying to rebuild a city in the wake of that type of disaster? The small town of only 1400 people could easily have just been wiped off the map without a second thought from the rest of the nation.

Luckily, Greensburg’s residents and politicians had a good imagination and a lot of determination. They could indeed see rebuilding their homes. In fact, they decided to make them better than ever before. It only took three months for the town to create a plan to use their recovery funds to become the first ever planned eco-town in the world. They decided that every single new city building that went up in the town would be a LEED Platinum certified green building. Although it’s not required, homeowners are also strongly encouraged to go green in the rebuilding of their homes and most of them have chosen to do so.

Some of the other green actions that Greensburg has taken as the city has been rebuilt include:

• Creation of a wind farm, an important source of renewable energy
• Building and opening of a new eco-friendly school
• Use of LED streetlights
• Launch of a new healthy community garden

Greensburg, Kansas may be a small place but it’s sure making some big changes. Other towns across the nation could learn from their example, not only in their efforts to go green but in the way that they’ve chosen to take their lemons and turn them into lemonade!

Christmas is here and we’re all in the spirit of giving. It’s always nice to give to those less fortunate than us so here’s a brief overview of seven cool charities that you might want to give your time, money or goods to this holiday season:

1. Angel Tree. Can you imagine being the child of a man or woman who is away from you because they are in prison? Donations to this organization go to send these children gifts but they also send the children a much needed message of hope, reminding them of their own value.
2. Christmas Spirit Foundation. Help needy children and families this year with a donation to this non-profit organization. They’re also running a trees for troops program this year.
3. Holiday Project. Spending the Christmas season in a nursing home can be a very lonely experience. This organization uses your donation to bring gifts and messages of cheer to the elderly.
4. Make-A-Wish Foundation. Any time of year is a good time of year to help make the wishes of dying children come true.
5. The Family Giving Tree. Underprivileged children are allowed to make a special gift request through this organization. You can go online and purchase the item that a child has requested so that they can receive it this year.
6. The Salvation Army. Year after year you pass by those bell-ringers and try to avoid making eye contact with them. Maybe this year you could spare some change.
7. Toys for Tots. This well-known organization helps give needy kids a happy Christmas year after year.

Do you know of another good Christmas charity that you want others to be aware of? Share it in the comment section!

Don’t forget that you can always help a local family or even a friend that you know is struggling this Christmas. You don’t have to go through a formal organization to do something cool for someone else this Christmas.

Check out the cool video above in which huge ship Allure of the Seas barely clears the Storebaelt Bridge in Denmark. The bridge itself is pretty cool. It’s a set of connected bridges including a road suspension bridge, a railway tunnel and a box girder bridge. The suspension bridge is among the largest in the world and is the largest outside of Asia.

What’s so amazing about this is that the normal height of the ship is around 73 meters but the ship needed to be less than 65 meters high (as measured from the level of the water to the top of the ship) if it was going to make it under this bridge.

The feat was accomplished because the pipes at the top of the ship have been designed in a unique way that makes them retractable so that the total height of the ship can be reduced. Most ships have fixed pipes, not retractable pipes.

Well, that doesn’t sound like such an amazing thing, does it? After all, you just pull in the pipes and go under the bridge. Nope, it’s more complex than that. The ship has to be a certain weight in order to drop far enough into the water to be low enough to pass under the bridge. If the ship were to be too light, it would hit the bridge has it passed beneath it. The ship has been designed with ballasts that produce and hold fresh water creating more “draft” for the ship so that it is low enough in the water to pass under the bridge.

Finally, the ship has to be moving at the right speed. If the ship is too slow then it actually rides higher on the water. A faster speed increases suction beneath the ship and lowers the ship a little bit so that it can safely pass underneath the bridge. As you can see in the video, the mission is accomplished.

There are many stay-at-home moms out there who are creating their own crafts. Undeniably, many of those crafts are cool. But there is something totally unique about the needle tatting work being done by at-home artist Pamela Quevado from Merced, California. The crafts that she creates have a really sophisticated dark edge that is eye-catching and alluring. She writes about her crafts in a fun blog called Needle Tatting and Other Nonsense: The Musings of a Tattooed Needle Tatter.

For those who aren’t familiar with needle tatting, it’s a variation on general tatting. Tatting is a form of lacemaking. What is really cool about the works of art that Quevado creates is that they definitely have the feminine delicacy of lace but they also have a much edgier appeal. The modern woman who doesn’t easily fit into the traditional box of a stay-at-home mom can easily find these works of art seductive.

Take a look at some pieces from her Etsy store:

1. In Bloom Ankle Corsets. These sexy ankle corsets have the look of a lace shoe. There is definitely something mysteriously sexy about them! Quevado can custom make these for her customers in a variety of different colors but there is a definite power to the decision to use black here.

2. A Kind of Pale Jewel – Tatted Lace Mask. A mask is definitely something that has a sensual appeal to it. That’s why masquerade balls are so fascinating! This is a great example of a darkly feminine mask that would definitely enhance the costume closet of any woman today.

3. Flower Garland Tatted Lace Earrings. If you are the kind of woman who finds this style appealing but can’t see yourself wearing ankle corsets or face masks then maybe you’d prefer something simple like these earrings. They are feminine with dramatic flair and definitely make a statement!

Quevado’s blog profile description says that her other interests include knitting, art, steampunk and tattoos. This is definitely a creative woman with a lot going for her in terms of inspiration for her designs. Ladies who are concerned that they can no longer be productive because they’re stuck at home with young children can definitely take a cue from this cool chick in seeing that it doesn’t have to be that way at all!

There is something completely addictive about gummy worms. Who doesn’t love them? We all know that they’re bad for us. And they don’t taste good in the way that rich chocolate mousse or luscious pumpkin pie tastes good. But they’re a wonderful little snack that we all like anyway.

A creative candy company has decided to take this infatuation with gummy worms and turn it up a notch. They’re selling “the world’s largest gummy worm“. They say that it tastes and looks just like the regular gummy worms that you love. Each one comes in dual flavors and your favorites are represented with options like blue raspberry with cherry and lemon with orange. The only real difference is that these gummy worms are huge.

Some facts:

• Each large gummy worm is more than two feet long.
• It is five inches around in width.
• It weighs over three pounds.
• This is 128 times larger than the traditional gummy worm.

This nostalgia-inducing product for your kid-at-heart has a one-year shelf life so you don’t have to eat the whole thing at once. This is a really good thing since the total calorie count in one of these monsters is 4000 calories! Of course, you don’t necessarily buy this product because you want to eat it but rather for the novelty of it. You can end up having a lot of fun with it. The video to sell the product (featured above) shows how you might use it in costumes or dance the worm next to it (although the manufacturers do not recommend that you use the candy in these ways!)

Other cool things that you might do with this weird product include:

• Spreading an array of these large worms out on your yard for a colorful creative lawn display.
• Buying one of these to replace a traditional birthday cake, slicing it up so everyone gets a portion.
• Give it to your pet as a toy. Beware that allowing your pet to go wild eating it could potentially make the animal sick though!

What if you’re less of a gummy worm person and more into the traditional gummy bear instead. Here’s a product for you:

Which gets your vote for the coolest candy ever created?