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GOOD Launches Los Angeles Community

Aislinn Glennon |
April 19, 2011 | 3:40 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

GOOD launched a new global community in Los Angeles last weekend, complete with anything and everything under the sun deemed as doing good, from DIY workshops to locally made goods to environment-awareness projects to supporting public transportation. GOOD began in 2006 as an integrated media platform for people and businesses that want to engage in their communities by living well and doing good. Its mission is to serve the community through online educational content and public events. Currently the organization produces a magazine entirely about accelerating the world forward into making communities better places to live while emphasizing an editorial and educational aspect to the advancement. GOOD joins non-profit organizations and businesses together to make a positive social impact through areas like the environment, food, health and local communities.

In celebration of starting a pop-up community in Los Angeles, GOOD threw a three-day party at Atwater Crossing. The first day consisted of a presentation by eight designers who were given eight urban problems facing current L.A. city officials, ranging from obesity to homelessness, that were proposed by organizations such as Metro, LAUSD, USC Center for Body Computing and 100,000 Homes & Home for Good.

On Saturday, the real fun began with a local marketplace stocked with 24 vendors from Unique LA and Artisanal LA. Elsewhere, people participated in hikes to the LA River, learned how to live a more sustainable lifestyle thanks to Tree People, planted a transportable herb garden, made a crafty origami crane for Japan, screen printed t-shirts and contributed to many more events pertaining to improving the environment, health and local organizations.

Kids were drawn to Iridescent’s booth of making a mini wind farm with paper plates and brass tacks, and afterward enjoyed boba tea from The Mighty Boba Truck. People also brought in their old TOMS shoes for local artists to recycle into an art project. Nearby a 3-D printer produced Pac-Man-like plastic models, and computer techs soldered parts for USB-charging devices. Metro printed an enlarged bus and rail route map of Los Angeles for people to post their favorite local eats, shopping places or morning commutes while learning about the far-reaching benefits of going Metro.

Wrapping up the evening, the city’s most-known literary journal Slake hosted a night of poems and stories. The hosts of the Food Network’s Drinks with Alie & Georgia and creators of the McNuggetini, Alie and Georgia gave the crowd some stand-up comedy. On Sunday, the first-ever meeting of the GOOD Book Club took place on the downtown 7th Street overpass over the 110 freeway. A Rio Arriba tour at Atwater Crossing by ZZK Records concluded the party, entailing a beautiful sunset amid delicious food and drinks.

GOOD continues to stay active in these local communities by spreading the word about what positive changes are occurring around the world in the current news, how politicians and lawmakers impact society by encouraging healthy lifestyles or promoting economic and healthy growth. GOOD projects began in 2010, pairing up businesses such as Pepsi, Toyota, Starbucks and IBM to make a social impact — whether it is videos, websites or printed content — and promote projects like grant awards for innovative ideas, educating a young generation about the President’s healthcare plan and a digital platform for enhancing coffeehouse conversation about the elections. To find out more about this great organization please visit www.good.is.

Reach staff reporter Aislinn Glennon here.



 

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