You can still do something good for the world and its people in 2008. Bridges to Understanding, a Seattle non-profit, has one more international workshop next month. The Bridges team including founder and world-renowned photographer Phil Borges will take a group of volunteers to Guatemala November 1-9th to work with Fotokids, a Guatemalan organization.

The volunteers and the children will work together on storytelling. While familiarity with digital cameras and photography is a help, you don’t have to be an expert. You are likely to find avid amateur photographers along. Go to the Bridges Web site (http://www.bridgesweb.org/) to see the amazing and touching results from earlier trips.

Cost is $2,535 for adults, which includes food, lodging and in-country travel. Jeff Speigner, who went on this trip to Santiago Antitlan last year, said he found himself surprised and delighted by, “The degree of camaraderie amongst the volunteers and the kids as they went from introduction to producing a community film festival in a week.”

To go, contact Bridges to Understanding at info@bridgesweb.org.

We’re all striving to live greener lives—choosing environmentally friendly and sustainable products for our homes and remembering those cloth bags when we go to the store. Now there’s a new way to be even “greener” when you travel. Merino outdoor clothing pioneer Icebreaker just introduced  “Baacode,” a revolutionary tracking system that lets you follow their garments through every step of the production process.

“We made the decision to put this information online to give consumers a clear understanding of Icebreaker, and of our deep and ongoing commitment to the environment and to social ethics,” says CEO Jeremy Moon.  The Icebreaker site also has some nifty video visits to the stations where the sheep are raised and a demo of the system.

Here’s how it works. Icebreaker garments have an internal label with a unique Baacode number. A swingtag on the garment shows you how to enter your individual Baacode on the Icebreaker website to trace the merino fiber in the clothing back to the sheep stations where it was grown.  Icebreaker sources its merino fiber directly from high country New Zealand farmers, all of whom must comply with stringent guidelines on animal health and welfare, long-term respect for the environment, and fiber quality. And since the company makes serious adventure clothing, as well as a special line of travel clothing for both men and women, you have lots of choices you can feel good about for whatever kind of travel you may want to do.  You can take a look at some of the travel clothes available here at our site (at the bottom center of the page in the Featured Products area).

Now that’s a right idea!