One person. One idea. One positive action.
One person’s actions can open the door to new possibilities and create a ripple effect of positive change.
‘Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.’ – Leo Tolstoy
No matter where you are, you will find people who are full of compassion and hope, always ready to extend a helping hand to those in need.
This week we present the stories of seemingly ordinary people who are making an extraordinary impact on the world.
- An entrepreneur is making fabric out of oyster shell residue
- This organization is sending bikes to people in need
- An anime studio is creating opportunities for neurodivergent artists’ community
- Nonprofit covers medical costs for hundreds of dogs
Weekly Uplifting Stories – September 2nd 2024
Entrepreneur is transforming sea waste into sustainable textile.
Eddie Wang is giving a second life to oyster shells.
His company Creative Tech Textile transforms discarded oyster shells into environmentally friendly fabric called “Seawool”.
Oysters are very common in Taiwanese cuisine. Due to the popularity of oysters, the island country has a well-established industry chain.
“In Taiwan, we have an oyster farming industry. We have people to harvest oysters, we have specialists to clean oyster shells, and we have people for drying and treating the oyster shells. This industry chain cannot be found anywhere else overseas,” said Eddie Wang.
About 900 tons of Seawool can be made out of 100 tons of oyster shells!
Repurposing oyster shells into textiles is an efficient way of tackling oyster shell pollution on the western coast of Taiwan.
This organization is empowering people with recycled, carbon-free transportation.
Bikes for the World just delivered its 200,000th donated bike.
The organization has been empowering people in developing countries for over 20 years!
In many parts of the world, people have no access to transport.
Students have to walk for hours to get to school. Bicycles are cheap, and efficient modes of transportation. They can help improve access to education and work opportunities.
Bike enthusiast Keith Oberg founded the organization in 2005, to empower people in underprivileged communities.
As part of their mission, they also ship spare parts and train mechanics to increase the longevity of the bikes.
“I like putting people on bikes. But when I found out the impact that it has, that it’s not just about riding bikes, [but] it’s about giving a young girl hope for the future, keeping her in school, giving her a job that she never thought was possible, that was inspirational to me,” said Yvette Hess, a volunteer at Bikes for the World.
Special Japanese animation studio provides job training to neurodivergent people.
Anime studio ‘Shake Hands’ in Kyoto hires and trains autistic artists.
The studio accommodates the needs of people with autism, who otherwise find it hard to cope in a high-stress work environment.
The artists are encouraged to use their unique strengths and abilities, e.g., hyper fixation and heightened attention to detail, to their advantage.
They have access to isolated booths and privacy curtains, which enables them to work without getting distracted by their surroundings.
“They have learned much more quickly than I expected. They can see what they worked on in major animation products screened publicly and they can see their names in the credits, which makes them feel really fulfilled at work,” said Tomoyo Sawada, head of Shake Hands
Digital creator is making a difference in the lives of dogs with special needs.
Matt Nelson is on a mission to provide shelter dogs a chance to live their best life.
He’s using his strong social media presence to raise money for sponsoring shelter dogs with medical conditions and helping them get adopted into loving homes.
His non-profit 15/10 Foundation focuses on helping families cover the medical costs of dogs with special needs.
The foundation has raised more than $3 million to date! The donations help the dogs receive the care they deserve.
“They’re just such innocent creatures that want only to love us. But yeah, I think there’s a lot we can learn from dogs. They live in the moment. They are full of unconditional love. I think that that’s something that we as individuals and our society needs more of,” said Matt.
What’s Your Uplifting Story?
And that wraps it up for this week!
As always, if you have any Uplifting Stories of your own, you can contact us in the comments below, or reach out on our Instagram page. We might just share your story in a future article.
Thanks everyone for reading, and have an uplifting week ahead. Take care and see you next week!
