At my work, we listen to the radio a lot. For the most I let everything just pass through my ears and then forget about it, but lately that has changed... So here are some thoughts that have been growing inside of me the past months. It seems that nowadays the politicians, the business men and the leaders of the world only cares about their own life and how much money and power they will earn before their time has come to an end. Are there anyone out there, in a leading position, that actually care about where the world is going? Where it will be in 300 years or more... Hopefully there will be many generations after us, but then maybe they who rule the world should change the way they think. Yes, we normal people should also start to care more, and change our lifestyle and the way we live. But I think that the men and women who we have chosen to lead us, maybe could, as good examples, start living a life that goes further and wider than their own greed, visibility and lust for power. I know of one significant man who have changed the way he lives, his name is José Mujica and he is a president. He's the president of Uruguay, the media call him the poorest president in the world. Why? That's because he gives away 90% of his salary to charities that benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs. He does not live in a luxury palace like other in his position, instead he and his wife are living in a small farm in the outskirts of Montevideo. "I'm called 'the poorest president', but I don't feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more," he says. Here is a short interview with the man himself. We people have to realize that if we continue to live the way we live, our world won't last for long. It's not sustainably for example to every year or so buy the newest smart phone even though the "old" one still works.
Sadly I can't change what todays leaders prioritizes, how they think and what they care about. But I can do a difference with my own life. You maybe can't save the whole world alone, but if you start with yourself then maybe along the road you influence people around you so that they also start to change. We live in a beautiful world, it would be a shame to let it be destroyed by our own hands, that would be like sawing off the branch you are sitting on. So please dear fellow human beings, start using some common sense and we might save the world together! /A
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When my phone broke this summer I decided to make a different choise, to not just buy any new phone. Instead I went online and ordered a Fairphone, a phone made by a small company in the Netherlands. And yesterday it finally came! Even though I had to wait while the phones were made it was definitely worth the wait. Because now I know that my phone isn't made with materials collected from comflict-areas. Coltan, that is an essential part of all phones, is often mined in areas controlled by rebels. The Fairphone Company decided to only use conflict-free minerals. They are also making sure that the workers in China who assemble the phones has fair wages and working situations. They also want to reuse as much as possible from old phones. The first Fairphones came out in December 2013 and this summer the second batch was made. If you're currently without a phone I can highly recommend the Fairphone. The second batch isn't sold out yet. The box the phone came in shows all the places relevant to making the phone. Such as where it was made and from where the parts are.
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