ACTIVISM, MEET IMPACT.

We create change for people + planet. Here’s how.

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College Football, Ariana Grande, and Water

Temporary Homes and Lasting Solutions: What We Can Learn about Homelessness from Tent Cities

A yellow image with a black illustrated solidarity fist and black text stating "state of the UNIONS"

State of the UNIONS: Welcome to September’s Impactfull Series

Equity, Impactfull

A recent Executivefederal contracts with private prisons has resulted in an increase in ICE arrests. Order by Biden ending

How does the Closing of Private Prisons Affect Undocumented Immigrants?

Justice, Refugees

iphone

Humanitarian Side of Everything: The True Cost of Your iPhone

Environment, Equity, Humanitarian Side of Everything

us gun control

The Gun Control Debate Needs to be More Intersectional

Education, Justice

All articles >>>

We’re learning about voluntourism on Impactfull.

LEARN AND ACT

voluntourism

Listen to the Podcast & Handful

I moved to Austin– here’s what I learned about how to be a sustainable + engaged citizen no matter where you live.

READ ALEXA IN ATX

What’s a humanitarian issue?

We’d argue, everything.

READ THE SERIES

What are you passionate about?

Let’s stay in touch!

Get our latest content every Monday.

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From Starbucks to Apple, workers at major corporat

From Starbucks to Apple, workers at major corporations across the US are organizing and forming unions.

This month, we’re exploring the rise in organized labor and the impact that has for workers. We’ll investigate what this means for corporate accountability and revisit last year’s Amazon series to see how workers are organizing there.

Read the first article by @graciemae.adcox at novelhand.com!

Anyone else have this problem?? A lot of coffee s

Anyone else have this problem??

A lot of coffee shops stopped accepting reusable mugs during the pandemic. It’s time to bring them back!

And on the topic of reusables—what does sustainability look like for you this Earth Month?

Let us know in the comments ⬇️

And be sure to check out @stojo and @ecorate.eco ☕️

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#sustainability #earthday #earthday2022 #earthdayeveryday #sustainableliving #stojocup #stojo #travelsustainable #austintexas #delta #joescoffee #reusable #plasticfree #plasticpollution #plasticwaste #recycle

Have you participated in a weeklong service trip a

Have you participated in a weeklong service trip and felt... 'meh' about your impact?🤔

☀️In our most recent podcast episode, Rose Capin talks about her experience as a leader with Alternative Spring Break, a service organization where students participate in service trips over their spring break.

As a leader in Vanderbilt ASB, Rose thought critically about transitioning from voluntourism to active citizenship. In this episode, she shares what that looked like and how you can apply what she learned to your service.

⭐️ Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

UNSUSTAINABLE TRAVEL PT. 2 (see our last reel for

UNSUSTAINABLE TRAVEL PT. 2 (see our last reel for part one)

😅 You can’t win them all!!

And while carbon neutrality is an important step for many businesses as they transition to be more sustainable, it’s not an endpoint. Companies need to recognize other areas of environmental (and social) impact.

P.S. Find and rate sustainable cafes with @ecorate.eco ☕️

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#travel #sustainability #sustainableliving #unsustainable #unsustainabletravel #detroit #carbonneutral #carbonnegative #deltaairlines #environmentalimpact #springbreak2022 #carbonemissions #coffee #airport #airportcoffee #illycoffee #reusable #stojocup #stojo #plastic #plasticpollution

Join our team!! 😎 Novel Hand Fellows complete

Join our team!! 😎

Novel Hand Fellows complete a summer internship, writing articles and working on a project of their choosing, and stay on in a fall role on our team.

➡️ Our past interns have enjoyed the flexibility of the program and individualized feedback on their writing. Plus, you'll get to work closely with other fellows and the rest of the Novel Hand team.

⚡️Our application is open now at novelhand.com. We're reviewing applications on a rolling basis with a priority deadline of April 10 and a final deadline of May 1.

Have questions? Comment below, DM us, or ask a question in our stories!!

Individual actions are great, but to combat climat

Individual actions are great, but to combat climate change, we need systemic change‼️‼️‼️

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#climatechange #americanairlines #americanair #stojocup #stojo #reusable #organic #organiccoffee #organiccoffeefarm #climateaction #climateimpact #systemicchange #systemschange #sustainability #sustainableliving

🌴 Ok, but what is voluntourism?? Voluntourism

🌴 Ok, but what is voluntourism??

Voluntourism is a form of tourism that mixes vacation with volunteering. That might look like providing free medical care in the mornings and surfing in the afternoon. Or it might look like climbing a volcano and building homes in a remote village. 🌋

Voluntourism isn’t all bad. Besides, isn’t it better to volunteer a little while on vacation rather than not at all?

➡️ The issue is that sometimes voluntourism does more harm than good. That medical care is limited when you’re only there for a week, and few international volunteers know how to properly build a home.

This month, we’re leaning into the uncomfortable side of voluntourism and asking whether this kind of volunteering actually has the impact that we intend. ✨

Answer that question (and more) with us at novelhand.com!!

Almost forgot my bikini 🥵 We all want to help

Almost forgot my bikini 🥵

We all want to help others— but how can we do that without causing more harm than good?

Many people go on short-term service trips with the best of intentions, but these trips often turn into “voluntourism,” a form of volunteering mixed with tourism where the outsider benefits more than the local community.

✈️ There’s no easy solution—but a first step is reflecting on our own experiences. We should also prioritize and listen to the needs of receiving communities.

➡️ Follow @novel.hand to learn more about voluntourism with us!
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#voluntourism #voluntouring #servicelearning #impact #impactfulchange #volunteerism #servicelearningproject #springbreak2022 #volunteer #neocolonialism #whitesaviorism #goodintentions #privilege

This month we're learning about VOLUNTOURISM ⬇️⬇️

🌱 We've all seen photos of privileged people travelling to developing countries to do volunteer work. Maybe you've even been that person yourself — and many people have strong opinions about the value and impact of travelling to other communities to do short-term volunteer work.

⚡️But there's a more difficult question here: how should we interact with humanitarian issues around the world? This March, Novel Hand is exploring our intentions to do good, white saviorism, and how we interact with human suffering through voluntourism.

🌳 The first article, written by May, is available now at novelhand.com. Check it out and let us know in the comments below what you want to learn about voluntourism this month!

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