The Goods / April 19, 2017

6 min readApr 22, 2017

Hi diddily ho friend!

Why is the most famous cartoon family in this week’s edition?

A little history lesson: It was on this day in 1987 — exactly 30 years ago — that the first appearance ever of The Simpsons aired on TV.

In addition to making a huge, global audience laugh, the animated sitcom did an amazing job at helping break down barriers to big social issues like LGBT (more than once), vegetarianism, and climate change.

Now that’s what we call good stuff. Happy 30th to all you Springfieldians!

This week we’ve got wind, a spin on daycare and possibly the best K-school ever.

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Brexit may have complicated Scotland’s political future, but at least the land of whiskey and golf has got its energy resources lined up in the right direction. Like actually.

Last month, Scottish wind turbines sent more than 1.2 million megawatt hours to the country’s energy grid.

Is that even good?

Well, first thing first, for Scotland, it’s a record for the month of March.

Our buddies at WWF Scotland did some calculating and the output of wind energy in March 2017 was more than enough to power all 3.3 million Scottish homes (in fact, 136% of what is needed to power those homes), and met 58% of the nation’s monthly energy needs.

Plus, what’s truly promising is that this past March wasn’t even as windy when compared to previous years.

So ya, we’d say that’s pretty good.

Wind for the win

The renewable energy economy in Scotland already provides lots of jobs, and with more investments being built later this year, the winds of energy independence are definitely blowing in the right direction for Scotland.

Not to mention making it a world leader in wind power.

Big Will Wallace would be so proud.

It’s a sad reality of our modern society that we don’t openly discuss enough.

As we advance in age and our circle of friends and family gets smaller, we are set to face one of the greatest threats to our mental well-being — social isolation.

It doesn’t have to be that way

The 400 or so residents at the Providence Mount St. Vincent seniors home in Seattle (USA) have been getting a lot more social love these past few years.

The solution to their loneliness is simple: mix in a (much) younger crowd.

Part daycare, part seniors home

The Intergenerational Learning Center at St-Vincent’s is a place for both the very young (kids in daycare) and the very old (senior residents) to spend time together and to reap the benefits of hanging out as one big group on a daily basis.

For the kids, they learn about accepting people with disabilities and respecting older generations. And for the older residents, the renewed sense of self-worth and enjoyment of being around children are absolutely priceless.

We’re getting older

Intergenerational daycare / senior homes aren’t a new idea. Yet, as more of the population gets older, we’re going to need to get our thinking caps on.

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here either. As a society, we’re well overdue to give intergenerational family living more time in the limelight. After all, for millennia we’ve all lived under the same roof — we’re just that type of species.

To put it all into perspective, think twice about your aging family members. A solution for them would be wonderful. Especially, since, before you know it, we’re next.

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Bonus good stuff >> So beautiful is the idea behind combining generations under one roof that Evan Briggs, a filmmaker in Seattle, is in the process of finalizing her first feature film (entitled Present Perfect) on the subject of St-Vincent’s. According to the film’s website, it should be coming out soon. Woo-hoo!

We sure do!

Those fifteen minutes were pure freedom. You’d run around with your friends without a care in the world.

The worst part was the bell. Its ring meant we had to get back indoors to our classrooms. Total bummer 👎

The fun don’t stop here

This isn’t the case for the kids at Fuji Kindergarten in Tokyo, Japan.

In addition to earthquake drills (hence the cool-looking hats above), these youngsters are pretty much in recess-mode all day long.

How so?

We’ll show you.

For starters, this playground (pictured) is the school itself.

Because of its oval shape, Fuji Kindergarten is basically an endless courtyard.

It was designed this way because — like adults — every now and then, children need to be in their own space. The students can “leave” class anytime they like, and thanks to the circular design, they always come back to the classroom. Always.

Speaking of classrooms, well there aren’t really any. Everything is open space and there are no walls separating the outdoors.

The architect behind the project, Takaharu Tezuka, realized that, to properly focus, children need a certain level of noise. So having an open space allows there to always be a hum of noise in the background. This is how kids learn best.

Let’s get social…

Like in most developed nations, kids are interacting a little too much with screens these days.

Solution: there is a washbasin in the middle of every room to ensure enough space for children to interact socially with each other numerous times a day as they all gather around to wash their hands after activities.

It’s pretty much the equivalent of the workplace water cooler.

…and healthier too.

These kids also happen to be are way more athletic than the average 5 or 6 year old. It was calculated and they move a lot, averaging roughly 2.5 miles (4 km) of running and walking per day. No Fitbits needed at Fuji that’s for sure.

Plus, a real sweet health bonus: the school was built around existing trees growing through the classroom. These kids will be bathing in phytoncides all day long. Lucky buggers!

Hats off

This school was crowned “world’s best kindergarten” by TED, and we’re inclined to agree. We give them major props 👊 for having designed an environment specifically for children.

We’re looking into signing up our unborn children. Konnichiwa 🇯🇵

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Wishing you a great rest of your week!

Keep on sharing the good vibes :)

Peace out