On March 29, Be in the Dark!

Can one grand gesture change the world? Participate in this year's Earth Hour and we'll all find out together. It’s simple. On March 29 at 8 pm, your local time—turn off your lights for one hour. That's it.

Earth Hour started last year, March 31, in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses turned off their lights for one hour in hopes of inspiring the rest of the world to take action on climate change. Sydney icons such as the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turned off their lights, weddings and other events were held in candlelight, and the world took notice.

What was the environmental impact? If the greenhouse reduction achieved in Sydney during Earth Hour 2007 was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

As of today's date, nearly 200,000 individuals and over 13,000 companies have officially signed up on the Earth Hour Web site. Cities around the world have also pledged their participation, too. According to the Earth Hour Site, “Chicago will serve as the U.S. flagship city for Earth Hour in 2008, with Atlanta, Phoenix and San Francisco joining as leading partner cities. But everyone throughout the US and around the world is invited and encouraged to turn off their lights . . . whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.”

So, let’s spread the word. Then turn off those lights!

Go, Crimson!

Harvard Law School will waive tuition for third-year students who pledge to spend five years working either for nonprofit organizations or the government. The New York Times reports on Harvard's efforts to encourage students to choose careers in public service.

Word Up

Words are important. When a new one appears in our lexicon it's generally pointing to some new idea or trend that has taken hold in society.

In our Word Up series, we'll be featuring new words that point up—up to positive ideas and trends. As do, for example, these two new words and their variations:

voluntourism (voluntourists, voluntours)
Voluntourism businesses have sprung up to meet the demand of voluntourists, people of all ages and backgrounds who volunteer their time and effort to worthy causes by spending their vacations on voluntours.

ecotourism (ecotourist, ecotours)
Ecotourism is similar to voluntourism in that it involves travel, the difference being that ecotourists prefer ecotours—traveling to destinations that feature exposure to and education about local flora and fauna—and vacationing in a way that respects and conserves natural resources.

Have you heard a positive new word? Please share it with us at share@andnowforthegoodnews.com.

Good News for Employees Everywhere

When you win that lottery tomorrow, you’ll quit your job, right? You might want to revisit that decision. A new study from the American Sociological Association has some good news for worker bees everywhere.

"Although people who work give up some independence, the study found that being employed does lead to better health," says lead study author John Mirowksy, sociology professor with the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. "One thing that surprised us was that the daily activities of employed persons are more creative than those of non-employed persons of the same sex, age, and level of education."

And why is creativity important? Because, says Mirowsky, "the health advantage of being somewhat above average in creative work [in the 60th percentile] versus being somewhat below average [in the 40th percentile] is equal to being 6.7 years younger."

It is also equal to having two more years of education or 15 times greater household income, Mirowsky adds.

In other words, a little creative employment each day makes you healthier, wealthier, and wiser.

For more on the study, click here. (Thanks to our intern Lindsay Nigro for finding this sociology report.)

For a little further work-related inspiration, read our earlier story, "Daydreaming with Fortune Magazine."