The article's in the September 2008 National Geographic Magazine made a huge impact on me, knowing the benefits of vermicompost, it seems there is a huge gap that we must bridge between piling up waste and turning our garbage into good quality topsoil. Here is an extract of the article's written by Charles C. Mann and Joel K. Bourne, Jr.

To boost food production, Kramer and colleagues founded SOIL, a nonprofit group that builds composting toilets in rural communities to get much needed organic matter and fertility back into fields. "With the current hunger crisis, it's very clear," says Kramer, an adjunct professor at the University of Miami. "If Haitians had more local production, they would not be so vulnerable to imported food prices."
Until then Haiti remains a poignant lesson in what soil scientists have preached for years: As a nation's soil goes, so goes the nation.

"Tè a fatige," said 70 percent of Haitian farmers in a recent survey when asked about the major agricultural problems they faced. "The earth is tired"

This one goes out to all of you bibliophiles out there. Everyone can make a journal, but their book journals were by far the coolest I have seen.

Each journal is a one-of-a-kind creation made from an old vintage discarded book. It is gutted out and transformed into a unique journal which contains the essence of the old book by incorporating art, pictures, library cards, etc. into its pages. Some even had inscriptions from the past owners.

This just might be the perfect  gift of the season.

Via: bookjournals