Guest Post by: Jack Lundee, supporter of all things green and progressive.

Hundreds of students were seen milling about Columbian Square on October 20th with Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, model Christy Turlington Burns and Juju Chang, journalist. They were all in attendance to host “GW + Phones=Hope” celebration to kickoff GW Phones for Hope campaign.

The Phones for Hope campaign is supported by the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) created by Former President Bill Clinton and Doug Band, who through this program hopes to bring about changes around the world through actions that are measurable. The purpose of Phones for Hope is to recycle old electronics and phones that aid maternal health programs located in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal by recycling them or by converting them into mobile medical communication devices.

As stated by Christy Turlington Burns, supporter for the campaign, “the best way to address child survival is to invest in a mom”, and by March of 2012, GW strives to make an investment by way of approximately 20,000 used cell phones.

The CGI is comprised of a large group of corporate businesses, non-profits and organizations who even though they come from assorted industries, they have the same common goal in mind. This powerful group would like to bring about change to the world’s problems dealing with poverty, education and climate change. CGI requests that its members start assisting the world by participating in “Commitments to Action”. Of course, sustainability is a key ingredient to their core. Phones for hope bases it’s actions around the principles of viability (along with good will), and does an excellent job of presenting to its subscribers the important of our future.

As we know it, finding long-term solutions to any of the issues addressed by the CGI is extremely important. Turlington and Clinton demonstrate their interest in renewal and recyclables by aiding in the early development of children in Africa. The CGI continues to do great work in similar areas, and their predecessor (CHAI or Clinton Health Access Initiative) provides supplemental help as well.

Through prodigious campaigns like these, that bolster positives changes around the world, like GW’s Phones for Hope, we will all see the benefits from individual and groups who are committed to making a difference. The Phones for Hope program not only benefits the United States, by supplying a secure way to recycle phones and other electronics but the greatest of all impacts will be reached in areas across the seas like Africa and Nepal where families can have a chance at survival because they now have access to healthcare for mothers and children.

We read an interesting article stating that there was a link between honeybee colony collapse disorder and cell phones.

A recent study by the Times of India found:

“An experiment conducted in the southern state of Kerala found that a sudden fall in the bee population was caused by towers installed across the state by cellphone companies to increase their network.

The electromagnetic waves emitted by the towers crippled the “navigational skills” of the worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers to sustain bee colonies, said Dr. Sainuddin Pattazhy, who conducted the study, said. ”

He found that when a cell phone was kept near a beehive, the worker bees were unable to return, leaving the hives with only the queens and eggs and resulting in the collapse of the colony within ten days.

Scientists believe that the electro-magnetic radiation from cell phones cause the bee’s communication system to break down so they could not find their way back to the hive after getting pollen nearby.

Clearly if you run a honeybee colony, keep it away from cell phone towers, cell phones, and other sources of electro magnetic radiation. Hopefully there will be more studies and this problem will get addressed.