Ode - a magazine for intellectual optimists

I love getting mail when it's completely unexpected. Two days ago Ode magazine was sitting in my mailbox. I had no idea where it was coming from or who sent it to me so at first I thought it was junk. I opened it up and was hooked in by....surprisingly...the first three ads. I rarely stop to read the ads in magazines. One because there's just too darn many of them and two because they are usually so superficial and boring.

But check it out. The first was a graphic of a huge flip flop with the words "Save the Planet. Wear Flip Flops" printed on it. On the next page I learned this great piece of info: Wearing flip-flops saves up to 3 wash loads of sweaty socks each year....small things add up to big change. This is an ad for TNT's Planet Me, where people can gather and generate ideas about what each can personally do to reduce CO2 emissions. The next ad was for ReGeneration, which is a network of "people committed to sustaining the world's natural environment." The third was for a Burt's Bees product. There is a comparison between their naturally ageless day lotion and dimethicone (a silicone type of oil used in skin moisturizing lotions). This is definitely not your average magazine!

Then I get to the table of contents and my interest is piqued even more by reading the following titles:
The Gospel According to Adam Smith: is doing good compatible with making money? it is if you practise spiritual capitalism. (this is an awesome article and there is scientific proof that consideration for the needs and feelings of your client positively impacts your profits!)
Join my Gang: Nelsa Curbelo, a 66-year old former nun and schoolteacher, took on the toughest young criminals in Ecuador's most violent city - and won them over with love.
Down and Dirty: How carbon farming, the practise of putting of CO2 back into the soil, can fight global warming.
Full bellies, hungry minds: In India, a group of monks feeds nearly a million kids a day, proving there is such a thing as a free lunch.
Everybody writes history: Karen Worcman wants to transform the way history is recorded-and she wants you to play a role.

I am inspired by optimism and people who are creatively doing good and bringing out in this world. It's refreshing to find a magazine that is providing stories and advertising that stand for "positive social, economic, and environmental change."