David Dodge

Producer/Host, Green Energy Futures.ca

When it comes to net-zero homes it too is an idea that seems more science fiction than anything, especially in the cold climes of Edmonton, Alberta. A home that produces as much energy as it consumes -- well that's just crazy.

Kathleen Trotter

Personal Trainer

Going to the gym and doing other forms of institutional exercise doesn't adequately address the reality that most of us live a primarily sedentary existence. Desk jobs are a necessary evil, but complete inactivity throughout the day doesn't have to follow.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Dr. Mark Dybul

As a global community, our fates are often more intertwined than we like to imagine. Controlling malaria isn't only a prospect of preventing needless deaths, it is an economic imperative.

Adam Grant

Wharton professor and author, 'Give and Take'

Intelligence and concern for others often go hand in hand. This doesn't mean it's wise to give away the farm. The key is to use our brainpower to make sure that our contributions to others don't come at the expense of our own interests.

Martin Penner

World Food Programme, Web Editor

Food vouchers are the main channel for WFP's food assistance operation in Lebanon. At the moment some 300,000 refugees are receiving them monthly. Vouchers are worth about 20 euros and enable refugees to buy a wide range of food items in local shops.

Paul Kershaw

Founder of Generation Squeeze campaign, UBC Professor

While it may not be good for our democracy, one can understand why parties in power don't feel the need to court the youth vote. They are winning without it. Incumbents are being re-elected to power because they consistently win more support from the older part of the population who show up.

Chrissie Hynde

Lead singer of the Pretenders

Force-feeding causes the birds' livers to balloon to up to 10 times their normal size and become diseased with what is known as hepatic steatosis. In addition to being miserably ill with a painful and debilitating disease, the geese can barely breathe because their grotesquely enlarged livers displace their lungs and other internal organs... geese can be seen panting constantly in a vain attempt to suck oxygen into their squashed lungs. Veterinarian Holly Cheever has compared what force-fed birds endure in their final days to being smothered.

Carmen Barroso

Regional director, IPPF-WHR

Next week, women and policymakers from around the world will gather in Malaysia to foment a revolution. Their call? Investment of a different kind, investment in girls and women for the sake not only of people, but also for the planet.

Victoria Jackson

Author of Saving Each Other

If you've been hungry lately for some soul-charging inspiration -- or for a cookbook by a true Master Chef -- I highly recommend Christine Ha's Recipes from My Home Kitchen.

Lucas Silveira

Musician

I was repetitively asked "Are you a boy or a girl?" throughout childhood and adolescence and usually followed by "Fucking dyke!" Very recently, all of these wounds resurfaced when I saw this comment left by a woman on a video I posted on Facebook to raise funding for a tour for my band The Cliks. Don't shame me for speaking up for myself. Shame those who hurt me.

Linda Murray

Global Editor in Chief, BabyCenter

Last week, Save the Children released its 14th annual State of the World's Mothers report, ranking the best and worst countries to be a mother.

Phillip M. Miner

Board member, The Center for Homicide Research

Growing up believing you are an abomination is strange. But, if you are gay and grew up in Kansas (or many other parts of the world) -- like I did -- it's not all that uncommon.

Dana Beyer

Executive Director, Gender Rights Maryland

Anti-trans violence is not going away anytime soon. My last blog post on anti-trans violence touched on issues that deserve far greater consideration than I'm capable of providing in one post, so this time I'm responding to some comments I've received over the past week.

Joel Earl Simpson

Founder and co-chair, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) in Guyana

As we commemorate IDAHO this year, we should reflect on how homophobic and transphobic discrimination affects Guyanese children, robbing them of their innocence and dignity and damaging the next generation. But we can, and we must, change that.