Search for "Connect"
How We Started a Holiday Share Faire to Build Local Resilience and Create Community
Blog | by Rani Jayakumar | November 17, 2017
Learn how one California group is boosting local resilience and strengthening community ties by sharing stuff, skills, memories, and stories.
10 Great Books to Teach Your Kids About Consumerism
Blog | by New Dream | February 6, 2018
Shara Drew, the director of New Dream's Kids & Commercialism campaign, reviews two recent children’s books that deal with the topic of consumerism in a way that's impactful and fun, and also suggests eight more oldies but goodies.
10 Ways Changing Your Consumer Habits Can Change the World for Animals
Blog | by Stephanie Feldstein | June 6, 2018
How you spend your time and money affects the lives of those around you—including other animals.
Free Time: The Forgotten American Dream
Blog | by Lisa Mastny | June 20, 2013
A new book describes how Americans have distanced themselves from their historical yearnings for free time, in favor of a culture of overwork.
Save Money and Go Green by Sharing and Reusing Kids' Stuff
Blog | by Shara Drew | April 3, 2018
New Dream's Shara Drew offers tips on ways to share our kids’ things, providing great opportunities to help our children learn the value of reusing and making do.
Starting a Tool Library: Inspiration and Insights from Baltimore’s Station North
Blog | by John Shea and Piper Watson | March 8, 2013
An innovative new tool library is opening its doors in an urban neighborhood that's ripe for a renaissance. Here's the story of how it came about.
Youth Perspective: Why We Need Equity and Empathy to Move Our Communities Forward
Blog | by New Dream | April 16, 2019
Former Youth Fellow Josmar Torres talks about the challenges facing his community and the important roles that empathy and political change can play in creating a brighter, more equitable future.
How to Host an Unforgettable Party
Blog | by Michelle Damiani | March 7, 2018
Learn how one Charlottesville resident organized an unforgettable party around soup, designed to celebrate, honor, and support the diverse strands of her community.
Helping Your Kids Embrace a “More Fun, Less Stuff” Holiday
Blog | by Edna Rienzi | November 7, 2017
New Dream's Edna Rienzi shares six tips for how she gets her family on board with a simpler, yet more meaningful, holiday season.
The Threads That Bind Us: One Woman's Perspective on the Border Crisis, Climate Change, and Our Choices as Consumers
Blog | by Amber Cadenas | September 17, 2019
We can't ignore the connections between our own behaviors as consumers and many of the wider crises facing our world, including climate change and the realities of climate-related migration.
Our Emerging Normal: Results from New Dream's COVID-19 Survey
Blog | June 10, 2020
In April, we asked our audience for thoughts and feedback on how the COVID-19 pandemic was informing what they prioritize and consume. The feedback was deeply insightful.
Rethinking Plastic, Consumer Choices, and Our Values as Americans
Blog | by Dyaami D’Orazio | September 18, 2019
"We consume to have fun, to fit in, for convenience, to fill the spaces between ourselves and our families...and because the structure of society forces us to."
5 Action Steps to Change Kids’ Screen Time
Blog | by Shara Drew | May 15, 2018
Here are five steps you can take to help make childhood what it should be for kids: filled with play, quality time with caring adults, and exploration in the natural world.