A fascinating social experiment is about to begin in the Arab state of Saudi Arabia.

Under Saudi Sharia law, women are accorded anything but equal rights – most famously, they must be chaperoned while outdoors and are forbidden to drive (although enforcement of the latter is lax in rural areas). Far more importantly, their economic freedom is severely curtailed: while some 70% of University attendees are female, women make up less than 15% of the workforce. Progressive? Hardly.

So, what to make of news that the Saudis are building a women-only industrial city in the Eastern Province of Hofuf – with similar plans for four more cities elsewhere? As the Guardian reports here, it’s a project developed by the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON), from a proposal by a group of Saudi businesswomen. The stated aim is to provide a place for women to develop their own economic potential, including – to quote businesswoman Hussan al-Aun – “a specialised training centre to help women develop their talents and train them to work at factories. This is essential to cut unemployment among our female graduates.”

It’s very easy to see this as a cold-blooded money-grabbing move by a government keen to find an apparently progressive way to reinforce sexual segregation while boosting the economy – but is it that simple? Last year King Abdullah announced that from 2015, women could vote in local elections and consultative assemblies – and earlier this year a ban on employing women in lingerie and cosmetic shops was overturned. These are not token reforms.

It’s also important to note that the best way to start a revolution is to gather together members of an underdog class in one place and give them the tools to develop a power base – or, put another way by Zoe Williams at the Guardian:

…when you educate people, refuse to let them work and then suddenly unleash them, en masse, into economic productivity, that’s almost an open invitation to them to be better than you.

None of this will be lost to the pro-segregationists – and let’s not forget that this is the country where private companies are violating employment law by openly hiring only single or non-pregnant married women. However this plays out, there will be considerable pressure to undermine any unofficial independence movement for women, or the ascendancy of women’s rights in the Saudi workplace. But for now? In a region housing some of the world’s richest people, money brings respect – and demonstrating a flair for earning money could be exactly the way Saudi women could fight against systemic prejudice.

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Owning? Sharing might be better for you in the long run.

We’re always recommending you move your unwanted goods out the door, decluttering both your thoughts and your living space – but what if there’s a more socially useful and profitable thing to do with your unwanted belongings? Why not rent them out?

Welcome to the Sharing Economy. It’s here, it’s everywhere and it’s seemingly unstoppable. What is it? In the words of Roger Yu of USA Today:

“…this movement represents the newly cemented intersection of online social networking, mobile technology, the minimalist movement and heightened penny-pinching brought on by lingering economic uncertainties.”

If you have something of value to another person – an item, a skill, a place in your car on the way to work, a spare stretch of driveway, a room for the night – you have your very own tradeable commodity to offer in an increasing number of tightly focused digital marketplaces. The most famous examples are of course Ebay and Craigslist (arguably the founders of the movement), and it’s taken a while for investors to see the potential in supporting niche markets and for the arrival of technology that makes such ventures affordable and sustainable.

But look at the number of companies successfully embracing this philosophy right now. Airbnb and Roomarama for booking private accomodation. Zimride for filling someone’s unused car seat in their commute to work. RelayRides or Getaround for booking a car to get to & from work. Parkcirca or Parkatmyhouse to make use of someone’s spare driveway space. Loosecubes to grab unused office space. TaskRabbit for running just about every type of household errand you can think of.

Or how about Dopios? It’s a new startup designed to put travelers in touch with regional expertise. Want a tour guide with decades of local knowledge? Want to experience a traditional local meal? How about a beginner’s language lesson? Log into the site, browse through the registered locals  and book an experience, tailored for your comfort. Its current focus is Athens, Greece but it’s shortly expanding to San Francisco, London, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro.

As with eBay, the service providers take a cut – but the rest of the revenue goes into the pockets of the people doing the work, providing them with an unusual source of supplementary income. In places hard-hit by economic woes, that could be the difference between struggling and keeping it together. Does it discourage spending, a big no-no for the governments of faltering economies? Not so, says Rob Atkinson, an economist & president of The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation:

“People can now spend on things that are of value to them,” he says. “Why buy a chain saw when you use it once a year? If we share a chain saw, we have the value of having a chain saw, and we use the money to create jobs in other industries. So the economy is better off.”

And a further requirement of using these services is trust, on both sides.  That’s why these companies rely so heavily on social networks – it may be easy to set up a Facebook or Twitter account, but it’s difficult to fake the web footprint of a legitimate internet user. Nevertheless, all companies have security measures in place. (In the case of Dopios, all locals are interviewed in person by the site administrators).

And if the net result is that huge numbers of people learn that strangers can be trusted…that’s certainly a message worth sharing.

Further reading: America’s New Business Model: Sharing – Roger Yu, USA Today.

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A test for your bike IQ.

You know it. You love it. The bicycle is a clean machine in a carbon-fueled world. Here is a quiz to test your transportation IQ.

Q: On average, the annual operating cost of a car is $8,220. How much does it cost per year to maintain a bike?

A) $308

B) $3,020

C) $20

Answer: According to a 2009 report published by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the annual maintenance cost of a bike is $308. Cyclists can lower that amount by joining a bike co-op and learning to repair their own machines.

Test more of your bike IQ:

Pedals vs. Pumps

Bikeways vs. Highways

Federal Transportation Funding

Read more: Japhy Dhungana rode his bike from Los Angeles to the tip of South America. Can you guess why he named his bicycle Bucephalus?

Sierra is the magazine of the Sierra Club. Our motto: Explore, Enjoy, and Protect the Planet. Follow Sierra magazine on Twitter.

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With a science-hostile Congress moving into Washington next month, now – before reactionary attempts to turn back the nascent clock – is a good time to revisit the benefits of stem cell research.

By way of a quick review, work here in the United States is still in a relatively embryonic stage, so to speak, as it was only in March 2009 that President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13505 – “Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells.” The EO revoked one signed by President George W. Bush in 2007, as well as Presidential statement in 2001 that limited federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells. Obama’s order instructed the Director of NIH to “develop guidelines for the support and conduct of responsible, scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cell research, to the extent permitted by law.”

It’s that last bit about the law where the new Congress has the ability to stop and reverse forward motion. Here’s a primer on the progress and opportunities we stand to lose if backward thinkers have their way:

1.  Cures for common diseases

Topping the list is the role that stem cell research and regenerative medicine might – most researchers, in fact, say will likely – play in developing cures for disease that might otherwise be incurable. (Note that: otherwise incurable.) Here’s a short list:

• Parkinson’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Heart Diseases
• Diabetes
• Cancer

Know anyone suffering from something on this list? Most people do. And how about this recent headline from the peer-reviewed journal Blood, a publication of the American Society of Hematology: “Evidence for the cure of HIV infection by CCR5 32/32 stem cell transplantation.” Know what that means? Yeah. The AFP reported this just yesterday: “A US cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has been cured of HIV.” Stay tuned on this one.

2. Reversing birth defects

Studies are showing that by injecting stem cells directly into the brain, neural birth defects may be reversible. This research into treating birth defects is pretty new, but teams have been developing therapies for rodents with real or simulated birth defects in the brain, says MIT’s Technology Review. “Even though most of the transplanted cells did not survive, they induced the brain’s own cells to carry out extensive repairs.”

3. Repairing stroke damage

Science Daily reports that according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, neural cells from human embryonic stem cells “helped repair stroke-related damage in the brains of rats and led to improvements in their physical abilities after a stroke.” This is big news. “The great thing about these cells is that they are available in unlimited supply and are very versatile,” said a senior scientist on the project. “The neural cells the group generated grew indefinitely in the lab and could be an ongoing source of cells for treating stroke or other injuries.”

4. Dealing with spinal cord injuries

Just this fall, a patient suffering from a spinal cord injury was injected with two million human embryonic stem cells. “The hope,” says CBS News Healthwatch, is that “one day this treatment may help the paralyzed walk again.” The procedure took place at the Shepherd Center spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation facility in Atlanta. The idea is that the cells will become specialized nerve cells which can then be injected directly into the injured area of the spinal cord.  If the treatment works, the progenitor cells will produce new oligodendrocytes (cells that produce myelin, which allows impulses to move along nerves) in the injured area of the patient’s spine, allowing for new movement.

5. Organ repair and replacement

Growing whole organs and critical tissue is a seemingly sci-fi scenario that’s a lot closer than we think – with the help of stem cell research. This new technology could make possible “a virtually inexhaustible supply of organ replacements, thereby doing away with the need to wait for organ donors and removing the risk of rejection.” Entire hearts, lungs, etc., aside, tissue generation has an entire host of curative possibilities.

6. Burn victim relief

Here’s an area where there’s already been a significant payoff as cultivated stem cells are today being used to generate skin grafts. Also, patients whose eyes have been damaged in chemical accidents have had their sight restored using their own stem cells. Embryonic stem cell research plays a significant role helping scientists understand and put to use adult stem cells, as well.

7. Developing new drugs

New drugs can be tested on stem cells to test safety before testing on humans, or even animals, for that matter. In fact, as CNN reports, some researchers are saying embryonic stem cells could end animal testing altogether. Says one expert, “It could save a lot of time and effort of taking the wrong drugs through, or it may allow drugs through which are lost at an early stage, because they affect the animal cells but don’t have an effect on human cells.”

8. (If the science isn’t enough) It’s the economy, stupid

States that support stem cell research have seen significant corporate investment and job creation. Estimates in California, for example, are that $1 billion in investment in stem cell research is not unreasonable. The commercial potential is overwhelming, according those who are in the business.

9. It’s the economy, stupid II

Oh, and don’t we have a little problem with healthcare expenditures in this country? Don’t most experts believe that the amount of money we’re paying out as a society for the sick and dying is going to bankrupt us if action is not taken? How about more healthy people? Seems like something we should be looking into.

10. (If the economics isn’t enough) It’s just the right thing to do

Stem cell research is inherently innovative and efficient, and a practical and a conscious demonstration of caring for those who are sick. These people are not only taxing the system, but they are taxing themselves and their families with trauma and anguish. Scientific progress and human quality of life are inexorably linked in our times and acting to improve and care for the entire system, the whole connected fabric of our existence, is a moral imperative. Consider that more than 100 million Americans suffer from ailments and diseases that may be cured with embryonic stem cell therapy. Alleviating human suffering. It’s the right thing to do.

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If a tree falls in the forest does it still make a sound? Along those lines, if a bottled water company loses its namesake water source, will it still stick to the same exotic, yet bullshit, branding?

That’s the question we can all ask this week in light of the announcement that Fiji Water is closing its operations in, wait for it – Fiji. The company is allegedly “being singled out by the military appointed government for a massive tax increase.” Hmm, maybe Fijans are just a little smarter when it comes to understanding the nuances of the bottled water industry.

What kind of taxes are we talking about?

Fifteen cents per liter on companies extracting more than 3.5 million liters (920,000 gallons) of water a month. That’s up from the current one-third of one percent rate. Guess what? Fiji Water is the only company responsible for extracting that much liquid. Yes, that’s a hefty tax for a company to handle, and although it’s unclear exactly what that tax money would go to, it’s easy to posit that the Fijan government simply wants to make a decent profit off of what is already theirs. Private companies can only unabashedly profit off of a public resource for so long. At some point, someone says “stop.”

But politics aside, with their namesake facility shutting down, the real question is, does the name “Fiji Water” still hold or is a rebrand in order? I’m thinking “Crap Petro Product Drink That’s No Better Than What Comes Out of Your Tap” would be fitting.

Sorry for the bobo-types who were conned into believing that drinking water from the South Pacific would somehow make them healthier, smarter, and sexier. Give the Fijans their water and quit global marketing campaigns that glamorize a resource that most of us don’t need to be paying $4 plus for – a price tag that certainly isn’t internalizing the environmental and health costs that come from single-use plastics.

Image: Magpie372

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