💚 The Importance of Words 📚
Affiliate Disclosure
Hey fellow impactful ninja ?
You may have noticed that Impactful Ninja is all about providing helpful information to make a positive impact on the world and society. And that we love to link back to where we found all the information for each of our posts.
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First and foremost, because we believe that they add value to you. For example, when we wrote a post about the environmental impact of long showers, we came across an EPA recommendation to use WaterSense showerheads. So we linked to where you can find them. Or, for many of our posts, we also link to our favorite books on that topic so that you can get a much more holistic overview than one single blog post could provide.
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What does this mean for me personally?
You may have noticed by the way Impactful Ninja is operated that money is not the driving factor behind it. It is a passion project of mine and I love to share helpful information with you to make a positive impact on the world and society. However, it's a project in that I invest a lot of time and also quite some money.
Eventually, my dream is to one day turn this passion project into my full-time job and provide even more helpful information. But that's still a long time to go.
Stay impactful,
Happy Monday 👋
Did you know that 750 million adults still lack basic reading and writing skills?
And literacy isn’t just about books, it’s about access to jobs, health, and basic human rights…
Closing that gap could transform communities and unlock opportunities across the globe!
Here are the impactful insights that I have for you today:
- The importance of literacy 📚
- The new 3D printing method uses 80% less plastic 🖨️
- How dark sky tourism brings economic boom while saving night skies 🌠
- Discussion of the week: inspiring acts of kindness 💬
- And more… 💚
📚 Event of the Week: International Literacy Day
👉 Did you know that today (September 8) is International Literacy Day? This annual event promotes reading and education around the world, especially as a driving force for human rights.
1️⃣ The big picture: International Literacy Day was founded in 1966 by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities, and societies. Since then, the annual celebrations of International Literacy Day have taken place around the world, including Cameroon, Mexico, Pakistan, and Thailand, through festivals, conferences, educational workshops, and awareness campaigns. There is a different theme every year, with previous themes including ‘Literacy and Empowerment’, ‘Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces’, and ‘Promoting Literacy for a World in Transition’.
2️⃣ Why is this important: Literacy is a fundamental human right. Yet, around 750 million adults still lack basic reading and writing skills, particularly in developing countries. 102 million people between 15 and 24 years old and 250 million are children are also unable to read. Furthermore, most countries missed the Education for All (EFA) goal of reducing adult literacy rates by 50% between 2000 and 2015. The benefits of literacy are numerous, including improved communication skills, higher self-esteem, and better job prospects. People with higher literacy skills have also been proven to live longer, healthier lives!
3️⃣ How can you get involved: You can get involved in International Literacy Day by joining literacy-focused events in your area or volunteering for a literacy program. You can also get involved by hosting your own literacy awareness event or spreading information about the importance of literacy on social media using the #InternationalLiteracyDay hashtag.
Below are our favorite charities that are especially relevant for this awareness event:
- 9 Best Charities That Promote Literacy
- 9 Best Charities for Children’s Literacy
- 9 Best Charities That Promote Reading
- 10 Best Charities to Donate Your Books to
- 9 Best Charities That Enable Digital & Tech Literacy
If you are looking for additional inspiration, you can find a wide range of charitable causes to support in our charity support blog.
📢 Three Good News
🖨️ New 3D printing method uses 80% less plastic without sacrificing strength:
- MIT researchers developed SustainaPrint, a toolkit that strategically combines eco-friendly and strong filaments in 3D printing to reduce plastic use while maintaining structural integrity.
- SustainaPrint represents a breakthrough in sustainable manufacturing by eliminating the typical compromise between eco-friendly materials and structural performance.
- SustainaPrint recovered up to 70% of the strength of high-performance plastic prints while using only 20% of strong material, significantly reducing environmental impact.
🌠 Dark sky tourism brings economic boom while saving night skies:
- Dark sky tourism is growing globally as people seek out unpolluted night skies to observe celestial phenomena, providing economic benefits to local communities while helping protect the environment from light pollution.
- Dark sky enthusiasts spend more than US$500 million each year visiting the Colorado Plateau, creating 10,000 jobs and demonstrating the significant economic impact of this tourism niche.
- Organizations like Dark Sky International have successfully established over 200 certified dark sky places across 22 countries, demonstrating growing global commitment to reducing light pollution.
🍇 Scientists turn grapevine waste into clear, strong film that vanishes in days:
- A new study from South Dakota State University (SDSU) has revealed how grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that is stronger than traditional plastic and decomposes in the environment in a relatively short amount of time.
- Currently, most packaging is “single use” and is made with plastic materials, derived from nonrenewable sources like crude oil that take hundreds of years to decompose in the environment.
- The grapevine canes were harvested from SDSU’s research vineyard. The research team followed a published protocol in developing the films, which included drying and grinding the canes and extracting the cellulosic residue.
💬 Discussion of the Week: Inspiring Acts of Kindness
Welcome to our new section, where we spark meaningful discussions about everyday topics that can create a real positive impact in our lives!
This week’s discussion topic: What’s the most inspiring act of kindness you’ve witnessed?
- How did it make you feel, and why did it leave such a lasting impression?
- What do you think makes kindness contagious?
- How can we create more opportunities for these moments to happen?
Your story could spark a ripple effect of kindness in our community!
For our founding community members, keep the conversation going in our forum here.
Want to join our community when we reopen? Just reply to this email—I’d love to personally add you to our waitlist so you’ll be the first to know all about it 💚
🤝 Three More Important Awareness Events
🦎 September 8, National Iguana Awareness Day:
- National Iguana Awareness Day celebrates the amazing qualities of the iguana and promotes their welfare.
- With threats to habitats being a particular problem these days, it is essential that we support conservation efforts.
🧸 September 9, National Teddy Bear Day:
- National Teddy Bear Day honors the history and significance of one of childhood’s most beloved toys.
- It is an opportunity to relive our best memories with childhood teddy bears and give new ones to people we love.
🖤 September 8-14, Suicide Prevention Week:
- Beginning with Suicide Prevention Day, Suicide Prevention Week promotes conversations about mental health and suicidal thoughts, providing support to those experiencing these feelings.
- Community support is one of the most effective factors influencing the feelings of people dealing with suicidal thoughts because talking is known to be a successful form of therapy.
Related: You can discover all the 119 most important awareness events (for the month, days, weeks) in our awareness calendar for September 2025!
📜 These Days in History
🌌 September 8, 1966: The first episode of the sci-fi series Star Trek aired on American television. It later went on to become one of the most popular brands in the American entertainment industry.
🗿 September 8, 1504: Michelangelo’s David was unveiled in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The sculpture is now considered to be one of the defining works of the Renaissance.
🛤️ September 8, 1883: The Northern Pacific Railroad in the US was completed.
💭 Quote of the Day
“Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.”
― Michelangelo; Italian sculptor and painter
Share the news with your friends to make a bigger positive impact on the world and society together!
Stay impactful 💚
