Thoughtful Idea Finds the Perfect Way to Repurpose Leftover Crayons

A thoughtful dad “Bryan Ware” was inspired to make the Crayon initiative while watching his two sons color during a birthday dinner. I was really wondered, what happened to these crayons after we leave if we don’t take them with us? Later on, Bryan asked a restaurant employee this same question and was distressed to hear that all the crayons are thrown out after they leave even if they are left untouched. After thinking a lot to change the crayons' wasteful fate, Bryan Ware started to take them home because he was sure he could find a way to give these surplus coloring tools to a kid in need. Therefore, from this simple, yet awfully considerate idea, the Crayon Initiative was born.

This nonprofit organization's objective is to re-cycle old crayons into new life for the children at California-based hospitals. To make his project successful he collects useless crayons from all over, i.e. restaurants, schools, Family and friends. Then, he starts to melts them down and converts into a special mold to form the fresh drawing utensils. Hence, the special mold is the important key because it was developed in collaboration with an occupational therapist to make it at ease for special needs children to hold. Since its conception, this nonprofitmaking has donated over two thousands crayon boxes to children's hospitals. This month, the initiative will perform its very first out-of-state donation to a New York City hospital. In doing so Ware hopes to continue expanding as he helps the hospitalized youth all across the country.  He says, from my viewpoint, the main goal is to give them an escape, and I can’t even fathom what these kids are going through. If these crayons give them an escape from that hospital room for 10 minutes, we’ll thought, we did our job.

70 Men Keep 4,000 Year Old Art of Hunting Foxes and Wolves with Birds of Prey Alive

Tariq Zaidi a photographer has travelled to the isolated Altai Mountains in Gobi Desert, to capture a spectacular set of pictures displaying the 4,000-year-old art of eagle hunting. So far, only 70 Kyrgyz and Kazakh eagle hunters remain in the world. This rare ancient tradition can be traced back more than four millennia in Central Asia, but is start to die out nowadays. Although they’re enough capable of killing young wolves, but eagles hunt mostly foxes and other small animals. In January 2014, he decided to quit a senior corporate job, to follow his vision of becoming one of the world’s most respected fine art travel portrait photographers with the aim of capturing the dignity, purity and soul of people, within their environment. More than 90 of Tariq's pictures have already won numerous major international photography awards.

He travelled the world to photograph some of the most remote areas and their cultures. He expresses his experience, that disbelief and amazement is just two words I would use to define the Kazakh eagle hunters. As far as Kazakhs living in Western Mongolia, hunting with eagles is an honored art and one of the highest expressions of their cultural heritage. I thought, it has been one of most attractive and primal connections between man and animal. For these remaining few, it is not simply an important tradition or an astonishing sport - it is their reason to live. The hard training of eagles starts when they’re just chicks and continues every day for three to four years.  Each eagle can only have one handler their master who can never fully control the bird they can only nurture a bond between man and animal, teaching it how to hunt more efficiently. Although the benefits of eagle hunting have decreased in the ever-modernizing world, the Kazakhs living in Western Mongolia have preserved the tradition, due to their physical isolation. The hunters could, if they desire, hunt with rifles but they opt to use eagles in its place, as it is seen as the highest form of art and dedication. For some, their entire worlds revolve around eagle hunting - riding out in bitter winds and harsh conditions to help ensure the bird captures its prey. In 2010, an area in Western Mongolia where eagle hunting is still prevalent was listed as a UNESCO site of intangible cultural heritage, serving to protect the eagle hunters.

Eagle hunting overwhelms their lives completely and is what makes their hearts beat and eagles having a life expectancy of up to 40 years they basically become a member of the family. If an eagle hunter has died, you’ll still find him hunting in the mountains, and not at the funeral, as nothing keeps an eagle hunter at home. They live together in this life, and, according to the hunter's tradition, after death master and eagle will meet again.  You can find Tariq's other works at his website www.tariqzaidi.com

Dazzling Landscapes Reveal the Idyllic Tranquility of Japan

Photographer Hidenobu Suzuki has captured the idyllic landscapes of Japan in an unusually tranquil light. Between the quiet foggy rivers, peaceful rice fields, and twilight at Mt. Fuji, there's something for everyone who's looking for a visually tranquil utopia. "My photos are like Japanese paintings," Suzuki explains. "Japanese like to express emotions and mystical feelings through the landscape photography. Contemporary theater, art and music stimulate the brain and increase mood. Emotional art heal people and leads the society to accord. I took a task to capture sentiments with my camera. This component of devoutness can be detected in each and every photograph, which supports to highlight the loveliness of Japan's nature. Suzuki also demonstrates that expressive artwork can serve as a means for finding serenity in both our inner and outer worlds. Source: My Modernmet

Hidenobu Suzuki: Facebook | 500px | LensCulture

Cute Baby Kangaroo Welcomes Rescued Emu Chicks with Lovable Snuggling

The Wild Action Zoo in Victoria, Australia was recently the site of some exceptionally lovable inter-species snuggling. An  8 months old baby kangaroo named “Reuben” welcomed a couple of day-old emu chicks named “Edi” and “Eli”, making a adorability overload as they all cuddled in one cozy bed. Jay Town, who have captured these sweet scene, which demonstrations the emus making themselves right at home, humorously stepping over Reuben so they can get relaxed. Therefore, “Edi” and “Eli” came to the zoo via zoologist Chris Humfrey, who saved the little creatures from imminent danger feral foxes. The father emu “Elvis” would not have been able to shelter the chicks from being eaten at night,” he explained. Now these bundles of fluff sleep next to my fireplace they all live quite happily together. However, sadly, the emus won’t stay with Reuben forever. Once they’ve grown bigger, the siblings will be bringing together with their parents.