“Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.” – William Arthur Ward
As I put together this final Monday Ripples for 2010, I can’t help reflecting on the year that has passed and wondering what more I could do in the year to come. I’d like to find the time to bring you more volunteer adventures. I want to get my fundraising campaign for Heifer International back on track (waylaid by a computer glitch of some sort). I’m already working on a couple of interviews with do-gooders in my area. My brain is still thinking of ways to make SSTW better and more effective.
So all this ruminating got me to thinking about you. Among your resolutions for 2011, do you have any that are about helping people, making the world a better place, etc.? Maybe you’ve decided to volunteer more or help raise funds for something? Maybe you’re already doing something that you will continue, and you wouldn’t mind telling people about it? My thought is if we share the things we are doing, then it will encourage others to get out there and do something too.
If you will be so kind, comment below with your plans. Thanks, in advance. In the meantime, here are the last of your Ripples for the year…
Satellite of Love
Buy This Satellite
The folks at ahumanright.org have what I think is a rocking idea. They feel the internet is a human right and they are working to bring internet to the 5 billion people who don’t have it. Those of us who have easy access to the internet often take for granted just how much information is at our fingertips daily. It is a tool that can help people help themselves, as ahumanright.org points out. As an immediate step in this right direction, the group is raising money to purchase the Terrestar-1 satellite (the company that owns it filed bankruptcy, so it’s just floating out there) for $150,000, once purchased, the group will move it over an internet-deprived country, possibly Papua New Guinea.
Contain Yourself
Think Inside the Box
I was seduced into paying for a membership to Sierra Club through the special offer of a backpack. I’ve recently found occasion where using a backpack would have been more practical than using my normal messenger bag, and this was a good deal and helps out a good cause. Somehow I missed that the membership would include a subscription to their magazine Sierra; actually I had no idea they had a magazine until it arrived in my mailbox on Christmas Day. A regular feature in the magazine is called “Comfort Zone” and it talks about environmentally responsible design and building practices for living spaces. I’ve been intrigued for a while by the use of old cargo containers as dwellings. This one is particularly cute and the residents didn’t stop with reusing a discarded container, it sports many green features. Also, even tricked out, you can’t beat the price for a home!
Angling for Change
Fish Fight
When you look at the situation, it is illogical for hunger to exist on our planet. We produce more food than we need, more efficiently than ever, and we can transport it all over the globe. So why are there empty bellies all over the planet? Politics, corporate greed, complacency…to name a few. We can change this, we know we can.
Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has taken up arms against another factor in the hunger puzzle: waste. Because of European Union regulations, half of all fish caught in the North Sea are thrown back overboard dead. Click the link above, sign up for the campaign, and add your voice to the likes of Jamie Oliver and Ricky Gervais saying this policy is senseless. In addition to this movement, Hugh will also have a show called Hugh’s Fish Fight starting next month on Channel 4 in Britain.
