Recent entries

All of my life I have been searching for something to do something that I could do to help people becuase if you help one person there’s millions more that need your help and as much as you try you cant help them all at the same time even if you wish to do so because they are so many different causes around the world and some people concentrate on one main cause but it’s so hard to just chooose one so I have decided to educate myself toward all these issues so I can enable myself to help these people that need it the most in many diiferent ways by educating myself I can learn more and I can teach other’s so they can do as I.

As global warming is a huge threat to our planet now. I’d like to recycle because I haven’t had the opportunity to do that, yet, in my life.
I’d feel as if I’m really doing something to change this world for the better.. :D

Last Christmas I bought a carved wooden dish and 2 bags of chocolates from SERRV (they have a great fariety of Fair Trade items at www.agreatergift.org). The chocolates were very popular! I decided last week that I wanted to try having them in the office all the time for visitors (if I can keep from eating too many myself!) I went to the SERRV website but they were out of stock. I think that they’ll probably be unavailable until the weather gets cooler but I’ll keep checking.

Frances

You can either give to heifer.org or we also give to HopeEquity.org. Check them out!

With such an educated population of “do gooders” that understand sustainability, Seattle is the perfect place to introduce people to Heifers mission to “End hunger, and care for the Earth”

Here is our local blog:
http://heifervolunteers.blogspot.com/

Taking the bus would double my commute time. Can I find something valuable to do on the bus to make up for this?

I would like to start a structured program for living with less waste. Any suggestions?

We give gifts from Heifer.org. My an animal(or trees) that meets your friend/families interest. The gift will be used help someone in need.

Here is my check list:
- bring my own bags
- first visit the organic booths
- always ask where the produce is from and buy closest first
- always buy lemonade from the kids

I am almost done with The End of Poverty. Something to cross off my list! His personal experiences are incredible. So far, it gives a great view at the 10,000 feet level.

I have been practicing voluntary simplicity since November of 2006. At first, I was pretty extreme, following the rules of “The Compact”. I feel that in the future I may be able to live that way again, but right now I enjoy having my car and I focus on other aspects.

As far as living without producing waste. This is challenging and easy. I throw stuff away every day. Kitty litter is the big reason why. I just don’t feel sanitary if it isn’t changed every day. I have been saving bottles and cans and glassware for recycling, but it is taking up a lot of space. I try to eat everything that I buy. I am really good at this. Very rarely do I have to throw anything out because it’s gone bad.

Ta,

Ian Quiet

I have been doing this on a fairly regular basis throughout 2006. I want and need to do more.

Every time a new state quarter comes out, my Grandma goes to the bank and gets enough for each of the grandchildren. For awhile I’ve been wondering if I should continue to save them in the booklet she got each of us. I mean, there were almost ten dollars in that thing, and ten dollars to a college student is a lot of money. Then I came home for Christmas this year and saw the annual “Guest at Your Table Box” sponsered by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) on my dining room table and it clicked all of a sudden what I should do with those quarters just sitting in my bedroom. Into the box they went. Think of all the thousands of people who collect those damn quarters and then think of all the millions of poeple who don’t even eat every day!

I would like to learn what I can do in my local community. I want to do something more than simply show up at a soup kitchen, etc.

I just don’t know what it is I can do.

I’m almost done with Jeffrey Sachs book The End of Poverty, and learned a great deal. He frames the situation- the problems, and ways they might be addressed- in a clear and understandable. way.

Have bags in my car so next time I go food shopping I won’t wish that I had brought my own bags

Have bags in my car so next time I go food shopping I won’t wish that I had brought my own bags

I want to give up something as a personal expression of my support and commitment to ending hunger. give up chocolate? fast one day a week? or one day a month?

We have a local area, the Rivermarket, where you can buy fresh produce. It’s a lively place to be on Saturday mornings. The prices are slightly higher than grocery stores, but the taste is unbelievable. Try it. And, while you’re buying, make sure to ask if the food is locally grown so you’re sure you’re supporting the local market, not just buying resold produce.

Residential Volunteer opportunities at Overlook Farm include education/group facilitation, livestock work, gardening, maintenance, office work, event coordination, and a variety of other jobs. Volunteers make a minimum 1-month commitment and receive free on-site housing and a small monthly stipend for food/expenses. The farm is a great place to live and work, but volunteers must be hardworking and flexible. Living on-site means working above and beyond what one might expect for a normal job, and living in a community of volunteers (i.e. 11 in a 5 bedroom house) is rewarding but can be challenging.

If you’re interested in volunteering at Overlook, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at 508-886-2221 or overlook.vol@heifer.org. Volunteers are needed year-round

When I found out that it took 24 coffee plants/trees to support my daily coffee intake, how could I NOT use only fair trade??

I have discovered that there is such a thing as fair trade fruit, specifically bananas, as well as rice and sugar. (and coffee and chocolate, which are much easier to find). Currently, when I buy bananas, I am saving an additional amount (representing the additional cost I would pay for fair trade bananas, if I could find them) and hope to donate the savings to oxfam or heifer or something similar. Does anyone know of anywhere to buy (in a local store, or online, or somehow) fair trade foods other than chocolate and coffee???

The Golden Ticket Fund pays for at risk and adjudicated young people to get food service training in the Community Kitchen in Ann Arbor. Donate at http://www.foodgatherers.org