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Earth Day…

Earth day is celebrating it’s 40th year. I remember the first Earth Day I “celebrated” with my kids some 20 years ago.  My daughter in a stroller and my son, probably 5 years old at the time, and I along with another mother and her 5-year old son went into a little tiny strip of wilderness area that stretched along side a street we used to frequently walk on, and picked up the trash.  I can’t recall how many bags full of garbage we collected, but we were astonished at how much there had been in such a small space, and the kids were really proud that the work they did would help keep the little forest they knew so well healthier and more beautiful. Unfortunately, the following year, the little forest was full of litter and trash again, which I found so discouraging I didn’t have the heart to show my little son how fruitless his previous year’s noble efforts had been, and I hit the wall of disillusionment in the Earth-day clean-up activity arena. I think we planted a tree that year for Earth Day.

Littering is a huge pet-peeve of mine.  I wish it was for more people out there.  Not only is it an immense eye-sore, but litter presents personal health and world wide environmental pollution hazards, and even though I hadn’t even considered this 20 years ago, now I know that it  filters through our whole economy, creating a tremendous impact on national budgets, taxes and fees, and real estate values… all of which are paid for by YOU… it all ends up coming right out of YOUR wallet.

Bag Monster Blog, a site devoted to eliminating plastic bag use, quotes Heal The Bay, an environmental group dedicated to cleaning and sustaining the Santa Monica Bay in Southern California, who sites the following statistics: The total cost of litter collection, disposal and enforcement in the U.S. is estimated to be at least $11.5 BILLION annually. Businesses bear the burden of this cost, spending $9.1 BILLION annually and representing 79.5% of the total cost of litter abatement. Just consider for a second the lower prices we might be appreciating if business didn’t have to foot such an enormous bill, or what amazing, wonderful, and productive things might be accomplished with that money!

Placing trash in trash bins instead of littering will reduce these costs, but recycling further reduces expenditures, and is even more ecologically sound — and re-using and re-purposing promotes all around further savings.  Check the fascinating recycling facts posted on A Recycling Revolution.

While my experience with cleaning up that little neighborhood woodlands was a bit discouraging, it did not hamper my caring about the the fragility of our planet, and along with cost-consciousness, an eco-consciousness has found its way into just about everything I do.  I still have a long way to go, and it may feel daunting at times but , unlike 20 years ago, now it is easy to find resources, like EarthDay.org, and Keep America Beautiful, that are devoted to making it easier to keep the world healthier, cleaner, safer, and more beautiful for us and our children, while keeping our our wallets happier too!

Jamie, SLTV

Catch these Money-Saving and Earth-Friendly Related Videos:

Being Frugal:  The Original sustainability? –  Chris Farrell

Cleaners, Make Your Own – Kimberly Danger

Clothes Swap – Shoestring Magazine & Punkystyle Blog

Energy Efficiency Tips – Lou Manfredini

Freecycle Explained – Kristen Eckstein

Freecycling: Household Items for Free – Christina Salvi

Gasoline Money: Inflate Tires & Save – Eco 20-20

Grow an Organic Garden: Save Money - Pam Ruch

House Cost Saving Tips, Eco-Friendly – Libby Langdon

Household Eco Products Save Money - Josh Dorfman

Live Richly & Frugal Forever – Amy Dacyzyn

Refrigerator & Freezer Eco & Savings Tips – Danny Seo

Shop Organic Money Saving Tips – Sophie Uliano

Uncle Sam Sells Cheap, All About Gov’t. Auctions – Money Talks

World Travel for Free While Helping to Grow the Organic Movement – WWOOF

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Right now, the devastating earthquake in Haiti has left hundreds of thousands of people in urgent desperate need. One’s desire and willingness to help will make a difference in the lives of survivors, however, unfortunately we must note that it’s still wise to remain alert to the potential for disreputable scammers who may prey on your generosity and good will. As in past disasters, they will try to target the emotions of the public by sending out what appear to be personal e-mail appeals from individuals in Haiti. The messages may ask for your personal help or direct donations to a Web site that is really just a front for a phony charity. Though the FBI has stressed that they have not yet seen examples, they have no doubt they will start showing up.

You can feel more confident that your donation is going where you intended just by following these simple general rules:
Don’t respond to solicitations.
Don’t open attachments if you don’t know the sender.
Don’t click on links if you don’t know the host.
Don’t give to organizations you don’t know.

The organizations below, are good general resources to have on hand to better evaluate charity choices, and are mentioned in this article:
ABC News/ The Blotter from Brian Ross:
The Earthquake in Haiti: How To Give Without Being Taken

American Institute of Philanthropy, a  nationally prominent charity watchdog service whose purpose is to help donors make informed giving decisions, advises givers to target groups with strong track records, that know the target needs and issues, and have well-organized didtribution systems for actually delivering that aid.

Charity Navigator has become the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. Professional analysts have examined tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents. They use this knowledge to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess the financial health of over 5,000 of America’s best-known charities.

Better Business Bureau Charity Ratings, reports, standards, complaints, and more.

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For more information on charity and giving see our previous blog posts:
Shop to Give

Give (and Get: Fun, Travel, Discounts & Freebies)

Related videos:

Scams That Target the Military – Kiplinger’s

Charitable Giving 101 – Stephanie Auwerter, Smart Money

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Give (and Get)
Here are three easy ways you can make a difference by giving some volunteer time (and getting some fun and travel at discount rates or even for free, in return!)

Give a Day, Get a Disney Day, where 1 million people who give a day to help others in 2010 will get free admission to Walt Disney World, you could be one of them:

Volunteer and Get a Free Admission to Disney
The Muppets quick video give a link to Disney details

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You can get travel discounts and freebies through the Sage Hotel Group’s Give a Day Get a Night promotion. Just complete 8 hours of volunteer service to a registered 501(c)3 non profit organization by March 29, 2010 to qualify to receive 50% off the published room rate — or maybe a complimentary night (limited availability) at all 53 Sage hotels (Marriott, Starwood, and Hilton) across the country.

Community Service Gets You Hotel Discount
KMBC  TV Reporter, and founder of Dions Daily Deal blog, Dion Lim

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Here’s an opportunity to travel across the world and stay for free.  Through a program offered by the World Wide Organization Of Organic Farmers, (aka: Wondering WWOOF) you can connect with communities across the globe that will offer you food and accomodation in exchange for work participation. You ‘ll experience cultural adventure while helping the environment. Work in areas of organic gardening from working with animals to wine making.  Started in the UK in 1971, WOOF has since become an international movement that is helping people share more sustainable ways of living.

World Travel for Free
The Wandering WWOOF Program

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For more easy ways you can keep on making a difference: Check out our previous blog post:
Shop to Give, 7 Resources you can easily use to give back as you’re gift shopping

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7 Resources you can easily use to give back as you’re gift shopping:

If you’re considering a charitable donation, the best way to be certain where  your money is going is to make a donation directly to the organization of your choice. But, if you’re going to be gift shopping anyway, it why not make your purchases count for more by shopping in a way that actually generates funds for charitable organizations? Couldn’t hurt, right?

Charity Choice

Charity Gift Cards and Certificates  - Great to include in gift-baskets!

A beautiful giving concept: Give a charity gift certificate that the recipient designates where they would like the charitable donation to go.

Charity Gift Cards was born when Mark Finkel, a board member of the nonprofit organization, Special Kids Fund, wanted to make a charity donation in memory of the recently-deceased father of a business associate. Not knowing what cause was important to the family, he wished to give a charitable gift that allowed the recipient to designate the charity of his/her choice. When he could not readily find a service that allowed the recipient to choose the charity, the next Special Kids Fund board meeting became the springboard for the website CharityChoice.

Fairwinds Trading

Since 2005, Fairwinds Trading has opened U.S. markets to thousands of artisans and entrepreneurs in Africa and Indonesia while introducing high-value, culturally expressive products to millions of Americans. Fairwinds Trading is an American business built on enduring partnerships that bring together people and products across global divides. You can  visit the Fairwinds Trading site or visit Macy’s Shop for A Better World department for these beautiful handmade gift items.

Give Back America

Serves hundreds of charities, you choose where contributions from your purchases should go. GBA is an online shopping mall where retailers, such as Expedia.com & Target.com, pay GBA a commission to refer customers to their site. GBA takes the commission from the retailer and shares it with the charity of your choice.  Use GiveBackAmerica.org links when you do your internet shopping and 100% of listed commission proceeds go to your designated charities.

Greater Good

Shop to benefit: Ending hunger, breast cancer care & research, literacy support, child health issues, women’s rights worldwide, rainforest preservation, wildlife habitat protection and restoration, animal rescue.  Each person’s daily click on the Click To Give™ sites displays sponsor advertising. 100% of sponsor advertising is paid as a royalty to charity through the non-profit, tax-exempt GreaterGood.org. Supporters can also contribute directly to charity by purchasing Gifts that Give More™, where 100% of their donation is given to charity, or by purchasing one of the 4500+ products that we carry, including jewelry, apparel, and gifts. There is a charity royalty of from 5-30% paid on every item purchased from any of the GreaterGood Network’s online stores.

iGive and iSearchiGive

Raise money for your favorite cause, every time you search the web. iSearchiGive.com is a search engine powered by iGive.com, the internet’s first online shopping mall where a portion of each purchase is donated to your favorite cause. When you use iSearchiGive to search the web, your favorite cause receives exactly $0.02 per qualified search. The money comes from advertisers, so it costs you nothing, and it’s completely free for you and the cause you support.  If you shop, you can help even more. iSearchiGive is brought to you by the pioneers in online shopping and charitable giving: iGive.com, where up to 26% of each purchase at over 680 participating online stores is donated to your favorite cause.

(RED)

(RED)™ is a simple idea that transforms our collective power as shoppers into a financial force that helps those affected by HIV in Africa. To date, $140 million has been generated and 4 million people have been helped through global fund programs that (RED)™ supports.  When you choose to buy products from (RED)™ partner companies up to 50% of the profit goes towards eliminating AIDS in Africa.  In addition to finding (RED) at all of our great partner retailers this holiday season, this December you can find an array of (PRODUCT) (RED) branded products under one roof at the (RED) pop up shops in London, Tokyo, San Francisco and New York.  (RED) partners including Apple, Bugaboo, Converse, Dell, Emporio Armani, Gap, Hallmark, Starbucks and special editions Solange Azagury-Partridge, Girl Skateboard, Channel Islands Surfboards, and Timbuk2. (Selection will vary by location).

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, is one of the world’s premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases. Children from all 50 states and around the world have come through the doors of St. Jude for treatment, and thousands more have benefited from the research conducted at St. Jude—research that is shared freely with the global medical community. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay. St. Jude covers the cost of everything—food, travel and lodging for patients and a family member.

Shop from a wide selection of gift choices in St. Jude’s gift shop and 100% of the profits after all related expense go to benefit the hospital.  In addition, you can shop from partner companies who participate in a St. Jude’s donation program.

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