Flying and Offsetting

As I mentioned on Thursday I’m traveling next week, so I figured, what the heck, I think I should purchase a carbon offset as a mea culpa for the flight’s environmental impact. I did some investigating and decided to use Carbonfund.org again for this trip. Three reasons: they’re a nonprofit; they’re super affordable (only $6 for my roundtrip, even with four separate planes); and they spend time on their site explaining “additionality,” which is their effort to ensure the money they receive creates an offset that would not have happened otherwise (as opposed to funding a project that was going to go forward regardless).

Today’s mitzvah: Are you traveling by car or plane this summer? Check out carbon offsets. They’re not very expensive, and may even help. Click my previous post here for more information. The Natural Resources Defense Council has a helpful overview, “Buying Carbon Offsets: What You Need to Know.” Vendors like Terra Pass and Carbonfund.org have easy calculators right on their sites.

Image © 2007 by Terra Pass.

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Dance Party Friday

Hmmm. Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance?

Cincinnati 5:45 a.m. When it’s a slow news day on the Channel 12 early, early morning show it’s time for . . . Dance Party Friday!




Betcha wish you didn't sleep in this a.m.

Have a fun Friday!

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Why Pay More for Expensive Airport Bottled Water?

Here’s my doh! moment of the day. I’m getting ready for a trip next week and looking for ways to make the flight more eco-friendly (and just less of a drag for me). So I was delighted to stumble upon an EnviroMom post which, in its brilliance, realized something I had completely overlooked: just because you can’t bring water through airport security doesn’t mean you can’t bring a water bottle. EnviroMom Heather advises bringing an empty and just filling it up at a fountain after security.

This is why moms rule. (Why didn’t I think of this, instead of spending 4 bucks/flight for airport bottled water?) This also gives me a chance to use my reusable, compostable “corn bottle” with the screw-in filter, which I can fill at any tap. (I know I should embrace unfiltered water, but I’m not there yet.) While I don't think I’ll buy another corn bottle now that I’ve read about the problems in diverting food crops for other purposes, since I already have it I want to get some use out of it. This will also double as my workout water bottle at the hotel gym. One week, no throwaway plastic bottles at all.

Today’s mitzvah: Give a shout-out to EnviroMom, who has other practical travel tips here.

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Happy School Supplies from Recycled Newspaper

Were do all those recycled newspapers go? How about cool rainbow- and jungle-themed school supplied for kids (and adults, too!). Eco-Space has a neat post about the O’BON company, which recently expanded from its base in Malaysia and Australia into North America. Their signature product is a pencil made not from wood but from recycled newspaper. Wrapped 36 times and attached to the graphite with nontoxic glue, it’s stronger and more environmentally friendly than traditionally wood pencils. O’BON also has green pens and folders. You can check them out at www.stationery-obon.com.


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Stamp Out Junk Mail

A Year of Living Greener posted recently on Canada’s Red Dot Campaign — little red stickers people can put on their mailboxes to alert their mail carrier not to leave flyers and other mass mailings that arrive addressed to Occupant. We get an annoying gob of glossy useless-flyers almost every week at my house, so I was eager to check out Red Dot’s suggested link for U.S. residents. This led me to Forest Ethics, which is trying to create a Do Not Mail Registry, similar to the popular Do Not Call list. They estimate that the carbon emissions necessary to create 6.5 million tons of junk mail in the U.S are equivalent to the emissions from 37 million cars. Add that to the millions of trees felled each year to create all this paper, and the fact that most of it winds up in landfills — I personally would love to have a simple Do Not Mail registry similar to the Do Not Call list to end this once and for all.

Today’s mitzvah: Check out Forest Ethic’s Do Not Mail Us petition to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Harry Reid — 43,278 signatures strong and growing! You can also visit Catalog Choice to immediately reduce the catalogs you receive in the mail.


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Memorial Day Guestbook

Today is Memorial Day (observed) in the U.S., the culmination of a three-day weekend when Americans stop to honor their war dead. I was looking at this blog’s stats and noticing how many visitors over the past two weeks came from countries which, at some point in our history, were at war with each other. I thought this might be a nice time to pause and focus not on the wars that divide us, but instead on the shared interests in a better world that unite us. (Plus you know I love the little flags!)

The virtual Daily Mitzvah community welcomed readers over the past two weeks from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Togo, the United States, and Vietnam. A big welcome to all — thank you for visiting!

Little flags courtesy of famfamfam.

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Memorial Day Weekend Round-Up

Here’s your Memorial Day Mitzvah round-up. Now turn off the computer and go outside :-)

• Looking for a thoughtful way to celebrate Memorial Day? Check out my post on the bipartisan Women Veterans Health Care Act of 2008. Tell your Senators you support this act for our female vets.

• Green your picnic #1. I dashed into Whole Foods last week for snacks for my students on the last day of class. My poor planning meant I was stuck with paper plates, so I was just hoping they had something recycled — but instead I discovered something called bagasse. Bagasse is the leftover after liquid is extracted from sugar cane. It’s often just burned, but now entrepreneurs are using it as an alternative to cellulose for paper plates, cups, and cutlery. I like this better than corn-based disposable plates since bagasse is a waste product and doesn’t entail diverting food crops. If you can’t use reusable dishes for your Memorial Day BBQ, see if your store stocks bagasse products.

• Green Your Picnic #2. Daily Green has lots of tasty tips!

Enjoy your weekend!

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Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act

As the number of women serving in the military increases — more than 150,000 in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2002 — so does the number of female veterans coming home who rely on the Veterans’ Administration (VA) for health care. Originally created for a primarily male veteran population, the veterans’ healthcare system lacks adequate resources for the female vets’ health issues, from gyn care to gender-specific PTSD symptoms to, sadly, a newly named phenomenon, Military Sexual Assault Trauma (MST).

Last month a bipartisan group of Senators — Patty Murray (D-WA), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR ), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) — introduced the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2008 (S.2799), which calls for “a long-term study of the health of women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, an assessment of barriers for women seeking care at Dept. of Veterans Affairs facilities and of the VA's provision of health services to women, and training of VA staff on treating women veterans who have experienced sexual trauma or PTSD.”

As the United States observes the Memorial Day long weekend, support female veterans by urging your Senator to support the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement act. You can find your Senator’s contact information here, or send a pre-formatted letter via Care2’s Petition Site.


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May 22: International Day for Biodiversity

The United Nations has designated May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity. This year’s theme is agriculture, which is very timely given the current world grain crisis and well as hard questions about bio-fuels. Eco-Space has more. Overall the day is designed to promote the importance of addressing agricultural biodiversity and climate change simultaneously, as the best path for success.

The Convention on BioDiversity’s suggestions for action include:

• conserve biodiversity that is especially sensitive to climate change
• preserve habitats so as to facilitate the long-term adaptation of biodiversity
  
• improve our understanding of climate change – biodiversity linkages

The CBD also has a youth portal for elementary and middle school-age kids.

Today’s mitzvah: Take a moment to acknowledge International Biodiversity Day with a free click-to-give at The Rainforest Site to preserve biodiversity internationally, or at Care2 to preserve fragile ecosystems in the U.S. Sponsors will make a small contribution for each click, at no cost to you.


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The Ciclovia

This is my 20th year free of car ownership(!), which I’m celebrating with an occasional series of posts.
I first learned about Bogotá’s Ciclovia while reading the EcoSpace: Conscious Community blog. Street Films terrific short film really brings it to life. Every Sunday, 70 miles of Bogotá streets are closed to traffic and opened to bikes and pedestrians. More than 2 million people of all ages and backgrounds spill out into streets that become their own. They have also added Recreovia: 20 stages where instructors lead giant aerobics and rumba classes (those segments are among my favorite in the film.) It’s inspiring to hear residents share how much the Ciclovia’s safety, freedom, and “community living” means to them. Enjoy.

Ciclovia: Bogotá (9:41).



Today’s mitzvah: Learn more about care-free spaces and cities at the World Carfree Network.

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Kiss Plastic Bags Goodbye, Redux

May 22, 2008 update to original post: My Flip & Tumbles arrived today. The colors are very pretty, but a heads up that they get crazy wrinkled by being stuffed into the little sock-ball storage pouch. The photos are a tad deceptive in this regard — be aware that the bags pictured may have been ironed or never stored in the little pouch.The original May 19th post follows.

Can one ever have too many reusable bags? The Budget Ecoist (cool blog) has me intrigued by the Flip & Tumble bag (pictured at left and below; click for larger images). If I owned a car, I would be happy to use the green flat-bottomed Woodman’s bags (click here for neato photo) made from recycled soda bottles. Since I’m typically on foot or on the bus, my Baggus have been a good alternative (click here for their own groovy pix). They fold up flat into neat little fabric pouches, weigh nothing, and unfolded hold the same amount as a regular plastic grocery bag. Supermarket baggers didn’t initially love them, since the ripstop nylon (parachute material) can be slippery, but now that more people are bringing their own bags this is less an issue.

And yet . . . the Flip & Tumble 24-7 bag has some advantages, too. It’s made of the same ripstop nylon as thinner ripstop nylon than the Baggus, but it has a long handle, so it can go over the shoulder — this is really a matter of preference since the shoulder strap might also make these more difficult to carry in each hand. I also like that the Flip & Tumble’s pouch is attached to the bag itself, so it can’t be lost, although the wadded up sock ball (from whence the name) isn’t as neat and tidy as the flat-fold little Baggu pouch. The Flip & Tumble is also more expensive at $12 (to Baggu’s $8 on their own web site and at Amazon).

In the interest of, um, blog research, I may have to buy a Flip & Tumble for a side-by-side comparison. (St. Vinny’s will get the second-place bag, so I’m not just mindlessly consuming.) The bottom line, though: there are a lot of bag options that are much spiffier and environmentally friendly than paper or plastic.

Today’s mitzvah: Have you made the switch to reusable bags? (Heck, if I can do it, anyone can!) Check out the bag options in the Daily Mitzvah archives — as well as cool options at your own favorite grocery. The environment will thank you, and you may get 5¢ to 10¢ a bag back to boot.

(Photo credits: Flip & Tumble)

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Sunday Papers: May 18

Here’s a round-up of news and notes for your Sunday reading pleasure!

Wisconsin Man Says “No” to Gas for One Month
Brian LeFave of Sheboygan Falls, WI, has “parked his pick-up truck and refused to buy gas for a month.” He’s biking to work instead — no small feat for a third-shift worker with an 18-mile round-trip daily commute. Says LaFave: “I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it. People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it.” Go, Brian! (Courtesy AP)

Bush Administration Bars Drilling in Arctic Wetland
I had to read this twice, but it’s true. The same Interior Department that last week declared polar bears a threatened species yet vowed this would not inconvenience business interests — yep, the same folks on Friday officially banned any drilling in “potentially oil-rich [Arctic] wetlands, in a reversal of its earlier plan.” (Reuters via Environmental News Network)

Volvo vows to end crash deaths by 2020
Car crashes kill 1.2 million people worldwide each year and injure 50 million more. Car maker Volvo says: Enough. Their engineers believe they can end all fatalities in their cars by the year 2020. Gotta love engineers. Go, Volvo! Marty Finestone’s Activitybook has video. (Reuters)

Burma Aid Situation “Improving”
Briain’s Lord Malloch Brown says aid supplies are beginning to move (finally) in Burma/ Myanmar. It’s a slow process, unconscionably delayed by the country’s military junta. But world pressure may have finally produced movement to help the hundreds of thousands of victims of Cyclone Nargis. According to the BBC while “the relief effort had not been what many Western nations considered sufficient, thanks to support from the governments of the region and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) a compromise had been struck that the ‘Burmese can work with.’ ” If you’e interested in donating for Burmese cyclone or the China earthquake relief, see my Burma and China tags for posts that discuss different charities operating in each region.

And that’s your Sunday news round-up!

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Weekend Spotlight

A round-up and a thank-you as we begin a sunny late spring weekend here in the Upper Midwest.

May 16th is Endangered Species Day — right in time for our friends the Polar Bears. Other animals are still in peril. Tree Hugger has more info and adorable pix!

China Earthquake: See Thursday’s post for links to three good organizations for emergency donations. I’ve also moved up the Global Giving RSS feed (right sidebar), which includes giving opportunities in China and Myanmar.

Myanmar Cyclone: Aid agencies continue to struggle with Burma’s government. See my earlier post for agencies that already have personnel on-ground, and as such may be the best options for your donations.

Last but not least, a thank-you to Focus Organic for listing and categorizing the many May 15th Bloggers Unite for Human Rights posts, including Daily Mitzvah’s Darfur post.

I’ll be back on Sunday. Enjoy your weekend!

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China Earthquake: Emergency Donations

I posted on Darfur for Bloggers Unite for Human Rights earlier today, but a friend noted that people are really focused on the earthquake in China at present. With more than 50,000 feared dead, this 7.9 magnitude quake is a horrendous disaster and people around the world are eager to help (see links below).

I also would like to find a charity that provides rescue equipment or sends in trained rescue teams. While much of this is coming from nearby governments — since the Chinese government has requested rescue assistance specifically, this would be a good area to target one’s donations. If anyone can recommend a rescue charity, please email me on DailyMitzvahBlog [at] gmail [dot] com.

In the interim, a quick spotlight and links for China-specific efforts by Mercy Corps, UNICEF, and the International Red Cross/ Red Crescent.

• Mercy Corps receives high praise for their efficiency and the percentage of donations going directly to aid those in need. For their China efforts, they are working with their established on-ground partner, China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.
  
  
• The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is “rushing medical supplies, tents, and clean water to children affected by powerful earthquake in China.” You can donate directly via this link.
  
  
• The Red Cross has long been active in China, with an extensive network of Chinese staffed and operated Red Cross/Red Crescent societies. I’ve been wary about the Red Cross after questions were raised about their accountability and oversight after Hurricane Katrina. But they’re still the world-recognized emergency assistance organization, and their heavy presence in China is certainly and advantage. The American Red Cross site has more on the Red Cross / Red Crescent response and links for donations.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV. Courtesy of AlertNet.org.

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Bloggers Unite for Human Rights: Darfur

Today is Blog Catalog’s “Bloggers Unite for Human Rights” day, which is certainly timely. After weighing several different topic ideas, I’m going to use my post to urge the United Nations to take action in Darfur. From Human Rights Watch:

“The conflict in Darfur is in its fifth year. Sudanese soldiers and government-backed militias have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur by waging a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” and forced displacement by bombing and burning villages, killing civilians, and raping women. An estimated 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes and at least 200,000 are dead as a result of the violence. These attacks continue to take place today.

“A hybrid United Nations/African Union Peacekeeping force for Darfur was authorized in July 2007. However, because of obstruction by the Sudanese government, barely one-third of the force has been deployed . . . Sudan has repeatedly stated its refusal to cooperate with the Court or hand over the suspects. No senior government official has been made subject to targeted UN sanctions in relation to the events in Darfur.”

The situation in Darfur can often feel overwhelming. Yet anyone can join in pressuring the United Natons to take specific action to deploy the remaining 2/3 of the authorized peacekeeping force.

• Human Rights Watch has an editable message, for sending via email or ptinting in letter form, as well as auto-links to the ambassadors of all Security Council members.
  
  
• Not a letter writer? Save Darfur offers information on divesting from mutual funds that own stock in companies that help fund genocide in Darfur. (First Lady-hopeful Cindy McCain just divested $2 million of her own holdings in mutual funds with ties to Sudan.)

Today’s mitzvah: Take action for Darfur.

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Polar Bear Update!

Update 14 May 7:30 pm
The good news? After several years of pressure from environmentalists (and average citizens) and a court order to make a decision already, this afternoon the Bush Administration agreed to add the polar bear to the Endangered Species list, which means the bears will now be eligible for special protection. It’s not a slam dunk, since in the same breath Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said it would be “wholly inappropriate” to use this decision to address climate change issues. The Secretary also doesn’t believe this decision should have an impact on Arctic oil drilling.

Um, yeah. The reason Mr. Bear in the photo is sticking out his tongue at the Interior Dept. is that the polar bears are endangered because their icy climate is melting (climate change), and drilling will further shrink their habitat.

The New York Times has more. For now, a BIG congrats to everyone who helped keep the pressure on for the past several years. The Department of the Interior made this decision only grudgingly, in response to people just like us bothering the heck out of them.

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Polar Bear Petition: Sign before May 15

May 15th is the deadline for the Bush administration to add polar bears to the endangered species list. Join with the We Can Solve It campaign, part of the Alliance for Climate Protection, and sign a petition to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. Tell the government the polar bear, and its fragile Arctic habitat, require protection. Mongabay has more on the case and why a federal judge has ordered the administration to take action by the 15th.

Today’s mitzvah: Help out polar bears with a quick online signature.

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One "FEED 100" Bag = 100 Lunches for Rwandan Schoolchildren

OK, I have to say it: I love this bag, and the idea behind it. A sustainable burlap pouch unzips to reveal a very soft white organic cotton tote (nice fabric), with some silk screened lettering that suggests CARE package labeling. But it’s also more than a tote: each purchase funds 100 lunches in the UN World Food Programme’s school lunch program in Rwanda.

The bags aren’t super cheap, and this is a Whole Foods-exclusive product (I try not to promote specific companies or stores on the blog, but sometimes the product makes me break my own rules). The cool thing, though: Whole Foods’ goal is to fund the UNWFP’s entire school lunch program in Rwanda for 2008, primarily through the sale of these bags. You can learn more about the program and see bag photos here. The bags are a bit pricey: $29.95 at my local store. But I thougt it was worth it to buy lunch for 100 kids. I’m also considering these as gifts for some upcoming birthdays: a nice combo of a cool tote bag and being able to tell the recipient they just bought lunch for 100 very sweet children. (Of course, I just blew the surprise for friends and family who have summer birthdays!)

Today’s mitzvah: Check out the cool bags. You can also always help the UN World Food Programme at no cost by playing our favorite vocabulary game over at Free Rice.

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Sunday Guestbook

More visitors, more little flags from famfamfam. (Blame my Girl Scouts of All Nations picture book in the 1970s. I like the little flags!) Daily Mitzvah welcomed readers over the past week from Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Rwanda, Spain, the United States, and Vietnam. Hello as well to Blog Explosion auto-visitors from the Czech Republic, England, Honduras, and Singapore. Welcome!

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Weekend Spotlight

Here’s your Weekend Mitzvah round-up:

A food drive that picks up at your house: Don’t forget: Leave food donations in a bag next to your mailbox for the Saturday, May 10 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

A hat tip to Skeet’s Stuff, which included Daily Mitzvah in its Sharing the Good Stuff Thursday post this week. Mahalo, Skeet!

Burma update #1: Agencies that are already in-country: Many of us have seen today’s headlines about the military government in Burma confiscating UN food aid, including supplies that would have fed and provided medical care for 95,000 people. The UN and the U.S. have decided to continue aid flights into the country, despite the Burmese government’s absurd obstructionist tactics. The situation presents a challenge for donors. I’m trying to focus on aid agencies that already had a presence in Burma before Cyclone Nargis, since they have at least a tenuous working relationship with the very dysfunctional government. World Vision has an established presence in-country, according to their web site: a 40-year continuous presence in the country and more than 500 staff on the ground even before the cyclone. Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors without Borders has 40 international staff and 1200 international workers already on the ground in Burma. Read an update of their activities here. Since it’s almost impossible to get new aid workers in at present, it’s worth checking out these two groups that are already in the country. (Photo © 2008 Agence France-Presse)

Burma Update #2: UW Credit Union hat-tip: The Myanmar Red Cross/Red Crescent Society is also long established in Burma. My terrific credit union just made Red Cross contributions easier (via the American Red Cross), by providing an link that allows a direct contribution right out of one’s checking or savings account, without any fuss or extra paperwork (must be logged in to Web Branch to access). They typically set this up for Christmastime charities. But I wanted to give a shout-out for this quick and creative response to the current humanitarian crisis. Google is also helping with a donation link right under their search box, facilitating contributions to UNICEF and Direct Relief International.

Weekend Mitzvah: Leave some canned food for the mail carrier on Saturday, and keep en eye on the Cyclone Nargis response to see where we can help.

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Sat., May 10: Leave food to help your mail carrier "Stamp Out Hunger"

I’m still pretty fixated on the disaster in Burma, which I blogged about earlier in the week. But with something so big, I wanted to balance blog space with something small and manageable.

Much closer to home for those of us in the U.S., Saturday, May 10 is annual Stamp Out Hunger day, when mail carriers collect non-perishables to help feed the hungry. Participating couldn’t be easier: just leave canned goods and other non-breakable items in a bag next to your mailbox. The Harlem Globetrotters break it down for us (I thought we needed a lighter note today).




Today’s mitzvah: Pick up some soup, pasta, cereal or other non-perishables at the store to leave for your mail carrier on Saturday, May 10, Stamp Out Hunger day.

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UNIFEM / Kidman: Say NO to Violence Against Women

Nicole Kidman, goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is urging people to join in signing a petition “Say NO to Violence Against Women.” I wanted to spotlight this because it’s a good cause, and also because I know several regular readers are involved in anti-domestic violence work in their own communities, and as volunteers for the RAINN online hotline.



The Say NO initiative continues until November 25, 2008, the internationally recognized day to eliminate violence against women, when UNIFEM will hand over the signatures to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in support of his global campaign. Thanks to Geri at Good News Network for alerting me to this campaign.

Today’s mitzvah: Read more about UNIFEM’s Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, and consider signing the peition and/or making a contribution.

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Cyclone Crisis in Myanmar

Photo © 2008 Agence France-Presse.

I’m holding the UNIFEM post I planned for today, to talk instead about the crisis in Myanmar after a cyclone killed more than 10,000 at least 22,000 more than 28,000 people over the weekend. I wrote about Burma (also known as Myanmar by its military dictatorship) in one of my first posts for this blog. And now its citizens are suffering even more in this frightening natural disaster. Mercy Corps estimates several hundred thousand people have been left homeless. They note, “United Nations officials say hundreds of thousands are without shelter or drinking water. . . . Agence France-Presse reported Monday that buildings were flattened, roads were blocked, trees were uprooted, and water supplies disrupted in Yangon, the country's main city. Winds topped 120 miles per hour.”

I’m going to dig into the blog’s Charity Piggy Bank and make a contribution to Mercy Corp’s dedicated Myanmar Cyclone Fund. Another good option is World Vision, which was on-ground in Burma before the cyclone and has already established a relationship with the government in a tricky political situation.

Today's mitzvah: Consider making a contribution to aid cyclone victims in Burma (aka Myanmar), a country already in crisis. No cash? The Hunger Site sends a portion of your free click-to-give contributions to Mercy Corps.

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Organic Bakery Turns Customers Into Growers

I contributed a blurb for this on Good News Network, but I wanted to spotlight the story here as well, just because I like it — and it’s also a perfect fit with this blog’s focus on making a small difference in a big world.

The Hungry Ghost Bakery in Northampton, MA, is committed to producing only organic baked goods. Yet, for them, this meant wheat was grown in South Dakota, then trucked to North Carolina for milling into flour, and then shipped to Massachusetts for the bakery. Organic, yes, but not local and not a terrific carbon footprint with all that transit. Their innovative solution? What if bakery customers each grew organic wheat in a small plot at home? The bakery began giving out wheatberries to customers for free — to grow in 10x10' “front yard wheat” plots — and will sponsor a “scythe harvest” when the first crop is ready for harvesting. The always engaging Groovy Green Blog has the whole story and links to related NPR coverage — check it out.

Today’s mitzvah: What creative small local solution can you dream up today?

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Sunday Guestbook

Now that I’ve discovered famfamfam’s free-use tiny flags of all nations, you knew they were going to show up again! I was delighted again over the past week to have so many visitors from so many different places. A big thank-you to all who stopped by this week, including visitors from Canada, the Philippines, Poland, Cambodia, Ecuador, France, Mexico, Denmark, and last but not least, the blog’s many readers from the United States. And from Blog Explosion, a welcome as well to our auto-visitors from Vietnam, England, and South Africa.

Thank you to everyone for visiting, reading, and posting comments!

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World Press Freedom Day

UNESCO has designated May 3rd as World Press Freedom Day, noting the anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. It’s so easy to take freedom of expression for granted in the U.S., but many writers — and bloggers — are not so lucky.

This year’s focus is press censorship in China, especially with the Olympics coming up. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) provides animated commentary:




What can you do to show your support for World Press Freedom Day? Support Amnesty International USA’s “Call for an Olympic Year of Freedom of Expression in China.” This web site link allows you to send an email message to Chinese representatives urging release of journalists imprisoned for speech issues, including Shi Tao:

Using his Yahoo! account, he emailed a US-based website, sharing the details of an internal government directive barring media reports that could fuel unrest during the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown. Shi was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities.” Disturbingly, Yahoo! provided information to the government for his prosecution. Call on the Chinese Government to release Shi Tao from detention immediately and unconditionally, to ensure that foreign and domestic journalists are provided full media freedom and that the right to freedom of expression and information is protected online.

Today’s mitzvah: How might you support World Press Freedom Day?

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Greening "To Go" Containers

Warmer weather is finally here, and with it a happy preponderance of food carts at lunch time on the Library Mall here. Indonesian, Jamaican, Ethiopian food — it’s a vegetarian delight for me, with plenty of carnivorous offerings, too. Since I’m trying to be greener, I’m also noticing how much styrofoam and other trashed plastics these lunchtime al fresco adventures generate. Students at Florida’s Eckerd College now have an alternative: a returnable clamshell take-out container. For just a $5 sign-up fee (covering all 4 years of college) students can join a program to check out an Eco-Clamshell whenever they want take-out. When they return to the dining commons, they just place the dirty take-out container on a dish washing conveyor belt and pick up a clean one for their next meal. It’s a closed loop system (and when the containers eventually wear out, they're 100% recyclable), affordable, and the brainchild of recent Eckerd grad Audrey Copeland, who saw the problem from a student perspective and set out to find a solution. Thank-you to Eco-Space Conscious Community for turning me on to the Eco-Clamshell story.

Today’s mitzvah: How can you green your take-out container? I’m going to try out new options with my favorite food cart: asking them to consider non-styro contaners and also bringing my own reusbales. Check out Laptop Lunches sustainable Bento Boxes, which the delightful Ms. Pamela found for us!

Photo credit: Eric Fortman, copyright © 2008 Eckerd College

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Charity Piggy Bank Update

Nothing makes the months fly by like putting $$ aside! Time to look back on April and see how much loose change made it into Daily Mitzvah’s charity piggy bank. In keeping with the blog’s theme, this is a small way to make a difference in a big world (even on a budget). Here are the last month’s totals:

• Proportional giving: $38.31
• Savings account interest: $1.37
  
• Found money: $0.00
• Rebates for BYO grocery bags: $.80
  
• Change jar: $0.00 (time to cash this in!)
  
• Balance forward: $115.07
• Anti-Malaria Bed Net: <$5.00>
• AIDS Walk NY: <$25.00>
  
• NEW TOTAL: $125.55

I decided to spend some of the piggy bank for two good causes. As I posted earlier, five bucks went to MyBednet.com’s campaign to get as many people as possible to contribute just one bednet in the fight against malaria. And I wanted to help sponsor blogger Proper of the Day for the New York City AIDS Walk. Even with these two small outlays, I’m on track for a nice donation or two by the end of the year. I’ll continue to post an update each month and keep a running total on the blog’s upper right column.

Today’s mitzvah: Consider creating a “charity piggy bank” to collect small sums for a year-end charitable contribution.

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