Get Involved (Kids and Adults Alike)

Here is a small list of how both adults and their children can participate in giving back to our local and global communities, animals and the environment. This is but a short sample coming from off the top of my head, but there are so many ways of helping out. See if you can find at least one or two things on the list, or an expanded version of your own, that you can do in the near future. The more you give, especially without thanks, the better you feel.

1. Join a local cleanup
2. Donate money to an organization.
3. Walk/run/bike for a cause.
4. Plant trees.
5. Spread wildflower seeds in barren areas.
6. Pick up litter when you see it.
7. Help at a local homeless shelter.
8. Help at a woman's shelter.
9. Help at a wildlife refuge or animal shelter.
10. Landscape a simple and self-sustaining front yard of an old person in need.
11. Donate food to a food bank.
12. Donate your used stuff.
13. Write a letter or an email to local or federal govt. about an issue of concern.
14. Help out at a disaster zone (maybe not with children).
15. Adopt an animal(s).
16. Back off of the water usage. Don't take imbibeable freshwater for granted - it's less than 1% of the Earth's aqua.
17. Compost your leftover food and trimmings.
18. Recycle.
19. Start a garden.
20. Support local farmers.
21. Teach young kids how to care for the environment.
22. Stop buying from places with products mainly from China, like WalMart.
23. Put on a performance for the elderly at an old folks home.
24. Buy a homeless person a thick blanket or dinner (and I don't mean McDonald's crap).
25. If you're awesome enough(I am not), foster or even adopt a child. There are many in need.
26. Stay updated on the latest, from reliable sources, so you know where to stand on issues.
27. Help someone out in public if they could clearly use it.
28. If you can, (I have a fantasy about this, but can't cuz the kids) go to a third world country and help build homes or help distribute food to the starving. This is awesome...
29. Preseve energy - don't have anything plugged in or operating unless necessary at that moment.
30. Paint a mural on an ugly wall in an ugly area. Sort of gives a sense of hope.



There are so many other ways to help this world around us and the world beyond our senses (like we can't possibly fathom what it would be like to live in Ethiopia or Iraq, for instance). So pitch in. Compose your own list of ideas for the future and things with which you already partake. Feel very free to jot down more of your ideas or personal goals in the comments, we would love to hear new ideas or what you are doing to help our Earth as a whole, even on the smallest scale. Every little bit truly helps.