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I
Buy Different http://www.ibuydifferent.org/
A great
teen-oriented site that encourages youth to make a
difference with the everyday actions they take. Packed with
tons of ideas of how individuals and families can make a
difference by living and buying differently. They have a
whole Community Action Guide full of ideas to do with a
group:
http://www.ibuydifferent.org/takeaction/action_guide.asp
Social Justice – It’s a Gift!
Whether
you’re buying presents for someone’s birthday, for a holiday
or some other special occasion, or “just because”; you can
make a difference with the gift you give. Here are some tips
if you’d like to buy environmentally and socially conscious
gifts:
Environmental Defense’s Green Gift Ideas List
(http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentID=4924)
The Good Gifts
Catalogue (http://www.goodgifts.org/goodgifts/)
Bazura Bags
(www.bazurabags.com
)
Alternative Gifts
International (http://www.altgifts.org/bin/site/templates/splash.asp)
Remember:
Donating to a charity in the person’s name is always a great
gift, especially if it’s a charity that’s important to them
If
you’d rather not buy the gift, her are some great
ideas you can do yourself:
Personalized Collage:
make someone a collage about things they enjoy – either made
up of photos, or pictures from magazines
Handmade Jewelry:
get some beads, embroidery floss, wire or hemp and search
online or at the library for instructions on how to make all
sorts of great jewelry.
Coupons: give a
package of coupons for chores or special treats like a
message or going out for fair-trade coffee together (your
treat of course)
Give
Baking: bake a
big batch of cookies or squares and give people a tin or a
box full of them. You can also include the recipe of you
want. Alternatively, you can fill a clear glass jar with all
the dry ingredients for cookies (layer the ingredients
nicely so it looks cool) and instructions on what else needs
to be added, and how to bake them.
Give
Music: make a
mixed CD full of songs that you know they like, or that are
associated with memories you have together
Use
your talents: are
you a great artist of writer? A personalized poem or piece
of art is always appreciated!
Handmade soap.
All you need are soap molds, glycerin and some scented oils,
which are all easy to find at craft stores. Melt the
glycerin in the microwave, mix with some scented oils, pour
into the molds and let them cool. You can make the soaps
fancier by mixing oatmeal, sparkles, soap coloring, or even
a maple leaf from the backyard.
Have an “Everything is Recyclable” Drive!
Collect all sorts of recyclables from people in your church!
See below for what sorts of things to collect, and what to
do with them. Remember to make sure you have lots of
volunteers to sort things and multiple vehicles to transport
your findings. Also be sure to contact the businesses or
charities listed below ahead of time to see if they can do a
pick up for you, and to make sure you’re not stuck with bags
of stuff for a few days or weeks because they weren’t ready
for your donations.
-Returnables
– take to the bottle depot and collect the money. Donate
this money to charity or use it to further one of your other
social justice campaigns
-E-recycling
(ie: computers, printers, fax machines, phones etc, pretty
well any electronics) – take these to your local e-recycling
company, who will fix them if possible and resell them so
they don’t go to waste, and if not, will break them down
into component parts for recycling. Check your phone book
for electronic recycling services in your area.
-Clothing
– donate to a shelter, the Salvation Army, or sell to a
consignment store to raise money for another social justice
campaign or charity
-Old
cell phones – send old phones to the wireless foundation
(www.donateaphone.com).
This organization reprograms old cell phones to dial 911 at
the touch of a button, and then gives them to domestic
violence victims so they can call for support free of
charge.
-Printer
cartridges – recycle old inkjet and laser printer
cartridges and donate to diabetes, all in one step:
http://www.diabetes.ca/section_services/recycleink.asp
-Furniture
– check with your church and youth group members first to
see if any of these items could be re-used; and give the
rest to your local Salvation Army or Goodwill store so it
can benefit the less fortunate.
-Sports
Equipment – donate to a local sports team, or if your
local sports store has a charity which gives less fortunate
kids a change to play sports, then donate them there.
-Books
– check to see if your church’s library would like them, and
leave them out on a table for a couple of weeks for
congregation members to pick up if they would like them. Any
books that don’t go to a new home you should donate to a
library or homeless shelter, or sell to a used book store to
gain fundraising money for a charity or for a social justice
project.
-Other
stuff – anything that doesn’t fit into one of these
categories (or any others that you can think of where you
might be able to do something useful with it), can be the
makings of a garage sale to raise money for a social justice
project or be donated straight to a charity.
Other
Organizations and Projects:
Co-housing Cooperatives
are little communities where people decide to live more
simply and leave smaller footprint on the earth. Each family
owns their own home and a share of the common spaces such as
a rec-centre/community hall type building called the Common
House, and a courtyard. They focus on building community and
on simplifying their lives by sharing things they don’t use
very often, and living in smaller homes. Since the homes are
built close together they combat urban sprawl and conserve
energy by having shared walls to prevent heat loss. The
community helps design their homes, and generally choose the
most energy efficient and "green" elements such a well
insulated windows and doors, Energy-Star appliances, and
extremely water-efficient toilets. Many groups also grow
some of their own food, and many do car-sharing. Co-housing
groups use the consensus process to make decisions, and they
have a non-hierarchical structure. Diversity and
intergenerational understanding are also highly valued. The
values of co-housing line up very well with the UU
Principles, and so many co-housing groups usually have a
high-percentage of Unitarians – 6 out of the 18 families in
Prairie Sky Co-housing in Calgary attend the Unitarian
Church of Calgary!
Co-housing started in Denmark, and extremely popular in
Europe. There are several groups in the
US, and there are currently 20 co-housing groups in Canada:
11in BC, 1 in Alberta, 1 in Saskatchewan, 1 in Manitoba, 1
in Nova Scotia, and 5 in Ontario. To see if a group is
starting up near you, or to learn more, visit:
http://www.cohousing.ca/
Do you have a resource
or a suggestion you don’t see here? Do you know of a cause
or an organization which should be included in this website?
If so, please email me and tell me about it!
annapierrette@gmail.com |
