9/12/05: I visited The Hunger Site, and with a few clicks of the mouse I donated food and books to those in need, and helped save the rainforest – all for free. It works like this: you look at a few pages of ads, and in return the sponsors of those ads donate money to worthy causes. It takes about 30 seconds out of your day to support six different causes (you can only visit once per day), and it costs you nothing. I have committed to visiting this site daily for the next year.
9/13/05: I signed an online petition supporting the creation of an independent "Katrina Commission" to investigate the government's responses to this disaster. I am regularly sent links to such petitions by various political action groups, and this one was sent to me by MoveOn.org. Their political bias is obvious, but their research is usually thorough and their ability to quickly mobilize supporters in response to current events is very impressive.
>> Learn more about MoveOn's campaigns
>> Sign up to receive the MoveOn newsletter
9/14/05: Instead of throwing away my inkjet cartridge when it ran out, I used a pre-paid mailing envelope that I picked up at FedEx Kinko's to mail it to a recycler. I'm often willing to go out of my way to recycle bulk items such as paper or plastic, but with infrequently disposed items a convenience-based recycling program is greatly appreciated.
>> Order free envelopes from the company that runs their recycling program, Recycle Free
9/15/05: I received a quarterly newsletter from one of the nonprofit agencies that I volunteered for years ago. I never read it, so instead of just recycling it I mailed them a quick note asking them to take me off their mailing list. It saves them money, making their fundraising more effective, as well as saving the paper involved in printing it.
9/16/05: I donated money to the American Friends Service Committee to help fund their Hurricane Katrina relief effort. I was attracted to this organization by an article in the daily independent news site AlterNet ("Hurricane Katrina: 10 Great Ways You Can Help"), which described AFSC as a Quaker-run organization with a history of "lean, effective, on-the-ground service" and a dedication to helping the poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
>> Learn more about the AFSC relief effort
>> Learn more about AlterNet
9/17/05: Instead of throwing away the batteries that died in my CD player today, I started a collection of batteries that I will one day recycle. It turns out that today's household alkaline batteries are much safer for the environment than they used to be (they contain little or no mercury), though recycling still has the advantage of keeping batteries out of the waste stream and preventing them from contaminating soil with other metals.
>> Learn more about the different types of batteries
>> Find local battery recycling locations
9/18/05: I sent copies of two letters I received from the Transportation Security Administration to the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a way of supporting EFF's campaign against TSA's "Secure Flight" program. Although the intentions of the Secure Flight program are laudable (catching terrorists), it has been criticized for its misuse of personal data and its gaping security holes. (Not to mention, the GAO recently concluded that the test phase of the program violated federal law.) To assist the EFF, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with TSA, requesting records about myself that may have been collected during the test phase. The results of these requests help EFF to understand how the program works as well as forcing the TSA to make clear what it has done so far.
>> Read TSA's description of the Secure Flight program
>> Read an intelligent analysis of the program by renowned security expert Bruce Schneier
>> Learn more about the EFF