The Better World Project: Week 6 Actions
10/17/05: I had my first day of work at First Book, a D.C.-based national nonprofit organization. Our mission is to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Since 1992, we have given over 35 million books to children in more than 1,300 communities, and through our Book Relief initiative will distribute over 5 million books to those affected by the hurricanes. I consider my decision to join First Book to be part of my ongoing commitment to create positive change through the decisions that I make in all aspects of my life.
>> Learn more about First Book
10/18/05: While on a business trip in Atlanta, my co-workers and I were outside a diner late at night when we were approached by a couple that claimed to be from out of town and were just short of the money they needed to get a hotel room. While it is usually my habit to not give money in such situations, believing that it is more productive to give the money to a nonprofit organization, in this case I did give them some money. Sometimes it seems more compassionate to just trust the word of strangers and extend them a helping hand, instead of always worrying about whether their stories are entirely true.
10/19/05: I decided to conserve electrical energy rather than my own, and chose to use the hotel stairs today instead of riding in the elevator.
10/20/05: I participated in The Center for a New American Dream's campaign for more energy efficient vehicles: "Green Cars Today, Blue Skies Tomorrow." I sent pre-written letters to executives at Toyota, Ford, Honda, and General Motors asking them to strengthen their commitment to developing and marketing hybrid vehicles, and I signed the petition to tell automakers why I want "green cars today."
10/21/05: Even though there are no major elections going on this year in Ohio or nationally, I made sure to request my absentee ballot in time to vote in November. Of special interest to me are four Ohio constitutional amendments backed by Reform Ohio Now, which I have been supporting since August.
>> See 9/22 for more
10/22/05: I recently applied for a received a new credit card, and so I immediately requested electronic-only (paperless) credit card statements. This is part of my ongoing commitment to reduce the amount of unnecessary paper that enters the mail stream because of me.
>> See 10/13 for more
10/23/05: A friend of mine from AmeriCorps*NCCC in Charleston, South Carolina recently published a book about her travels abroad. It is very important to me that I support my friends when they take on bold or substantial projects, and so when I finished reading her book I wrote a review and posted it on Barnes & Noble.com.
>> Order Julie Koppel's book, Say What I Will: A Traveler's Declaration