10/31/05: Before voting in the November election in Ohio with my absentee ballot, I researched the ballot issues on the website of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, a nonpartisan group that provided arguments for and against each issue. I found the website through Smart Voter, a project of the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund.
>> Learn more about Smart Voter
11/1/05: I found out from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Legislative Action Center that Congress was considering a $100 million cut in cancer research funding. I called my Congresswoman, Jean Schmidt, to let her know that I was opposed to such a cut.
>> Sign up to receive Action Alerts from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
11/2/05: I applied for a membership with the Zipcar car sharing program, which allows you to rent a car parked in your neighorhood by the hour. Although I am by no means the typical Zipcar user - I plan to rent a Zipcar only when I need to transport a bulky item that my car can't fit - the program itself has huge environmental benefits.
>> Learn how the Zipcar program works
>> Learn more about car sharing
11/3/05: I participated in a "Read-In" sponsored by the literacy organization Reading is Fundamental to support reading and celebrate RIF's 40th anniversary. My co-workers and I joined many other supporters in Washington, D.C. by taking a 20-minute reading break at 1:00 pm.
11/4/05: I buy groceries at the Giant supermarket in my neighborhood. Like many supermarkets, they promote the use of a discount card called a BonusCard. I found out that they will donate a percentage of your BonusCard purchases to a school through the A+ BonusBucks program, and all you have to do is designate a school! I chose a school in my neighborhood as a small way of giving back to my community.
11/5/05: Instead of driving to the grocery store and making the transport of groceries more convenient, I walked to the store and brought my groceries home in canvas bags.
>> See 9/19 for more
11/6/05: I made a commitment to skip a meal on the Thursday before Thanksgiving (11/17) as part of the "Skip a Meal for Oxfam" campaign. The campaign is part of Oxfam America's "Fast for a World Harvest," a 30-year-old national movement designed to raise awareness of global hunger issues. Skipping that meal is a way of remembering the millions of people who go hungry every day, and you are encouraged to donate the money that you saved to a worthy cause.