11/7/05: Nearly two months after initiating the Better World Project, I finally launched the project website! The website is the key to making this project about more than just my personal actions: it allows me to educate, engage, and hopefully inspire others into taking their own actions!
11/8/05: As a member and supporter of MoveOn, I participated in their online forum to help set the direction of the organization. I rated the importance of goals that members posted in the forum, which helps to guide this powerful organization as to how they can best use their resources to strengthen democracy.
>> Learn more about MoveOn and their current campaigns
11/9/05: I called both of my Senators and my Congresswoman to ask them to support the Senate version of the Patriot Act reauthorization bill. I had been alerted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that House and Senate members would be meeting to finalize the Patriot Act renewal, and that the Senate version "contains new checks and balances that will curb the worst excesses of the Act; the House version does not."
>> Learn more about the EFF
11/10/05: I supported the nonprofit organization RESULTS (and the work of a friend who works there) by attending one of their fundraising dinners. RESULTS is an international lobbying and activist training organization that aims to create "the public and political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty."
>> Learn more about RESULTS and their current campaigns
>> Sign up to receive their action alerts
11/11/05: When leaving work today, I turned off all of the office lights on my floor. Normally many of the lights stay on overnight, which is obviously a huge waste of energy, and so I have committed to taking this same action as long as I work there.
11/12/05: I signed up to participate in the Help the Homeless Walkathon, an annual event designed to "raise awareness of and funds for Washington metropolitan area organizations that are working to prevent and end homelessness, with an emphasis on programs that help homeless people return to independent living." I helped to recruit four other participants, and was able to choose which one of the many beneficiary organizations my registration fees would support.
11/13/05: I participated in a screening of a new Robert Greenwald documentary, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price." The film argues that Wal-Mart imposes a huge, hidden cost on its workers and U.S. taxpayers, and has negative effects on our communities as well as laborers in other countries. Although I have not sworn off shopping at Wal-Mart, I am going to make a more active effort to shop elsewhere when possible.
>> Read a report critical of Wal-Mart by California Congressman George Miller (summary or full report)
Contribution by Adam C.: "I received a call from a Florida environmental group that I had supported before. They mentioned that Gov. Bush had recently backed down on his stance to keep oil drilling out of Florida waters. The organization was looking to try to lobby the state government to stop the drilling rights before they were given. So I continued my support with another donation and gave them the right to use my name on a card sent to Tallahasee."