The beginning of a new year always signals change and this year I plan to be a lot more conscious of the environment, money and other people. It seems that these ideas I am having are something that many other share with me and I hope that if enough people follow through on the idea of do gooding a lot of great things can be achieved in 2009.
Image source: SXC
Here is a lit of Good Deeds that every environmental and socially conscious blogger should consider in 2009.
- Visit FreeRice.com every day.
Free Rice is a website that donates 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program every time you answer one of their questions correctly. So you get smarter, you earn rice for people in need and generally help the world be a better place.
- Turn off lights in pubic bathrooms.
You won’t be saving any money for yourself but if you are like me and you work in coffee shops and libraries on a regular basis then why not just remind yourself to switch off the light switch whenever you leave the bathroom. If everyone did this an awful lot of energy could be saved every year! - Help promote fellow bloggers
On a monthly basis you could write a post about a new blog you have found or tell your other blogging friends to go visit their site. Make sure you always answer calls to help with social media campaigns. If we all help each other then many more people will be able to share the space and make their way online. - Visit JustGiving.com and donate a few dollars.
I love this site as it’s easy to find worthwhile charities. If you visited once a week or once a month even and just donated a few (tax deductible!) dollars to a charity you like the look off you can help push things in the right direction. I don’t like to stick to one cause so I switch my donations up. - Say hello to a stranger
A recent study carried out by Harved Med recently showed that happiness spreads. The study was carried out over decades in a town called Framingham… More info can be found in the HMS Press Release. Just think if everyone said hi and smiled to each other the general happiness of everybody would rise a little. Happiness is believed to lead to less depression and less illness which in the long run helps out economically and environmentally too!
Good luck for your good deeds in 2009 and please let me know if you think I should add anymore to this list… there is plenty of room for improvement.
Remember “No Good Deed Goes Unnoticed” so eventually all this do gooding will eventually make it’s way back to you in one form or another!
Take care,
Forest 
8. January 2009 at 6:38 am
Two thumbs up for the list.
I think #5 is especially crucial. It’s one of those seemingly minor changes that most will dismiss, but I think it can work wonders, both for you and the recepient of your attention.
We generally shirk away from things like this, especially in cities, afraid that our smile or greeting might be taken the wrong way or worse yet, ignored. That’s a fear to get over I guess, and one I still struggle with.
The extent to which you can practice this varies with different cultures, of course, but what’s the worse that can happen? Someone you don’t know will think you’re a weirdo … for 30 seconds. Then they will get back to obsessing over their job, the traffic, and how their life is a mess. That’s not a bad worst case scenario to live with.
Samir
8. January 2009 at 7:20 am
Hey Samir, Thanks very much, this is important and I agree about trying to make an effort with people especially in groups that we would not normally mix with for one reason or another. This could be another older people, people dressed in a certain manor or whoever you normally find yourself shying away from interacting with!
11. February 2009 at 7:35 am
“I agree with you! It is a big accomplishment if you did some good deeds. I discovered this great site that aims to spread goodness It is called A Global Tribe. They are aiming to hit 1 million good deeds.
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11. February 2009 at 7:35 pm
Hey Krizhart…. A Canadian show called The Hour are doing the same thing, thanks for stopping by.