5 simple and cheap ways to go green at home
In between a bit of volunteering and charity work, I like to find simple and inexpensive ways that I can make the house a little more ‘green’ friendly.
I don’t have a lot of money to splash out on crazy solar electrical systems or redoing the house. So the cheaper the better.
And through a little reading and messing around in the garage, I’ve found 5 ways to green your home without spending much money.
Here goes.
1. Compost those odd looking “veggies” – I know, everyone talks about it and there are compost bins all over the place but many cost quite a bit of money. But did you know a compost heap doesn’t need a fancy bin? You could literally start with a hole or a big cardboard box. The key is to remember the 3 ingredients that are needed to compost: nitrogen (fruit and food waste), carbon (grass, cardboard and leaves) and water. That’s it. Put them on each other in layers and guess what … you’ve got a compost heap. As long as you combine these 3 elements then you can’t really go wrong.
2. Water collection – Last month I managed to put together a rain water collection for less than $30. Read my article here. Collecting rain water helps the environment and your water bill. Score!
3. Grow stuff – Ever looked on Craigslist in the free section? People are giving away trees and seeds all the time. Can’t find anything? Head to your local nursery and for less than $10 you can come home with a bunch of seeds for fruits, veggies or herbs. Added bonus … growing things can be a fun family activity.
4. Make some curtains – Curtains keep the warm in, not to mention keeping the nosy neighbors out. My dad also used to open up the curtains in the morning to let the sun in and close them at night to keep the warmth from escaping. I always thought he was nuts until one cold COLD winter in London when I invested in some heavy duty curtains. Best thing I bought that year. Oh – and you might save some cash on the heating. Make them from some recycled materials and save even more.
5. Listen to Madonna on your radio – Just kidding. Madonna scares me a little. But listening to your radio uses a tonne less energy and electrics than TV or updating farmville on Facebook. Save money. Save emissions.
A lot of people talk about the basic ways to go ‘green’ – like turning off your lights and driving less. Which is very important. But ‘greening’ up can be fun and a little adventurous too.
You can also be green in a few eccentric ways. Anything that helps the planet, by using less electricity for example, is a good thing. And it saves you money for all the good stuff.
Good luck!
The advertising side of Mark It Up
This week, we've been focused on some of the marketing aspects of Mark It Up.
We've been tweaking online advertising banners that are now in draft form so we should have those out pretty soon. Some banners are specifically for bloggers to put on their sites and others are for more general websites.
We've also developed some tools that online shop owners can put on their webpages to ask people for a donation after purchasing some goods. The tools don't intrude on the buying process keeping shop owners happy but they do manage to catch people when they've still got their credit card handy.
If you can't tell – we're moving away from the traditional "please donate to us" sort of thing. We're asking people for donations right after they've purchased something in the hope that they'll want to give a little when they're in a buying mood.
And slowly but surely, donations are coming in.
For a marketing and advertising novice like me, this is a huge learning curve in consumers and what it takes to raise donations and 'sell' the idea of charity.
Building a website that will hopefully help people in Haiti
This week I've spent quite a few hours in front of the computer building websites for some small charities.
One website I'm close to finishing is for the TLC Barefoot School in Haiti.
Somehow, the school survived the earthquake that hit Haiti recently even though it was in the epicenter.
Other buildings crumbled but the school survived and it has now become a shelter, feeding center and a place for people to stay safe. The 82nd airborne guys have helped set up the distributions there, making the school an important part of the recovery efforts in the area.
But the school is run by a small faith based charity that doesn't have the means to pay for a website. They also don't have the means to take credit cards and debit card donations from people who are wanting to give in the wake of this disaster.
Their original website was done in publisher with text overlapping, pictures misaligned and sponsorship files not working properly.
To help them take donations and help get resources to more people in Haiti, I volunteered to rebuild their website with PayPal. I also installed WordPress so that emails from the school can be put on the website easily, keeping everyone up-to-date in such a worrying time.
I'm not a web designer by any means but I can help put together a simple, clean and professional looking website with WordPress and PayPal so that the charity can take donations as well as easily update the content.
I'm hoping that people who want to continue to donate to Haiti and help a local charity which is literally at the center of relief work will use the website. The new design hopefully makes the site a little more reliable and appealing to people who want to donate to a trusted source.
The school isn't part of a huge charity – it's simply a group of caring citizens, who came together through their church, trying to help the people of Haiti since the 1990's.
I think it's a wonderful example of a small group of people making a huge difference on such a small budget.
If you'd like to find out more – please visit the new website for the school at http://www.tlcbarefootschool.com (we're finishing up the PayPal this week)
Are you a slacktivist?
Social media has been a huge benefit for charities and non-profit causes around the world.
Now, with a mouse click or two, I can help a farmer in Bolivia, spread the word about a new charity or dedicate my idle computer processing power to help scientists find the cure for a disease.
Remarkable, right?
While many charities, causes and projects have benefited from social media, the flip side of the coin is that people have become 'armchair activists' — or 'slacktivists'.
Slacktivism refers to the fact that people want to 'feel good' and support an issue but aren't willing to do more than the minimum. Some examples experts talk about when describing slacktivism include wearing wristbands that support a cause, taking part in short-term boycotts like Earth Hour, joining a Facebook group or signing an internet petition.
All of which have a low impact on a person's day to day routine and have little practical effect. Simply put – they require little effort.
I can see slacktivism becoming an issue but as someone interested in charity development I think there's also a need for people to sign petitions, wear wristbands and become involved in one hit wonders like Earth Hour. Wristbands and short term events start conversations — and conversations turn into real support for a cause.
At a recent beach clean up, Save Our Beach managed to attract some 1400 people through "Disney's give a day, get a day" program. For many, the day is just about free disney tickets received as a thank you for volunteering. But for every 10 people that turn up just for the tickets, 1 or 2 might come back and help again. Which makes it more than worth it.
Not everyone is going to volunteer or get out there and help a project, but with increased awareness through an wristband or a petition, a charity might just find an extra volunteer or two that would not have been found otherwise.
I certainly support internet petitions, wristbands and supporting causes in various ways, but I think that needs to be balanced with some real world volunteering or support.
By all means, sign the petition on human rights but also spend an hour cleaning a beach, helping a shelter or planting a tree.
CarePathways summed it up really well on Twitter yesterday by saying "How can one person really make a dent in everything that needs to be done out there? By doing."
Chris' Percolations