If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change. - Michael Jackson

Do You Have A Google Account?

Welcome to my blog! Firstly, feel free to look around. Check out my FairTrade Shop of the Moment and vote in my poll - the Shop of the Moment is located in the right hand column.
If you have a passion for the environment and social justice, please subscribe by typing your email address below. You won't get any spam - just occasional updates on how to change the world. If you have a Google Account, please follow this blog.
Also, please tell others about this blog. It means a lot to a thirteen year old blogger, and you never know - it might just change the world...

Monday, October 31, 2011

Welcome to Movember!



Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to November Movember! Movember, formerly named November, is the month that raises awareness and funds for men's health.
Thinking of designing, cultivating and showing off a stylish 'stache this month? And raising money for men's health? Looking cool for a cause - why wouldn't you?
Take the plunge. Grow the hair. Raise the money. Click here.
Clicking that 'here' will take you to the home of Movember, where you can sign up or just learn about the month of the mo. However, if you click here, you will be taken to a different site where you can purchase MOchandise and look at much more.
Men - and I suppose ladies - please be brave and don't shave this Movember!



Friday, October 28, 2011

Recycling Activity - Sock Puppets

Come on. We all have them - the socks whose partner have been taken by the sock-eating monster in the bottom of the washing machine. Or perhaps yours lives under the cushions on your couch.
Wherever their partner ends up, we all have odd socks. They sit in a bag, a box, a drawer, a cupboard, for days, weeks months and years.
Well, I have news for you. It is time to take out those socks that have been odd for decades, those socks that are doomed to die alone. Yes, everybody - it is those odd socks' time to shine.
From sock to star, from a pile of dust to a puppet. In a few simple steps, everyone, you will have a few more companions in the house and a lot more laughs.
Interested in bring your odd socks out of retirement and recycling them? Teachers, parents - kids love this activity. How do I know? Because I am a kid (well, an immature teenager) and I love making sock puppets.
If you want some fun with old socks click here or here. Or, simply just watch the video below...



To go straight to sock puppet wonderland (aka SocksInc.com) click here.


Let your imagination go wild, let your sense of fun take over, and do some good for the environment. Make a sock puppet today. The bets thing about them is, they can be as simple and easy as a few permanent marker eyes or as intricate and time-consumingly detailed as...well...you tell me! Post a comment describing all your sock puppet creations. I would love to know.

                                   Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Un-Stunned Slaughter and Calf Starvation


Do you care about animals? If you do, this post is for you. This post is pleading, begging you to help. To help the hundreds of thousands of animals who are dying while fully conscious. To help the hundreds of thousands of calves that could be starved before being slaughtered. Helping these innocent animals is free and is guaranteed to go a long way.


   



If you have a heart, if you care, please click here and make a difference. 
Help save these animals - because you care, because you can.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Say No To Bottled Water


How easy is it to run into the supermarket and grab a bottle of water? How easy is it to leave the empty bottle in your car or throw it in a bin and hope it makes it to the recycling centre? In other words, how easy is it to kill thousands of animals? How easy is it to wreck our planet?
It is very easy. In fact, only 1 in 6 plastic bottles ever make it to a recycling bin. The United States use over 1500 plastic bottles every second. That is a lot of bottles that are ending up at the rubbish dump, or, even worse, in the environment.
Don't buy bottled water. Use a bubble tap or a tap at your house. It saves the environment and your money, because tap water, on average, is 500 times cheaper than bottled water.

For craft activities that recycle plastic bottles click here. Among my favourite activities were the piggy bank, ship in a bottle, apple paperweight, dome garden display and bird feeder. Enjoy saving the environment! Click here for a list of 10 Reasons to Say No to Bottled Water. Alternatively, click here for a statistic-packed fact sheet on saying no to bottled water.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

World Mission Sunday

Today is World Mission Sunday - a day that calls everybody in the world to bond together and make a difference in the world. It is a day to celebrate your faith and acknowledge your love for others. So, today, make a donation by clicking here. This site also has a lot of information on today.


Friday, October 21, 2011

Don't Be A LitterBug

How many of us have done it? Looked at the bin, so far away, looked at the piece of rubbish in our hand, and dropped it. Come on, why not? It's not going to hurt anybody.
Wrong. It can hurt. It can kill. All it takes is an innocent baby turtle to glimpse the glad-wrap and go in for a nibble. The plastic is caught in its throat and the baby is living its last moments.



It is not that hard to kill. Oh no, it is easy. Easy enough to drop a Tiny Teddies wrapper or a ball of glad-wrap  easy enough to stuff a chips wrapper down a pipe. It really is easy to kill. 




Why shouldn't I litter?

  • It is murder. It kills thousands of animals - every species has fallen victim to the carelessness of humans. Pollution means death.
  • It is healthy. A walk to the bin won't kill you - actually, it will be good for you! Imagine how much extra exercise you will get if you make the walk to the bin for the rest of your life.
  • It doesn't impress anyone. Murder? Cool? Uh, no. Being lazy? Uh, just get off your butt and put it in the bin. Laziness is so not cool.
  • It ruins the beauty of places. How many times have you gone to sit in a nice spot only to be met with someone's old Twisties wrapper and an empty packet of Extra gum? Again, not cool.
  • It is wrecking the Earth! This is the biggest problem. Every year, rubbish is swept through creeks and rivers until it gets to the sea - and, underwater, a huge rubbish dump is growing. By 2008 it was twice the size of the United States, and that will continue to grow until we get off our backsides and do something about it.
All that against killing animals, ruining the planet for future generations, and getting fat? I'll leave it up to you to decide whether to be a litterbug or not. 

It's not exactly rocket science.


For 'Don't Be A Litterbug' shirts, bags and hoodies, click here. A great gift idea!

Monday, October 17, 2011

TLC Appeal 2011


TLC APPEAL - 19th OCTOBER 2011
DONATE AND SAVE LIVES
We all need a bit of Tender Loving Care - and when we need it, TLC for Kids is there.
TLC For Kids supports children in hospital, cheering them up when they are ill and miserable.
The 19th of October is your chance to brighten the lives of sick young people.
Reach out, help those who need it, and change their lives.
Or, if you can't wait to make someone smile, and possibly help them recover from a deadly illness, call 1300 361 461 to donate - and save lives.



World Wombat Day

October the 22nd is World Wombat Day.
My non-Australian readers may not have ever seen a wombat, or even heard of one. So I will tell you a bit about them.
Wombats are very cute, furry animals native to Australia. They are short and stout - growing up to one and a half metres long. They are almost always brown, but there are some grey, black and even sandy coloured wombats in Australia.
Living under what I believe is one of the world's coolest animal names, the wombat is a gentle, slow, patient animal that lives underground. Resembling a small bear, the wombat's placid and nocturnal lifestyle results in only a handful of people seeing one in the wild.
These lovable creatures are often in danger from new buildings and hunters. So, this World Wombat Day, please reach out and sponsor a wombat.



To donate to these gentle animals, please visit http://www.wombatawareness.com/sponsor and make a difference in the world.

Thank you very much and Happy Wombat Day for the 22nd of October!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Righteous Pups

Have you ever seen a puppy across the street, or through a window, and completely and totally fallen in love with it? I think all of us have.
But some people need puppies more than others - and that is where Righteous Pups come in.
Righteous Pups is an organisation that raises labradors and trains them to help children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. 
The dogs help the children cross the road and find where to walk, but most of all, they are a companion. Someone who will always listen, always understand. The best friend you could ever have.
Unfortunately, it costs Righteous Pups about $29 000 to train one dog - then they give the dog to whoever needs it the most, for free.
Incidentally, Righteous Pups depends on kind and generous people to support these dogs - and children.
Please, consider donating to Righteous Pups. It will make a world of difference to the children who live with Austism.
So please, please - reach out and help Righteous Pups improve lives.
For more information click this link: http://www.righteouspups.org.au/
Or, if you are not Australian, visit http://www.4pawsforability.org/

Saturday, October 15, 2011

World Egg Day

I have a confession to make. I forgot to post about World Egg Day. But I will now.
Yesterday was World Egg Day. World Egg Day celebrates everything about eggs - from their taste to their looks - and promotes them to the world.
Whenever you read this, please think about all the egg-laying hens that live in horrible conditions.
For more information, visit my earlier post The Life of A Battery Hen or click here to go straight to All Chefs Great and Small, a blog that focuses on eating and cooking with humanely produced food.
Thank you, all readers, and I hope you have a cracker of a Belated World Egg Day!

A Quote

This post is a little different. It is, simply, a quote.
"To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest." - Mahatma Gandhi
When it comes to this site, I am sure all regular visitors and subscribers have a passion for sustainability and justice. But do we just like reading about those things? Or do we really go out and live our beliefs?
That is why I want to know what that quote means to you. Each and every reader - whether  you are regular or this is a one off experience - please comment on this post and tell me what this quote means to you.


Thank you.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Game On!

I know that for lots of us, clicking on to the Internet means just one thing - games!
And while there are amazingly fun sites like Miniclip, Friv, I Am Bored and GameSloth, there is a more ethical, yet equally fun, way.
No, I'm not pulling your leg. I am really and truly telling you that there is a free online game site that focuses on social justice issues.
Come on - check it out! Click here to play games that teach a lot about the world around you - and what the world will be like in twenty years.
Games about sweatshops, earthquakes, scientific research. It's all just a click away. It's all at your fingertips.
And it's a fun way to support people less fortunate than you.


Saturday, October 8, 2011

Be Kind To Animals Week

Today marks the end of the first week of October and Be Kind To Animals Week.
I believe we should always be kind to animals - everyone, everywhere.
But, to celebrate this week, I am going to post a video of animals. I hope this will wake everyone up to the diversity of Earth's wildlife. I believe that there is something special and unique about every animal. If you disagree with this, please post the name of an animal and I will tell you something unique about them. Also, please post your favourite animal and why.




For more information, visit http://bekindtoanimalsweek.org/ or http://www.rspca.org.au/

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Say No to Palm Oil

Some readers may remember one of my early posts - Primates Helping Primates. In this post, I touched on the danger orangutans are in and the importance of buying palm-oil free products.
For those who didn't read my post, I'll skim over the situation again.
Orangutans are going extinct because their homes have been destroyed to make palm oil. Palm oil is in many products, and buying items containing palm oil is supporting the organisations who are destroying the orangutan's homes.
And yet it is not so easy to shop palm oil free - you can't just scan the label, read the ingredients. Why? Because manufacturers who use palm oil usually list it as vegetable oil.
Click here for a list of palm oil free products. Click here for a free fold up wallet card that tells you all the names palm oil is labelled under.
Now you know. Now you can change it.
Don't turn your back on the survival of orangutans. They are our cousins. Say no to palm oil and guarantee them a better future.

Thank you.



Monday, October 3, 2011

World Food Clock

This clock shows how many animals have been slaughtered this year, month, day and how many are being slaughtered right now for food. It also shows how many crops are being harvested for food. My only problem with this clock, apart from the actual statistics, is the spelling mistake on "vegetables".
But apart from that - I think this is very interesting. 
Visit http://www.poodwaddle.com/  for more free gadgets.



 



And yet with all that food, we can't feed the whole world? Yeah, right.

World MSA Day

Today is World MSA Day, and to recognise this I am going to post some facts about Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).
MSA affects many parts of the brain. This means that it gets worse and worse, affecting more and more parts of the body. The symptoms become visible in adulthood. MSA can provoke Positional Tremors - tremors that only occur in certain positions - and Parkinsonism.
Parkinsonism, a group of symptoms most common in the Parkinsons Disease, includes stiffness, tremors and unbalanced motion.
At the moment there is no way of stopping or slowing the disease's spread. It will gradually spread through the brain, therefore restricting and immobilising more and more parts of the body.


For more information, click here: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/msa/msa.htm

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Welcome To October!

Did you know that October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
This month is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for finding a cure.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Australian women - it took up 27% of the female cancer diagnoses in 2007. In 2007, 12 567 Australian women were diagnosed with breast cancer. Almost 3000 of them died.
It is expected that in 2015 over 15 000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
1 in 9 Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer before they turn 85.
Symptoms include:

  • Dimpled breasts
  • Lumps in the chest area
  • Redness and swelling
  • Large underarm lumps
If you have one or more of these symptoms, SEE YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY.
Most breast lumps are benign, or non-cancerous, but it will put your mind to rest. In the case that there IS something there, it will be taken care of before it starts to get life-threatening.
Do it for your family - your children, parents, siblings, partner. And do it for yourself.
If you are a male with any of the symptoms listed above, see your doctor. It is uncommon, but breast cancer also threatens men. So SEE YOUR DOCTOR TODAY.

This month, donate money to a good cause. It is as simple as buying a Pink Ribbon Product. Or donating online today. 
You can make a difference.
You can save lives.

Visit the following websites for breast cancer information: