Generous Actions

Sign Avaaz.org's emergency 'Save the Bee' petition

2012-02-07T01:36:28-08:00

This is an urgent action being championed by Avaaz.org.

This is what Avaaz say (and we at Generous agree):

Silently, billions of bees are dying off and our entire food chain is in danger. Bees don’t just make honey, they are a giant, humble workforce, pollinating 90% of the plants we grow.

Multiple scientific studies blame one group of toxic pesticides for their rapid demise, and bee populations have soared in four European countries that have banned these products. But powerful chemical companies are lobbying hard to keep selling this poison. Our best chance to save bees now is to push the US and EU to join the ban — their action is critical and will have a ripple effect on the rest of the world.

We have no time to lose – the debate is raging about what to do. This is not just about saving bumble bees, this is about survival. Let’s build a giant global buzz calling for the EU and US to outlaw these killer chemicals and save our bees and our food. Sign the emergency petition now, and send it on to everyone and Avaaz will deliver it to key decision makers.

pWe need to make our voices heard to counter Bayer’s very strong influence on policy makers and scientists in both the US and the EU where they fund the studies and sit on policy bodies. The real experts – the beekeepers and farmers – want these deadly pesticides prohibited until and unless we have solid, independent studies that show they are safe. Let’s support them now. Sign the petition.

More information and links

Bee decline could be down to chemical cocktail interfering with brains
Bee briefing
$15 Billion Bee Murder Mystery Deepens
EPA memo reveals concern that pesticide causes bee deaths
Beekeepers want government to pull pesticide
British Beekeepers’ Association to stop endorsing bee-killing pesticides
Pesticide industry involvement in EU risk assessment puts survival of bees at stake

Drive five miles less a week

2011-10-22T09:54:20-07:00

ActOnCO2 is encouraging us to reduce the distance we drive by just five miles a week.

With more than half of all car trips being five miles or less, and with those journeys accounting for approximately a fifth of household car CO2 emissions, then it seems like a good move. Especially when they estimate that collectively we could save around 2.70 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

For more on this action and how to achieve it, click here.

Flickr photosource – thanks rahook2000

Turn your thermostat down by one degree

2010-12-03T03:21:52-08:00

We’ve had this action buried in amongst lists as part of other actions for years. But now it’s time for it to become an action in its own right! Because it’s easy. And it’s_ that_ important. It will save you money and reduce your carbon emissions in one fell swoop.

So go on, just ease it down by one degree. You’d be amazed at how little difference it makes to your comfort and much difference it makes to your pocket and the planet.

Flickr photosource – thanks Garrettc

Look after the birds in your garden

2010-12-03T03:04:30-08:00

To encourage the survival of our birds, you should provide food like meal worms, fat-balls, crushed peanuts, dried fruit, seeds and grain to compensate for birds’ natural food which is covered in snow and ice and impossible to get to.

Leftovers like grated cheese, porridge oats, soft fruit, unsalted bacon, cooked rice, pasta and the insides of cooked potatoes are also a good source of energy for garden birds, and water for both drinking and bathing is vital.

Click here for more advice from the RSPB and here for what birds to look out for in your garden in the really icy weather!

Flickr photosource – thanks tony_s2008

Join the Great British Elm Experiment

2010-11-17T05:16:04-08:00

Join The Great British Elm Experiment and become an ‘elm guardian’.

Fifty years after Dutch elm disease wiped out over 25 million trees in the UK, The Conservation Foundation is trying to unlock the mystery of why some trees survived … with the hope that a new generation of elms will become established for a future generation to enjoy.

And now, in collaboration with The Conservation Foundation, Trees Direct are offering native elm saplings for sale as part of the Great British Elm Experiment.

When you purchase a native elm sapling, you’ll be asked to register your tree on the Foundation’s ‘elm map’ and to regularly update its progress.

These young elms also a great gift for a special occasion – even for Christmas.

For more, go here.

Thanks to Generous member Huw Spanner for suggesting this action.

Volunteer with the homeless this Christmas

2011-11-01T09:30:51-07:00

Crisis, the UK charity for single homeless people, opens nine centres in Londons (zones 1-3) over the Christmas period. It’s a massive volunteering opportunity and they need over 8,000 volunteers in London alone! Click here to find out more about volunteering with Crisis.

But it’s not just London. Every big town has them: projects providing food and shelter for the homeless. These ventures need all the volunteer help they can get. So why not enrol with one in your area and get stuck in? The difference that such projects make to the lives of those sleeping rough, or in the community but not quite of it, is immeasurable.

If you want some more links to Christmas volunteering option that will help the homeless around the UK, click here.

Timebank are a UK Charity dedicated to volunteering. Just type in your postcode and find out what opportunities there are in your neck of the woods.
click here

PLEASE NOTE: GENEROUS DOES NOT RUN VOLUNTEER PROGRAMMES, so please don’t email us, check out Timebank!

Save our Forests

2011-02-04T13:10:50-08:00

Please follow this link below in order to petition against the government selling off our forests to private companies. And click the ‘count me in’ link to the right too, so we know you’ve gone Generous. Thanks.

The government is preparing plans to sell off more than half of our national forests to private firms. This could mean ancient woodlands are chopped down and ruined and woodland wildlife would have to make way for holiday villages, golf courses and commercial logging. This feels like yet another initiative to bring in cash to reduce the deficit, but such short-term actions have extremely significant negative consequences.

Ancient forests like The Forest of Dean and Sherwood Forest are national treasures. Once they are gone, they will be lost forever. Twenty years on, we will no longer remember the rationale for such actions and yet a major piece of our environmental heritage will have disappeared.

Bake cakes and not the planet

2010-10-15T05:27:25-07:00

Dust off your baking trays and put on your oven gloves and wow your friends and colleagues with your secret baking skills. Greenpeace will send you their own little recipe book and give you some handy fundraising ideas to get you started.

Suggested dates for your fundraiser:
23rd – 31st October – it’s national baking week; the perfect time to get baking for Greenpeace!

Friday pie-day – any Friday can be pie-day just pick one that’s best for you and your friends or colleagues.

All money you raise will help keep Greenpeace in action protecting the world we all love. Whether we’re persuading governments and companies to Go Beyond Oil or protecting ancient forests in Indonesia and the Amazon from being needlessly destroyed you can be sure that your Flour Power fundraiser will make a big, big difference.

So, go on, take the whisk and sign up here www.greenpeace.org.uk/what-you-can-do/flour-power

Together we’ll bake cakes, not the planet!

Wash cool

2010-11-22T04:18:34-08:00

Modern detergents mean you can set your washing machine to 30°C and still get great, clean clothes.

A cooler setting makes a big difference as its the machine that heats up the water for the wash – it doesn’t draw hot water from your gas boiler system. So you’ll not only be saving on your CO2 emissions by lowering your electricity consumption, you’ll be saving yourself some cash, too. In fact, the stats show that a 90°C boil wash can use up almost four times as much electricity as a 40°C wash.

Did you know that the average British family does 274 loads of washing a year and that this emits about 130kg of CO2 in the process. You do the maths. The potential savings – to your wallet and to the environment – are huge!

Flickr photosource – thanks ximenacab

Donate a Scrap Car to Charity

2010-11-08T10:20:54-08:00

If your car has had it, instead of selling it for scrap, make a lasting difference to the charity of your choice by donating your car today through Giveacar – a company offering a very simple, free service to scrap your car for you.

You may not realise it, but every car has a value, whether it’s roadworthy or only good for scrap metal. And Giveacar UK is a voluntary, not-for-profit venture that allows you to donate your old car to charity.

For more information about the Giveacar scheme, click here.

Flickr photoscource – thanks whatmeworry101

Festival and picnic generously

2010-05-27T03:19:38-07:00

Lots of you will find yourself at a festival this summer. Even if you didn’t plan to be at one you may still find yourself in the middle of one by accident there are so many. Many more of you will be picnicking this summer at some stage. The great outdoors beckons us to come and party and eat in its embrace.

From a Generous perspective, think about the footprint you leave behind – because the impact of festivaling and picnicking on the environment can be pretty horrid. But if we all do out bit to take our rubbish home with us, recycle everything we can and generally leave Mother Nature in the verdant state we found her, we can enjoy earth’s goodness with a clearer conscience.

Try and support festivals doing their best to reduce their corporate footprint (here were the top 10 as identified in the Guardian last year) and try not to take too much plastic packaging with you when you picnic. (Here’s a great supplier site that might help.)

Commit to this action here.

(Photo credit: Matt Burgess, Greenbelt Festival, 2009)

Watch the World Cup generously

2010-05-30T09:15:23-07:00

It’s almost here. Four weeks of agony as we manage and massage our disappointment about how England tend to fare in a major footballing championships.

According to most pundits, though, this time it could all be different …

But just in case it’s not, you can make the World Cup different yourself, Generous-style, by always:

getting together with others to watch it
inviting in those on the fringes to share the agony with you
and, of course, making sure you switch the set right off (not just to standby) after extra time and penalties.

Commit to having a Generous World Cup 2010 here.

Opt-out of receiving phone directories

2010-10-17T14:39:04-07:00

Don’t let a copy of the Yellow Pages sit gathering dust on your doorstep. If, like many, you look up everything online now, why not put a stop to having the Yellow Pages delivered to your home all together? Just think of the paper and energy costs that would be saved if loads of us did it.

One of our Generous members, Drew, caused a twitter-storm when he tweeted this suggestion (around 140 people have retweeted it) and he then posted it – along with Frances Berriman too – as a possible Generous action. We like it. So here it is.

Opt out of receiving a paper copy of the Yellow Pages and save the paper and associated printing and transportation waste.

It’s easy: Yellow Pages have a UK free phone number to call to opt out on 0800 671 444.

Again, thanks to Drew and Frances for this suggestion.

Flickr photosource – thanks metrostation

Become a micro-financier

2012-01-31T08:01:36-08:00

Micro-finance schemes connect you directly with people in developing economies who have great ideas and big ambitions but lack the capital they need to get their small businesses up and running.

One such scheme is Kiva. It’s the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website and its mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. You would do well to begin your lending as a micro-financier through Kiva.

You can read more about how microfinance works here.

Hold off on the heating

2010-10-06T03:04:46-07:00

We’re not encouraging acts of masochism, but you might like to set yourself a sort of ambitious-ish target date before which you want to try and cope this autumn without the central heating.

Last year people were vying with each other as to who was the latest to switch on their central heating. (Remember last winter? it was cold and frosty and it snowed lots.) One Generous soul claimed he’d held off until 5 December! Let’s see how we all do this year.

Join the fray and comment below this action when you sign up to it. Let’s see who can go the longest. Not that Generous is about competition, you understand!