Build 1 Well.

One of the great things about Kiva, Prosper, and Donors Choose is that donors get to select the projects they fund. Giving is much more personal when you know the recipient of your gift and how it will be used. 1 Well has taken this concept and combined it with giving teams in a whole new way.

1 Well is a nonprofit that connects “socially conscious individuals, groups, and businesses” with residents of “communities in high need areas of the world” to “partner to build critical life-sustaining projects – wells, toilets, childcare centers, etc – that meet the basic needs of poor communities and give them the opportunity to work for a living wage.” For example:

* A 1Well project in Vachharajpur, India, provided clean drinking water for more than 550 villagers. Women have started small businesses because they no longer walk five hours a day to collect potable water.

* Another 1Well project in Sedla, India, provided irrigation water for more than 100 farming families, improving the quality and quantity of their crops, reducing their costs by 75 percent and providing jobs for those who would otherwise migrate in search of work.

Isn’t that a great way to make a difference? If you think so, then you can take financial responsibility for a 1 Well project 1 Well project. Sign up to be the social venture capitalist for a project that will raise $2,900 for a solar lantern manufacturing and repair facility in Haji Bhachudiwandh, Gujarat, India. Or manage the effort to raise $1,000 to build a classroom in Ica City, Ica, Peru.

You can sell baked goods, organize a road race, host a silent auction, or use other activities to raise money for the project you are sponsoring. When the project is complete, you’ll know you played a key role in making it happen.

So visit 1well.org, select the project you want to fund, then choose the methods you will use to raise money for it. Your efforts will make a difference for years to come. (Thanks to Frank for the tip!)

"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit.” - Benjamin Jowett, 1817-1893

Join the So What Can I Do Kiva Team.

Kiva, one of my favorite microloan agencies now has Team Lending. When you join the So What Can I Do Kiva Team you join other readers who understand the microloans are an important tool in sustainable development. You can make a loan for as little as $25, and together we'll make a big difference.

"Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right." -Carl Schurz, revolutionary, statesman and reformer (1829-1906)

Eat less meat, or none at all.

In my last post I promised to share a small change my family has made to improve our health - we limit our meat consumption. Although meat can be part of a healthy diet, there are many reasons to eat less meat. Here are just a few:

* Health - This was the primary reason I stopped eating mammals since I have a family history of colon cancer. Heavy meat diets are correlated in increased incidence of cancer, stroke, heart disease, and other ailments. On the other hand, plant-based diets are protective and help prevent many of these same ailments. And when you eat lower on the food chain, you're less likely to accumulate environmental toxins in your body.

* Cost - Meat can be expensive, especially when compared to plant-based protein sources like beans. And often meat isn't even necessary - try a loaded vegetarian pizza and you won't even miss the meat. And when you really want to have meat, don't make it the main attraction. Instead incorporate it into soups, stir-frys or casseroles. It's a great way to stretch your meat purchase and save some money.

* Environment - Did you know that livestock are responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions? That's more than cars, trucks, planes, and other forms of transportation combined. And consider the resources it takes to get meat to your table. For example, it takes 2,400 gallons of water and 7 pounds of grain to produces 1 pound of feedlot beef. The average American consumes 97 pounds of beef per year (273 pounds of meat overall per year), so that's a big impact. The numbers are similar for other kinds of meat. And we haven't yet considered the pollution caused by animal waste, processing and transporting meat, etc.

* Animals - I must say, I'd be likely to eat more meat if it were raised in a healthy and sustainable way. Industrial farming practices leave a lot to be desired not only for the people who consume the animal but for the animals themselves. And we have to wonder why most of us wouldn't dream of eating some animals (cats, dogs, parrots, etc.) but are happy to eat others (cows, pigs, chickens). What's the difference? Also, a move from industrial farming which uses loads of antibiotics may help reduce antibiotic resistance.

Now I'm the first to admit that I still eat meat, but it's a lot less than I used to eat. I also recognize that because of supermarket redlining not everyone has access to healthy, fresh foods. That said, one of the easiest things to do is just reduce your meat intake. Instead of two servings of meat, just have one (or none) and an extra helping of veggies, beans, or other non meat items. Increase your the amount of fiber you eat for a full feeling and better digestion. Whole grains are a great way to do that. You may want to check out some of the many vegetarian recipes that are out there. Many of them are so good, you won't miss the meat at all.

Here's to healthy living, for us, for the animals, and for the planet!

"The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." - Frederick Douglass (1817? - 1895)

Support US microloans and microlending.

Regular readers know that I am a big supporter of mircoloans. There are many benefits of mircolending and though much of the press is about microloans availability outside of the United States, microloans are also available in the US. Here are just a few organizations to consider:

* Grameen America "is a microcredit lender whose mission is to help entrepreneurial individuals, especially women, build credit and defeat poverty." This is a subsidiary of Nobel Larueate Mohammed Yunus' Grameen Bank which really popularized microlending. They are "Bankers for the Unbanked."

* Accion USA makes loans to small business people of up to $25,000 and provides financial literacy education.

* Prosper is a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending agency where almost anyone can request a loan that almost anyone can fund.

* LendingClub is also a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending agency. Again, almost anyone can lend or borrow.

* Virginmoneyus.com is another P2P agency that facilitates lending between family and friends. The loans can be for business, real estate, or personal purposes.

Note that only Grameen and Accion are dedicated to reducing poverty and are purposefully designed to raise standards of living. If you are a borrower, compare your options to see which plan will work best for you. If you are lender, consider your needs: Do you want to make a donation or would you prefer to be paid back? Would you like to earn interest? Do you want to choose who you lend to? Consider the options, then choose the organization that works best for you.

With all these options and ethical goals, maybe Shakespeare's Lord Polonius was wrong when he said "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."

"Never mistake motion for action." - Ernest Hemingway

Choose Eco-Palms.

For Christians, this Sunday, March 16, marks the beginning of Holy Week. It will be Palm Sunday, my friend Mawunyo's favorite Sunday. When I was growing up, my church, St. Andrew AME, always had palms for all the parishioners on Palm Sunday (Thanks Rev. Lamb!). I remember those spring days now at Mt. Zion AME where I'll wave my palm high this Sunday (Thanks Pastor Cox!) Unfortunately, those palms were not likely grown or harvested in socially and environmentally sustainable ways. Thankfully, now there are Eco-Palms!

Usually people who cut the palms are paid by volume, so harvesters gather as much at possible without paying much attention to quality. Consequently over 50% of the fronds are discarded, which is bad for the forests and the people and animals that depend on them. Eco-Palms are harvested in a more sustainable way. "Harvesters are paid on the quality of the palms they harvest rather than the quantity, which helps to limit the amount of palms taken from the forest. These communities have taken upon themselves to learn about harvesting practices that minimize impact on the natural forest where the palm grows, and ways to protect this wild species of palm." Using Eco-Palm methods only only 5-7% of the harvested palms have to be discarded. The program also eliminates middlemen for sorting and packing. Instead, community member do the work themselves ensuring a higher wage, and improving their standard of living.

Ready to order? Here's the info you need:

University of MN, Eco-Palms
Attn: RaeLynn Jones Loss
1530 Cleveland Ave N
115 Green Hall
St. Paul, MN 55108
Tel: 612-624-7418
Fax: 612-625-5212
ecopalms@umn.edu

Your church can even order now for Palm Sunday 2009. Just download the 2009 Eco-Palms Order Form and email or fax it in. The 2008 cost is $47.50 for 200 fronds compared to $21 to $23 for common palms.

Each year 300 million palm fronds are harvested each year just for the U.S. consumption, most of them for Palm Sunday. Make sure your congregation chooses palms that reflect your faith. And of course, Eco-Palms are are great for florists too. Check out these articles for more.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it, and happy Spring to everyone!

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Get the Good Stuff.

The folks at the Worldwatch Institute are all about social justice and environmental sustainability, and all the ways those concepts are connected. They, along with nine partner organizations put together a guide to help us all make responsible purchasing choices. You can download Good Stuff? A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy for free online. What a service!

Just check out www.worldwatch.org/pubs/goodstuff/ to get the skinny on the social and environmental impacts of the production, use and disposal of 25 common items, from chocolate to CDs. You may be surprised at what you learn. For example, once you know how much energy regular light bulbs waste, you may want to switch to CFLs. And when you find out what goes into chocolate production, fair trade chocolate sounds a whole lot sweeter.

So visit Worldwatch and download your free guide to today. Then read it and use it to make responsible purchasing decisions that will not only improve your life but will make a positive difference in our world.

"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place." - Zora Neale Hurston

Play. Pump.

That's all folks will have to do to have clean water when you support PlayPumps. Did you know that

* Unsafe water and lack of sanitation is now the single largest cause of illness worldwide.
* More than one billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water.
* 40 billion hours are lost annually to hauling water, a chore primarily undertaken by women and girls.

PlayPumps is working to change all that. Theirs is an innovative and sustainable system that pumps water using the energy of children at play on an associated PlayPump merry-go-round. What a neat idea! This nonprofit organization installs pumps (and merry-go-rounds!) all over the world helping people have clean water.

Won't you support their work? It's so easy to make a long-lasting difference. Remember, we all need water.

"We are never more discontented with others than when we are discontented
with ourselves." -Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (1821-1881)

Celebrate Kwanzaa: Ujamaa.

On this, the fourth day of Kwanzaa, we focus on ujamaa (cooperative economics) and "build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and profit from them together."

So what can I do lists numerous ways we can promote economic progress and economic justice. Here are just a few suggestions:

* Pay off your debts and use the money you save to improve the economic situation of your family and your community.
* Buy local to support businesses in your community. They provide jobs, resources and products for you and your family.
* Barter for goods and services and save your cash for when you really need it.
* Fund microloans that will enable folks in the US and abroad improve their economic situation.

As humans, we are all members of that first African Diaspora. And accordingly, the principles of Kwanzaa apply to us all. Manifest the Kwanzaa principles today, this week, and all year long.

"I went in through the doors of the treasury of wisdom, and I drew for myself the waters of understanding. I went into the blaze of the sun’s flame and it lighted me with its splendor, and I made of it a shield for myself." - Makeda, Queen of Sheba

Sponsor a business.

Last year's post on microloans is one of my most popular. Now Kiva offers a new way to make a microloan. When you fund a microloan through Kiva, you get your money back:

"Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on our website and then lending money online to that enterprise, you can 'sponsor a business' and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive monthly email updates that let you know about the progress being made by the small business you've sponsored. These updates include reports on loan repayment progress, photos of new capital equipment, narratives on business growth and standard of living improvements, and more. As loans are repaid, you will get your original loan money back."

Your money will go far in the countries where Kiva works, so it's easy to make a big difference in a family's life with a relatively small amount of money. You can start with as little as $25. The money is used to start a small business, like a barber shop, vegetable stand, restaurant or cell phone rental. Such business create a sustainable change in the family economy and allow the family be economically independent. Funding a microloan is just one more step toward economic justice.

You could even fund this person:


The International Year of Microcredit is almost over. So check out Kiva or another microcredit agency today!

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Norman MacEwan

Give 1% for the planet.

Some smart and savvy folks started a drive called 1% For The Planet. 1%FTP has identified hundreds of worthy non-profit organizations that focus on the environment in numerous ways: sustainable development, environmental justice, education, conservation, and more.

Members of the 1% Alliance donate a portion of their profits to organizations to work to "create a healthier planet. Members recognize their responsibility to and dependence on a healthy environment and donate at least 1% of their annual net revenues to environmental organizations worldwide."

Here's how you can get involved:

* If you are a business owner, sign up to be a member of the 1% alliance. It's good business, responsible behavior, and the right thing to do. Plus, it builds trust, respect and loyalty with your customers.

* Shop with members of 1% Alliance. That way, you'll get the goods and services you need, and know that 1% of the profits generated from your purchase will go to a good cause.

* Write the businesses you patronize and ask them to join the 1% Alliance. They may even let you help choose the organizations they support. For example, GreenKarat asked and I answered. In this way you can help ensure that your priorities are recognized by the companies you do business with.

* Donate 1% or more of your time, money, or other resources to an environmental organization whose work you respect. Encourage others to do the same. I especially like MedShare International.

This is a great way to make sure your money supports the causes your believe in. Imagine that changes that would result if everyone gave 1%!

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children." - Native American proverb

Promote sustainable development.

I've written about sustainable development before, mostly in the context of Heifer International and microcredit. But there's are many more ways you can support and promote sustainable development. Here are just a few:

* Learn more about sustainable development at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a research organization, and at the United Nations Division of Sustainable Development.

* Visit The Sustainable Village and get involved in their work on microenterprise, renewable energy, product development and more.

* Support organizations that provide microcredit, sustainable food and other resources and opportunities.

* Wage peace.

Sustainable development goes beyond the popular metaphor: "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever." Sustainable development makes sure the river is unpolluted and can support a long-standing population of fish. It ensures that all people in the community have access to the fish and have the skills and equipment necessary to do the fishing. It may even develop strategies that allow folks to sell fish to people who don't live by the river thereby improving the lives of the seller and buyer. That's why I support sustainable development.

"If we did a better job of managing our resources sustainably, conflicts over them would be reduced. So, protecting the global environment is directly related to securing peace." - Prof. Wangari Maathai, Winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

Support sustainable development: Heifer International

Heifer International is one of my favorite organizations. Not only is it based in my hometown (Little Rock, Arkansas), but Heifer makes wonderful contributions to sustainable development. Heifer donates a wide variety of animals (and trees) to families around the world. Recipients use the animals to improve their standard of living. For example, water buffalo can help a family in Nepal plow their land to grow more food. Goats can provide meat and milk for a Romanian family, improving their diet. A family in Ecuador can eat and sell eggs and meat from Heifer ducks, and generate money for school fees. One requirement is that recipients 'pass the gift" by donating the the offspring of gift animals to others in need, making them equal partners with Heifer in the fight to end world hunger.

"So what can I do?"

* Send llamas to your lover, bees to your boss, geese to your grandma, or oxen to your uncle by donating online at www.heifer.org. You can even use the catalog to find the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for friend or colleague. Heifer animals are the perfect gift for the person who "has everything." 'Tis the season for giving!

* Visit Honduras, Tibet, South Africa and other places on a Heifer Study Tour. In the US, you can tour the Heifer Learning Centers. Learn how the animals benefit people and get more information on ways to end world hunger.

* Teachers, consider using Heifer's Read to Feed (www.readtofeed.org) service-learning materials in your lesson plans. Your students will discover more about the world and its people, see that they can make a real and positive difference in someone's life, and learn about poverty and environmental damage, all while improving their reading skills.

Visit www.heifer.org. You're sure to love the work they do.

Support science-based development initiatives

Many thanks to my friend and colleague for passing these sites along. He suggests that these are for "the biosci technogeeks in the crowd." I am proud to count myself among that group, but we can all use these sites. If we can't support this work in the lab or in the field, we can support it financially. So take a look at these sites that connect science, scientists and development, and spread the word to all the "biosci technogeeks" and other folks you know.

* The Sustainable Science Institute (http://www.ssilink.org/) is "a non-profit organization dedicated to improving public health worldwide, by helping scientists in developing countries gain access to the resources needed to address local problems related to infectious diseases." They offer training and consulting services, low-cost diagnostics developments and policy research.

* One World Health (http://www.oneworldhealth.org/) is a nonprofit pharmaceutical company. (I didn't know that was possible!) Interested people can donate research or intellectual property, or can volunteer their time, and expertise in bench research, bioethics, epidemiology, manufacturing, etc.

* The Science & Development Network (http://www.scidev.net/) is an online community dedicated to "news, views and information about science, technology and the developing world."

* The African Crop Improvement Network (http://www.africancrops.net/) is a project of the Rockefeller Foundation dedicated to implementing a program on genetic improvement and dissemination of new varieties of African food crops..

* The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (http://www.sbri.org/) is a non-profit research organization that focuses on infections diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

My dream is to have the work that I do to pay the bills, be the work that I would do for free. These organizations provide a way for service-minded life scientists to live that dream. Now let's get to work!

(Thanks Myron!)