Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.5.13

On Tuesday I set out on a pre-Christmas challenge — to post a tip a day we can collectively follow with the goal of making the world a better place. 

Since at least two researchers have learned that positive ideas have a greater effect on behavior than gloomy facts and figures, and that games work the best of all, I am starting off with some fun ideas. 

Today’s suggestion: Give a Kid A Toy

From the IKEA site

Through their annual Soft Toys for Education Campaign, the IKEA Foundation has already donated $51 million to UNICEF’s education programs for children in Africa and Asia, benefitting 10 million children in 46 countries.

Here’s how it works. For every soft toy or children’s book purchased online or in their stores between November 10th and  January 4th, IKEA will donate $1 to UNICEF and Save the Children. The donation will be spent on children’s educational projects in Africa, Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Check out all the soft toys here. 

If you feel like giving more toys than you have kids to give them to, buy lots of them and deposit them in the collection centers near the store exits. Each store will donate them to a worthy local cause. You’ll be giving twice — once in your neighborhood, and once far away.

That’s it for today. “See you tomorrow.”

“All together now,” as the Beatles optimistically sang. Let’s show the world how much good we can do over the next few weeks.

Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.4.13

Yesterday I set out on a pre-Christmas challenge — to post a tip a day we can collectively follow with the goal of making the world a better place. 

Since at least two researchers have learned that positive ideas have a greater effect on behavior than gloomy facts and figures, and that games work the best of all, I am starting off with a fun idea. 

Today’s suggestion: Repurpose Something. 

Perhaps you don’t really need a new table. Maybe all you need to do is to apply a coat of paint to the old one. 

Or, maybe you have several different items that you can put together to become something else. Check out this site for ideas. 

Or, suppose you have some vintage salvaged parts just crying out to be transformed into a unique gift.

Can you guess what these candlesticks once were?

Or, let’s say your bureau is stuffed with ugly Christmas sweaters and you don’t know what to do with them. I have the answer. Over Thanksgiving I learned about the latest craze among the under 30s — Swantsing. In the words of Swants creator Stephen West, “The time has come for Swants aka Sweater Pants! Your booty deserves to be just as warm as your torso.” Curious? Read more here or watch the video below.

Pictured below are my niece Sophie, a college sophomore, and her friend transforming a pair of wild and crazy sweaters into Swants. Don’t they look comfy?

Photo by Ted Randolph

If you are not daring enough to give Swantsing a try, empty your bureau anyway. Give your sweaters to a young person you know or donate them to the local thrift shop. They’ll be scooped up in no time. 

That’s it for today. “See you tomorrow.”

“All together now,” as the Beatles once sang. Let’s see how much good we can do over the next few weeks.

Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.3.13

Last week BBC News published the first results from a year-long project launched at London’s Science Museum in March, 2013. The study found that people were more likely to take positive steps towards reducing climate change when presented with action steps in game form rather than in the midst of a deluge of gloomy facts and figures. 

Project consultant Paula Owen created a series of modified games for the exhibit, including “Play Your Eco-Cards Right” and “Eco-Snakes and Ladders.” She found that over 50% of the players pledged to make changes in their behavior in order to improve the environment. Owen hopes to broaden the reach of the project throughout Great Britain with a free games app and “behavioral change tool” to be released soon. 

Owen’s results confirms the findings of Gregory Norris, lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health and founder of Handprints, which was number 3 on Time’s 2012 list of “10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life.” Norris had discovered that after calculating their carbon footprints his students often expressed the opinion that the planet would be better off if they had not been born. They were simply overwhelmed by too much bad news. You can read the full article here. 

Norris determined that what was missing was the notion that each person CAN make a positive contribution to the planet. To make these benefits as tangible as footprints, Norris developed the concept of “Handprints,” and set up a website handprinter.org with an app in beta which lets you calculate your handprint and pledge ways you intend to enlarge it. [While you want your footprint to get smaller, you want your handprint to grow.] You then share the action through your social media network. As friends make the same pledge, your handprint increases.

Time interviewed cognitive scientist Elke Weber about the concept. Weber feels that the handprint might remedy the difficulty many people have in moving from awareness of global warming to taking action to bring about change. “If we have a positive goal in mind that we can take small, manageable steps toward, we feel good —and are more likely to keep going. Step by step by hand.”

Naysayers may say it’s too late to do anything. But even they would agree that such actions can’t hurt.

Follow me from now until the holidays. My goal is to share one easily-accomplished idea a day. 

Today’s suggestion: Participate in #GivingTuesday™, “a campaign to create a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season. It celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations.” Make a financial gift, or commit your time and talent to a favorite cause. 

“All together now,” as the Beatles optimistically sang. Let’s show the world how much good we can do over the next few weeks.