One bite at a time, and thats the idea behind Ideal Bite - tackling climate change one bite at a time. Straight forward suggestions we can all use, emailed daily. Nice. Here is what thier site says:

"Like most people, you probably lack the time and tools to make green-shopping decisions. There're simply not enough hours in the day as it is, never mind having to learn about which products are environmentally friendly — and which aren't. We can help. The Ideal Bite provides insight and inspiration, level-headed advice, and cool tools to take action for people like you -- who aspire to align their everyday actions with their personal values."

Small Changes . . . Done by Many . . . Create Big Results

Check it out - http://idealbite.com

There are lots of sites suggesting things you can do to improve the world you live in. Al Gore's successful movie, An Inconvenient Truth, has a web site with some basic common sense suggestions (US based of course). I though I should see how I rated based on that sites Take Action list. http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/whatyoucando/index.html

Well, how about that, some clever folk have produced a book called "Change the World (for ten bucks)". None of the ideas are rocket science, but as they note, if a few million people all did these things, it would make a difference. Looking through the list I have done 29 of the 50 suggestions already, and can see another 10 that would be easy to do, so it’s not like it’s difficult to achieve. If you only did 5 from the list I would suggest the following:

04 Take public transport when you can
17 Try watching less TV
21 Find out how your money is invested
32 Mend something rather than replace it
39 Shop locally (and buy local products!)

Check your own list at their Australian website. (Let’s hope those numbers increase!)

 The Big Issue is a great read. Apart from the obvious social benefits of helping the homeless help themselves, I find the articles are actually far more interesting than any other magazine I'm tempted to pickup as I wander around town. My favourite read is the "For The Record" section, which either makes me laugh out loud, or makes my blood boil, and sometimes both. If you want to get informed about local social issues, and do a good deed at the same time, buy a copy for yourself from your friendly vendor, and one to leave at work.

"The Big Issue is a fortnightly current affairs and entertainment magazine that is sold on the streets of towns and cities throughout Australia by people experiencing homelessness or long-term unemployment. Vendors keep half of the cover price ($4) of every magazine they sell. It is the magazine that helps people help themselves. It is also Australia's fastest growing magazine with readership now at 153,000 readers."

 

Be a vigilante Consumer. The largest companies in the world are responsible for much of the inequity we see and experience every day (and a good deal we are not aware of), and you and I literally buy into it every time we make a purchasing decision. The super rich are laughing all the way to the bank, because we let them get away with. Large corporations are not afraid of governments, they control them already. They are only afraid of one thing – consumer revolt! You can make a huge difference every time you spend your hard earned cash.

As you start reading the independent news and activism sites, and becoming more informed about important issues, you will become angry. And with good reason! There are the most terrible things being done here and around the world, sometimes right under our noses, because we are too bloody apathetic to even inform ourselves about them. The mainstream media certainly doesn’t want us to think about these issues, so you won’t hear about them there. Getting angry is only good if you can express that anger, and attending a rally, march or gathering is the perfect way to express that anger, always in a non-violent way of course. Remember, take notice, then take action. Marching with a group of people about an issue you feel strongly about is a liberating and soul restoring exercise, highly recommended. Another option is to addend a cultural awareness event, such as a multi-cultural festival.

 

Sometimes it’s hard to be active yourself, for lots of reasons. But there are lots of people out there fighting the good cause, so why not support them? For a very small financial commitment, you can help them to make a big difference. There is really no excuse not to. I know people who are really struggling financially, but they still contribute to these organisation, so if you have a full time job, you have absolutely no reason not to do so as well.

For too long we have be satisfied to be passive receivers of information, trusting to the mass media to deliver unbiased news and views of the world around us. With media ownership being compressed into a few ultra-influential hands, we have seen the death of independent unbiased media reporting. Their politically and financially motivated agendas are now disseminated out to the masses as unquestionable truths. Newspapers and magazines are almost controlled by a couple of mega-corporations, even the local rags. TV news and current affairs is likewise held in the strangle holds of these media moguls. There is an active campaign to eliminate the remaining TV bastions of unbiased reporting, the ABC and SBS. Only the internet remains a medium for true free speech, but watch out, they’ve got control of that in their sights too. [Attack on Indymedia]

We forget how lucky we are in this country. We do not see the real suffering of the third world, unless you travel there yourself, like I did in 2002. I was in India for a year, and it really changes your perspective on life. Desperate poverty afflicts over a third of the worlds population, predominantly in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Many children suffer from malnutrition due to food shortages, or diarrhoea through the lack of clean drinking water. AIDS is devastating many families, particularly in Africa, and education is basic as best. The children of these regions desperately need help. One child dies of diarrhoea every 15 seconds, and in Africa one child in three will loose their parents to AIDS. Sponsoring a child is such a simple thing we can do to help them.

The term Fair Trade or "Fairtrade" refers to an independently audited certification and labelling system for products, (certified products are labelled with the logo to the right) which ensures that the farmers and workers producing the product are paid a fair return for their work.

Fairtrade is about giving poor farmers and communities a fair go by:
* paying farmers and workers a fair price for their work
* helping them gain the skills and knowledge they need to develop their businesses in the global economy
* providing a certification and labelling system to ensure Fairtrade standards are met and that the benefits of Fairtrade get back to the farmer who grew the coffee

Fairtrade also means farmers and communities:
* using improved environmental methods for growing coffee
* establishing democratic associations or co-operatives to undertake local community development projects with the proceeds of Fairtrade resulting in local health services, credit schemes and improvements to local schools
* have access to low cost credit and technical assistance

[Source: Oxfam]