Choose to opt-out of the consumerism of the holiday season by supporting a good cause.

Instead of shopping at the mall this holiday season, use your dollars to support a good cause in the names of your giftees. It’s the thought that counts, right? So, make it really count by supporting a good cause that you most identify with, or to try to match up your gift list with a good cause that they can support.

A note: Don’t just take our word for it. Whenever choosing a charity,  make sure to visit Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, or other charity rating sites for the low-down before donating to your good cause.

1. Nothing But Nets – Support this global grassroots campaign to fight malaria, a leading cause of death among children in many parts of the world. The group’s goal is to distribute as many mosquito nets as possible in the fight to stop malaria deaths.
2. Kiva –  Kiva is a micro-lending nonprofit with a mission of connecting people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the power of the Internet, Kiva connects individuals with the ability to lend (as little as $25) to help support and create entrepreneurial opportunities around the world.
3. Planned Parenthood – Planned Parenthood provides reproductive health care, sex education, and information for women and men worldwide. Its work promotes a commonsense approach to women’s health and well-being, based on respect for each individual’s right to make informed, independent decisions about health, sex, and family planning.
4. Starkey Hearing Foundation – The Starkey Hearing Foundation provides support to children and adults around the world who have disabling hearing loss (according to the World Health Organization, that accounts for more than 360 million people worldwide). The Starkey Hearing Foundation has worldwide initiatives to help people afford hearing aids and get access to the care they need.
5. Heifer International – Heifer International’s mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the environment in a sustainable manner. It  empowers communities and bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with long histories of poverty.
6. National Public Radio – Support the non-commercial news and programming of public radio by donating to your local NPR station. Donations by individuals account for the largest share of NPR’s revenues–as much as 34 percent in 2013.
7. Meals on Wheels – Meals on Wheels provides both meals and company to seniors and others who may have lost mobility as a result of age or illness. Nationally, Meals on Wheels provides over 2.5 meals for seniors. You can choose to give to the national organization, Meals on Wheels America, or support a local provider of meals for direct impact in your community.
8. Highland Titles – Support land conservation in Scotland and give the gift of the title of “Lady” or “Laird” with a donation to the Highland Titles. The motto is “conserving Scotland one square mile at a time.”
9. Feeding America – Help stamp out hunger in America by supporting Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks and the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Feeding America serves over 46 million people annually with local food programs.
10. Farm Sanctuary – Finally, Farm Sanctuary’s mission is to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.

Related on EcoSalon

The post Choose a Good Cause to Support as a Gift Alternative This Holiday Season appeared first on EcoSalon.

Some people really are amazing. What would you do if given $25,000 to live your dream? Would you go to the Philippines and help hurricane victims? This filmmaker did just that with money granted to make a promo video for “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and it’s, well, just watch how he defines “living the dream.”

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Related on EcoSalon

Hollywood Philanthropist Sam Simon Dedicates Fortune to Charity

Summer Rayne Oakes and the Uniform Project Pair Up for Charity

Embedded Charity Is Where It’s at with 5 Gifts That Give Back

The post Making S%*t Happen and Living the Dream with $25,000 [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

The Simpson’s co-creator, Sam Simon, is leaving his fortune to help animals, the hungry, and sea conservation, among others.

A few years ago, I rang in a birthday at a Hollywood dive. In keeping with the bar’s 1970s wood paneling and ironworks scrolling, the atmosphere was set to “hipster dim.” This meant that if you squinted a lot, you could make out the ironic sunbonnet on the girl next to you. Soon my friend Ron showed up with his buddy, Sam. Sam and I squinted at each other, and he offered to buy me a birthday drink. We shared some booze, after which I wandered off to greet my other guests and continue my yearly homage to the Birthday Girl Who Drank…Too Much.

I didn’t think of Sam Simon again until the end of the night, when I slouched over to settle the bill. This is when I found out that he had not only bought me a drink—Sam had paid my tab, plus the tabs of all my guests. I was completely floored. I’d already put in a few years as a writer’s assistant in Hollywood, so I knew that random acts of altruism were about as common as a discreetly shy reality star.

I went rushing around the bar to thank him, but he had already left the hipster gloom for greener pastures and better lighting. I never got to thank him personally for his generosity. Also, I’ve never forgotten it.

I felt that same rush of good will when I read the headlines last week, such as “Simpsons Co-Creator Sam Simon Donating Fortune to Charity…” But when the lead was followed by “….While Battling Terminal Cancer,” I was sadder than I had any real right to be. I’m not part of Sam’s cadre of friends, but I can attest that he’s a stand-up guy who kept a bunch of baby writers in drinks one night. Despite being cruelly subjected to Hollywood hipsters and eye strain.

Professionally, Simon collects accolades like most people collect plastic shopping bags. Getting his start on Taxi in the early 1980s, he rose to showrunner at age 24 before moving on to iconic shows like Cheers and The Tracey Ullman Show. He went on to become the co-creator of ridiculously long-running and successful live-action animated empire, The Simpsons. Winner of nine Emmys, he’s spent the past two decade working on The Drew Carey Show and lately, executive producing FX’s Anger Management.

Like all good emperors of comedy, Simon has made a lot of cash over the years, earning some tens of millions each year from The Simpsons alone. But instead of sitting back and buying gold-plated toilets a la Kardashian, he poured his money into charity. The Sam Simon Foundation, which The Hollywood Reporter shares, had a net worth of $23 million in 2011, works to feed the homeless while supporting stray dogs.

Among other good deeds, the Foundation trains rescue dogs to become service animals for veterans and hearing aides for the deaf. Simon has also been a major contributor over the years to PETA and Save the Children. He has given so much to the marine Sea Shepard Conservation Society that they named a ship after him in 2012, the SSS Sam Simon.

But what makes Simon different from the one-percenters who don’t give away their fortunes? Sure, others are likewise generous. There’s JK Rowling, whose charitable giving knocked her off the Forbes’ billionaire list last year.  There’s the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has given $26.1 billion in grants since its inception. Many believe such great wealth demands repayment to society, that if you “can” you “should.” But let’s face it, many people “don’t.” So what is it about mega-donors like Simon which makes them different from their wealthy counterparts?

Perhaps the reason is really just simple altruism, which some people hold more abundantly than others. “The truth is, I have more money than I’m interested in spending,” Simon told THR. “Everyone in my family is taken care of. And I enjoy this….I don’t feel like it’s an obligation.” In fact, Simon’s charitable donations are so immense that Simon “doesn’t know” the number.

Still, when the philanthropist was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer five months ago, 58 year-old Simon decided to step up his charity game. As he told THR, “The Sam Simon Foundation is going to be very well endowed, and there’s a lot of stuff I want them to do.” Which is, of course, an incredible act of generosity. Simon is enacting this dream at the end of his life on a grand scale, but he was a humanitarian long before he was faced with devastating illness. Dying hasn’t made him this way—living has. So in the spirit of his generosity, we can acknowledge our own efforts to bring change into the world.

Sure, most of us can’t donate on the scale of a Hollywood comedy legend. But in the end, whether we’re sending of $25 or $25 million to our favorite political action group or charity, we’re still doing what we can. CNN Money notes that September 11th charities raised $1.88 billion through public appeal. Further, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami raised $2 billion, while Hurricane Katrina efforts brought in $3 billion.  Turns out, we all like to give, and we don’t need a legacy behind us to do it.

Ultimately, Simon and others like him are an inspiration and reminder for the rest of us to do more because, in the end, we can, too. We can volunteer. We can donate what we can. We can take action. Even if it means buying a round of drinks for a virtual stranger and her friends with no other agenda than being kind.

For more information on The Sam Simon Foundation, click here or follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Photo Courtesy of Sam Simon/Twitter
photo credit: NYCMarines via photopin cc

For further reading:

Hollywood Opens Its Wallet for People and Planet

Hand on Philanthropic Action: Building Schools in Ethiopia with Imagine1Day

The post Hollywood Philanthropist Sam Simon Dedicates Fortune to Charity appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best of EcoSalon’s stories this week.

The novel and the short story are two very different forms of literature. Scott Adelson challenges himself – and us – to learn the latter.

Californian artist Annie Voight hates how the waning popularity of handwritten letters is hastening the disappearance of handwriting. (Yes, really). Her response? To painstakingly cut the words out of her correspondences with a knife and make art with them. You can see the amazing results here.

Imagine Ethiopia is on a mission to charitably bring education to where it’s needed, and they’re looking for talented, hard-working volunteers to spread the word about their efforts to build schools in Ethiopia. (For equally good works, check out Passports with Purpose).

Kicking off a new series featuring remarkable women overcoming extraordinary challenges, we featured Mountain2Mountain founder Shannon Galpin, facing down fear with two wheels and a lot of grit.

Lastly, we’re not convinced gardens are best grown horizontally. Take a look at these 12 luscious vertical gardens and tell us if you feel the same way!

The post The Friday 5: Word Up Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

To you doers of good, we say thanks. You clean up after yourself. You say kind things in YouTube comments. Your DIY projects make killer Christmas presents, and you always know where to get the best arepas. But sometimes, we really wish that you’d give it a rest. Need us to get more specific?

7. The Advice-giver. In his mind, he’s the only person in the world with access to the internet. And it’s his responsibility to make sure that you know everything he does. He’s just trying to help, so why are you getting so defensive? His favorite response to any good news is “Actually, did you know [that can kill you and everyone you love]?” For example, you just posted a video from your phone of your baby taking his first step. He writes: “Actually, did you know that the radiation from cell phones are probably the leading cause of peanut allergies today? Just a thought before you point that death ray at your baby’s head.”

6. The Experimenter. If you can cleanse it, she’ll pour lemon juice on it. If she reads an article about the evils of shampoo (“My God, they put chemicals in it?”), she’ll dump every bottle she has and buy a lesser evil. A pair of $90 running shoes designed to mimic the experience of not wearing shoes? She wears them to the farmer’s market. She drank raw milk every day until she gave up dairy, and whether she’s Paleo or vegan, you can bet she’s going to tell you exactly what she had for lunch today, whether you asked her or not.

5. The Petitioner. Every Facebook status is a link to another atrocity you have to learn about right now, followed by an online petition that will halt said atrocity immediately by adding your name to an instantly-generated email that will be sent to your local state representative. “You guys really need to sign this, or else they’re going to close Planned Parenthood forever and replace it with farm factories staffed exclusively by violent police officers and plastic bags.” Her profile picture is lilac today, in a mark of protest against a recent crime against human rights, and if you don’t know what crime that is, you’re clearly part of the problem.

4. Gwyneth Paltrow. For cupping, for GOOP, for cheating on poor Matt Damon and then killing everyone in Contagion – take your pick.

3. The Label-Free. “I don’t think labels belong on people. I’m pansexual. But honestly, even think that term doesn’t really begin to capture my shimmering, omni-gendered nature. It’s such a shame that we have to use such limiting means of communication like language to express something as fluid and subversive as sexual orientation. I actually prefer to identify as a ball of glitter that pulses and contracts with the cycles of the moon. Or a dolphin made of teamwork. I haven’t decided. Oh, I own four pairs of custom-made fairy wings; why do you ask?”

2.The Fundraiser who Needs Fundraisers for Self-Worth.

“Don’t forget that my 10K/Ironman/cross-country bike trip to fight/raise awareness for/cure AIDs/breast cancer/global inequality/child slavery/non-GMO seed banks is next week!”

“Oh, can I not just write a check?”

“Can a check fill my Facebook Charity Walk 2011 album with 50 unique crowd shots? Can a check send me monthly emails thanking me for doing my part and reminding me that this year we’re going to exceed our goal and they couldn’t do it without me?”

“I guess I just don’t see how giving to charity and exercise are related, other than they both generally seem to be good things. You don’t do push-ups to resist global food distribution inequality or anything.”

“So are you going to donate or what? 50% of all donations will go to race-day expenses and staff salaries, but the rest directly funds life-saving research. And Cancer Awareness apparel. But 3% of all sales from the apparel goes back into the research fund! Which is evaluated and redistributed at the end of the year by a team of paid accountants.”

1. The Office Watchdog. We’re not sure who you are, because you seem to operate under the cover of darkness, but we see the trail you leave behind. The suspiciously chipper notes in the kitchen (“PLEASE BE SURE TO WASH ALL DISHES AS SOON AS YOU’RE DONE USING THEM – THANKS!!!!” and “DO NOT PUT FOIL IN THE COMPOST BIN; SOME OF US HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT AND CHECK FOR NON-BIODEGRADABLE ITEMS :)”) belie an undercurrent of rage and bile so potent it nearly chokes you. Please seek help.

Image: Fanpop

The post The 7 Do-Gooders Who Drive Us Crazy appeared first on EcoSalon.

It takes four travel writers to raise a village.

When Seattle-based Michelle Duffy met up with three friends for a coffee and a chat in 2008, she had no idea they were about to change the world. But if it weren’t for that fateful coffee, a village in Cambodia would not have a school and an entire village in India would not exist. That’s just for starters.

The four friends all happened to be travel writers – Michelle writes at Wandermom, Debbie Dubrow is the brains behind family travel blog Delicious Baby, Pam Mandel the eponymous nerd of Nerd’s Eye View and Beth Whitman the founder of Wanderlust and Lipstick.

“It was literally four friends having coffee,” Michelle recalls. “I think it was Debbie who originally said ‘why don’t we see if we can raise money using our blogs?'” That first year, the friends rounded up a few fellow travel writers to host some raffle prizes and raised $7,400 for Heifer International without too much effort. Thus Passports with Purpose was born.

Fast forward to this year and the stakes are somewhat higher. The goal is to raise $80,000 to build two libraries in Zambia with Room to Read. There are dozens of travel sites participating by hosting prizes – everything from a Kindle Fire (several, in fact) to bungee jumping in New Zealand. You have until midnight Seattle time on December 16 to enter the raffle for the prize of your choice by donating $10 at www.passportswithpurpose.org/donate. All proceeds, aside from PayPal fees, go directly to Room to Read.

In 2009 Passports with Purpose raised almost $30,000 to build a school – with a vegetable garden and other enhancements – in rural Cambodia. The school is now complete and Michelle visited earlier this year and wrote this post for Passports with Purpose. The kids previously would have finished school at fifth grade but can now go to eighth grade in their village, qualifying them for high school in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. “My husband and I were wondering why we needed a driver and why we couldn’t just show up without all the formalities,” Michelle says. “Then we got there and there was an honour guard of all the kids from smallest up to 15 years old and we realized that it was a really big deal. It impacted on a very visceral level because I never thought I could make that kind of difference to anybody’s life.”

In 2010, the tally was $64,128 for LAFTI to build a village in South India for people of the ex-untouchable caste. Beth has written about her visit to the village, which is currently under construction.

The four spend from February to May each year deciding which charity to work with. Since the four of them come from diverse backgrounds and represent a diverse bunch of travel bloggers, they try to select an organization that is not religious. They prefer to work in developing countries where the fundraising dollars can have a greater impact and they like to work for causes that focus on women and children. Room to Read has a focus on educating girls, which research suggests benefits wider society. “As bloggers, we’re people who like to read and people who like to write so Room to Read hits that sweet spot of something we love to do and bringing it to kids who would not have had the chance,” Michelle says. “I was totally shocked by the lack of education infrastructure in Laos when I traveled there and I know Pam has similar stories about Tanzania.”

You can personally make a difference by making a $10 donation in exchange for a raffle ticket for a prize of your choice. You can also spread the word to your networks – last year Facebook was the biggest referrer of traffic. Passports with Purpose is built on the back of $10 donations but since the second year there have been a few larger sponsors as well – in 2011, the sponsors are Round The World With Us, TravellersPoint, Home Away and Good2Go Travel Insurance.

“It’s brought home to me how much you can do as an individual, even if you can’t write a check like Bill Gates” Michelle says. “What I believe from being involved with Passports with Purpose is that… it’s more important to be involved, find a cause you’re passionate about and leverage your network. If you do that it can be life changing.”

Editors note: Writer Caitlin Fitzsimmons is a participating blogger in Passports with Purpose and hosting two prizes – accommodation at the beautiful MacCallum House Inn in Mendocino, California and a cookery workshop at Freestyle Escape on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia.

Images: Room to Read, Wandermom

The post Passports with Purpose: Fundraising Gets Inspiring appeared first on EcoSalon.

A centuries-old mill gets back to work at last.

When you’re on an urban hike around your own neighborhood, you don’t expect to find a windmill being built in the middle of the road. Holgate Windmill was here before this area of York (England) was smothered in housing. Long before. This humble brick tower is older than the United States of America, and it milled grain into flour for a century and a half before a storm damaged its sails beyond repair and it was shut down for public safety.

Modern housing developers crept into the area, but by joining the ranks of Britain’s Grade II Listed buildings, Holgate Windmill successfully fought them off, forcing the builders to divert around it. Scarred and crumbling, it has stood derelict for 70 years as sign of a technological age we’ll never see again.

The windmill is not only a beautiful piece of historical architecture, it’s also a highly unusual one.

It had five sails, a design by John Smeaton of Eddystone Lighthouse fame. It’s the best choice for maximum efficiency of converting wind power to mechanical energy, yet rarely used because one broken sail could have shut the whole mill down. (Windmills need balanced sails: if the same happened to a four-sail windmill, it could be stripped down to two sails and still keep working). Coupled with the fan projecting backwards off the roof that kept it pointing into the wind at all times, you have a unique piece of engineering.

Because of recent efforts by The Holgate Windmill Preservation Society, this mill is being restored to working order. The walls have been repaired and rendered, the stone floor relaid, the ground floor machinery (above left) cleaned, repaired and reassembled, and locally-sourced materials have been used to replace perished materials including the millstones (below) and the windmill’s colossal upright shaft (above right).

By 2008 the Society had secured £250,000 in grants, prizes and donations – and in winning the People’s Millions award in November 2010, they finally have the money to rebuild the sails.

After decades of neglect, this mill will mill. Using locally produced grain, the Society will provide bakers with specialty flours milled in the traditional way, allowing them to make specialty breads with a 250-year-old heritage. Any profits will be reinvested in the mill so it pays for its upkeep by doing what it does best.

Factor in the educational value of a fully-functioning windmill (the last of York’s 20+ working grain mills), and the tourist-wowing sight of its white sails turning gorgeously against the skyline, and you have something very special indeed.

Images: Mike Sowden; Holgate Windmill Preservation Society

Know of a local restoration project that is rocking your community? We’d love to hear about it! Send us a note at tips@ecosalon.com.

The post Holgate Windmill: A New Spin On an Old Industry appeared first on EcoSalon.

A sensibly chic take on the fiber and jute peasant footwear made in Catalonia since the 14th century – and popularized by designers in the forties and eighties – I like to think of TOMS Shoes as the little espadrille that could:

It could be the most popular shoe second to Uggs for American teenage girls (and fashion crossover dudes). The basic black TOM is now accepted as part of the uniform at schools nationwide in sun, rain, sleet or snow. Who knew canvas was year-round? The choices keep growing, from sparkly sequin and high wedgie editions to earthy vegan and even a new wedding collection.

It could be the most ingenious idea to date for a company giving back on a one-for-one basis to help barefoot populations risking cuts and sores, infections and disease from exposure. On April 5, TOMs raises awareness with its One Day Without Shoes, advertised in a celeb splashed video featuring uplifting images of shoeless throngs across the nation getting into the act.

And it could be catching on big-time as other shoe and apparel marketing execs look for sexy giving campaigns that attract younger generations seeking trends and causes. Ralph Lauren co-branded Rugby TOMS donating a matched pair with every pair sold; Element Skateboards introduced limited edition TOMS+Element shoes with a One for One skateboard benefiting the Indigo Skate Camp in Durban South Africa.

The TOMS movement began in 2006 when Blake Mycoskie was traveling in Argentina and discovered too many poor children were going without shoes. He started his company and returned to Argentina later that year armed with 10,000 pairs of shoes made available by TOM customers through the program. To date, more than one million pairs of new shoes have been issued to children thorough Giving Partners around the world.

Was the idea unique? Well, in 2005, a year before the trip to Argentina and following the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia, Soles4Soles was born based on the concept of giving without receiving. Wayne Elsey saw the need and spurred on shoe makers to donate a quarter million of their shoes to devastated locations. A year later, another million were shipped to the gulf coast following Katrina. So in 2006, Elsey made it official and founded his non profit.

Shoes2Share sprung from a couple’s adoption of children from Haiti. Described as a grassroots ministry, its humble beginnings have involved distributing suitcases of shoes to relieve the plight of children and families in orphanages, shelters and rehabilitation and feeding programs. In addition to the Caribbean effort, the charity is now targeting children of fallen soldiers, police officers and firefighters.

More on the scale of the one-for-one platform, Payless ShoeSource has introduced the Good Shoe Project, partnering with World Vision to peddle a knock-off of the TOMS canvas boater, called theAirwalk Hope Shoe, for $19.99. For every pair sold, Payless will send a pair to children in Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua or Guatemala. Pitched to customers as the “buy one, give one” deal, they offer not only hope to barefoot victims but to consumers who want to do their part to give without footing the $54-$80 bill for a pair of TOMS.

Eventually, TOMS range may widen as well to make giving opportunities more abundant, reaching kids on U.S. turf who want to get on the bandwagon . Perhaps then, the little espadrille that could will really be too cool for school!

The post Marketing and Meaning: How TOMS Is Inspiring a Movement appeared first on EcoSalon.

Experienced that overwhelming feeling of holiday stress yet? You know, the one that hits you the second you see Christmas displays at your local grocery store not even a few seconds after the Halloween candy has been moved to the discount shelf?

The holiday season is full of an array of wonderful things: good food, family, friends, candles, kitchens filled with the smell of baking, the potential for snow, vacation – the list goes on. But there’s also the consumer-induced stress that’s indicative of the season, and even if you yourself have given up the tradition of conventional presents and gifting, getting away from the onslaught of “buy buy buy” can be difficult. Sometimes downright impossible.

That’s why it’s refreshing to see all those holiday initiatives that are focused on something bigger. Taking the spirit of the season and getting people really excited about doing something good instead of stressing over when and where they’re going to pick up last minute presents. Passports With Purpose (PWP) is making that happen with social media.

Started as a way to rally the power of travel bloggers – who all believe in the “power of travel to change the world” – PWP has evolved into a major social media giving campaign, involving not only bloggers, but online travel companies and corporate sponsors. The money all goes to a selected non-profit, this year, LAFTI, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of the Dalit (untouchable) population in India.

“As bloggers, travel or otherwise, we seem to live in a bubble – sitting behind our computers as we talk AT the world. Passports with Purpose allows for engagement between the other participants, the companies that have donated items for prizes and our readers, who are thrilled to be part of such an effort. And we can feel oh-so-good in the process,” says co-founder Beth Whitman.

The initiative, in its third year, is simple: bloggers host a prize on their site, and a $10 donation gets you a raffle ticket to enter to win the prize of your choice. That makes giving not only simple, but doable.

“Personally, I like the idea that instead of spending ten bucks on a stocking stuffers, you can make a ten dollar donation. Maybe it’s a ten dollar donation, that’s all it is, and it goes towards our beneficiary this year. But it could also be a ten dollar donation AND a luxe hotel stay or some cool gear or any number of great things. Maybe we mitigate some of that mad frenzy of holiday shopping stress by tying the funds to a significant cause,” says co-founder Pam Mandel.

As of the end of November, PWP has already raised $41,000, putting them even closer to their ultimate goal of $50,000.

To find out more and make a donation, visit the PWP website.

Image: mckaysavage

The post Holiday Good: Passports With Purpose Uses Social Media to Help Build a Village in India appeared first on EcoSalon.

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1. Dating back as far back as 2006, several states have reported water shortages near water-bottling plants across the nation – including Florida, New Hampshire, Texas, and Wisconsin. Any chance the underground water situation has improved over the past four or five years? Not likely.

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2. Less than one percent of all the world’s fresh water is available for human use in the form of lakes, underground sources, and reservoirs. The rest is soaked into the soil, too deep underground to reach, or manifests itself in the icecaps of the world’s polar regions.

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3. Props to the folks that spend a long time tracking down clothes that are manufactured responsibly, but don’t forget that much of the environmental damage occurs after you’ve bought that gorgeous new dress. Between thirsty washing machines and the half-loads we throw in when we’re pressed for time, we send gallons of wash water down the drain every time we run the spin cycle. Let’s face it, none of us have time to scrub our clothes on a rock over a rain puddle, but do take a few steps to reduce the amount of water you use washing your clothes.

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4. It may seem like there’s a new cure for whatever ails you but, in the end, water really is your BFF when it comes to battling everything from puffy eyes and insomnia to hangovers and candy overload.

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5. Reports estimate the average person uses around 160 gallons of water per day. Where does it all go? Two-thirds literally gets flushed away, set aside two gallons if you leave the faucet running while you brush your teeth, and another 55 gallons for that 10-minute shower.

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6. For a mere 20 bucks, you can join Charity Water in building the infrastructure necessary for clean water in developing nations where people often have to walk miles just to dip drinking sludge from a polluted swamp.

Now that you’re filled with information about water that you didn’t have 10 minutes ago, what are you going to do with your new-found knowledge? Pay attention to the way you use water and figure out where to cut back, even if you just shorten your shower by 60 seconds, or give your plants a drink with the water you just used to wash your lettuce.

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year’s topic is water.

Images: FreeWine, mandiberg, reurinkjan, Shandi-lee, Conor Lawless, jeckert gwapo, Charity Water

The post 6 Things You Didn’t Know About Water appeared first on EcoSalon.