Blog Action Day 2011: Three Things You Can Do

Continuing the theme for Blog Action Day, here are five easy things you can do (believe me, it's not even 10 a.m. and I've already done them, so no excuses) to take part.

1. Sign and share this petition: Take immediate action against the famine by signing this petition and asking world leaders to ensure people do not go hungry. Then, share the petition with people you know. If are connected to the Twitter, use the hashtag #BAD11.



2. Watch and Share “The F Word” Video: As is typical, celebrities have been solicited to take up the fight as well. If there were no crises, I'm not sure what Bono would spend his time doing, but hey, at least he cares. Besides, this is an excuse for me to drop a different kind of F-bomb.



3. Check out this graphic: This “Fight the Famine” interactive chart illustrates the countries that are leading relief efforts in Africa and those that are lagging behind. Canada, Germany and the UK have fulfilled their aid commitments, while France and Italy still have work to do.

Blog Action Day 2011: Save the Children

First post of Blog Action day 2011 (Food) is a video from Save the Children. It’s got some surprising facts about hunger and the end of the quiz asks you to take action to keep Congress from slashing the aid budget while famine ravages East Africa.

Blog Action Day 2011

This year's Blog Action Day snuck up on me. Normally they send out a series of emails to promote the day months and weeks in advance so that bloggers like myself can prep some content. This year, I got one Friday telling me it was today. Not sure if I maybe missed some emails earlier, but I was bummed to not get the chance to fuller prepare you for the information onslaught.

In any case, I will attempt my best here to give you a few posts and pass along some info because I have always enjoyed being part of Blog Action Day, the one day a year when bloggers try to organize around a singular topic to educate the masses. In previous years the topics have been near and dear to my heart (poverty, climate change, water), and now this year the topic is food.

I thought it was more specific like the lack of available food or starvation and such, but the organizers are running the gamut from farmed foods to fast food to hunger to whatever you can think of (even just blogging about your favorite food). Kinda weird, but I'm going to take the more serious route because while I like to write about idiots and Friday funnies and comedy and video games, I also like to throw out some serious stuff now and then. So prepare yourself for some food-related posts and I encourage you to repost or share as you wish, or ignore it at your own peril. Just remember that it's good to think deep every now and then.

Blog Action Day 2010

Change.org sponsors Blog Action Day once a year, and it's always focused on getting people involved in a cause that the members vote upon. This year, the topic I voted for got picked: water.

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Just so you know why I voted for water, I've watched several stunning and moving documentaries that have raised my awareness and fear about the ability to get access to clean water. And just so you have some solid facts, here's some stuff to chew on (or swallow, since we're talking liquid here):

• Conservation Starts at Home: The average person uses 465 liters of water per day. Find out how much you use and challenge others to do the same.


• 40 Billion Hours: African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.


• 38,000 Children a Week: Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions. Learn more.


• Wars Over Water: Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa. Learn more.


• Food Footprint: It takes 24 liters of water to produce one hamburger. That means it would take over 19.9 billion liters of water to make just one hamburger for every person in Europe. Learn more.


• Building Wells: Organizations like Water.org and charity: water are leading the charge in bringing fresh water to communities in the developing world.


• Technology Footprint: My iPhone requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that’s 40 million liters to charge those alone.


• Fashion Footprint: That cotton t-shirt you’re wearing right now took 1,514 liters of water to produce, and your jeans required an extra 6,813 liters. Learn more.


• Uninhabitable Rivers: Today, 40% of America’s rivers and 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. Learn more.


• Keeping Rivers Clean: We can all take small steps to help keep pollution out of our rivers and streams, like correctly disposing of household wastes. Learn more.

Blog Action Day: Miss Out?

Hey, don't be upset if you missed out on Blog Action Day (and if you are not, shame on you). There are always other opportunities to make a difference. Next week there is an International Day of Climate Action, so go over and check it out and take part. If you need some other ideas or inspiration, this page over at Live Earth has some basic tips that even my mother could understand and take action on. So the rest of you have no excuse. And you know I won't stop shaming my mother to make herself more green, and challenging myself to do the same.

Blog Action Day: Good Links

Here are some links to cool articles and stuff out there that help get the message across and get you edubacated, as Dr. Zehnder (my high school econ teacher) would say.

• 10 Solutions for Climate Change


• Some facts and figures (for you research, number geeks


• List of 100 things you love that global warming is going to mess up in our lives


• NBC's Green is Universal site has some corny stuff on there, but also some nice quick tips and tricks.


• I am a big Planet Green TV watcher, and their website is chock full o nuts, I mean, solutions.

By all means, this is just a light smattering of good resources and sites I know of (Treehugger and others are out there), but if you know of some good sites to check out, share them with me and I will pass them along.

Blog Action Day

So today is Blog Action Day, and it's focused on one of my big topics that I write about, climate change. This is a cool global event where bloggers all over the world are out to share info about climate change and things you can do locally, or in your home or office or wherever, to get others inspired to make a change and make a difference. Here's the intro video to give you an idea.