I promise you won’t get in trouble. I can also promise you won’t be the only one. In fact you will be joining hundreds of millions of people in 184 countries around the world.

I’m talking about a global movement known simply as Earth Day.

It was created in 1970 by a U.S. Senator, after he witnessed the devastation of the 1969 California oil spill. He wanted to leverage the emerging awareness of air and water pollution and combine it with the social energy created by the anti-war movement to force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. And so on the 22nd of April, 1970, 20 million Americans participated in massive coast-to-coast rallies to bring attention to conversation and force political leaders to listen to their concerns.

And it worked.

The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/earth_day/

UPDATE: KONY 2012: Part II — Beyond Famous takes a closer look at the LRA and explores new solutions put forward by leaders of the currently-affected areas of CAR, DRC, and South Sudan, where local communities continue to live under the constant threat of LRA violence. Digging deeper, Invisible Children hopes to turn the awareness generated from the first viral video into informed action.

It starts with watching + sharing this film, and continues with participating in Cover the Night, the advocacy and awareness event taking place worldwide on April 20th, 2012.

Participate in Cover the Night – http://www.kony2012.com Learn More about Invisible Children – http://www.invisiblechildren.com

PART I: Just a few weeks ago filmmakers released a 30 minute video that went viral and the world woke up and knew a man named Joseph Kony. Millions of Twitter feeds and Facebook statuses were screaming for attention with his name. Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/kony2012/ What’s found in stores, socially responsible, and (RED) all over?

In our society, shopping has become somewhat of a sport. Black Friday deal-hunting crowds make headlines and entire television shows are dedicated to the premise of coupon collecting. Surely we are all motivated by getting the most ‘bang for our buck’. So, what about the possibility of changing a life while you pick up a new t-shirt? Funding the donation of antiretroviral drugs to AIDS inflicted communities at the same time you buy a new iPod? To me that seems like the ultimate bargain.

This is the very premise of (RED). (RED) is all about letting our purchasing power speak for those who do not have it. It’s about recognizing our ability to choose what we buy and picking the product that can bring about positive change.

In the beginning

(RED) was created by musical artist Bono in conjunction with Bob Shriver, activist and politician. It came Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/red/ Small Change Fund is an unique Canadian charity using small change to make a big difference in communities from coast to coast, and around the world.  It represents an important trend in crowd funding that uses an innovative model of online giving that empowers individual donors to support grassroots groups. As co-founder Ruth Richardson states, “We’re tapping into individuals that together can make a huge impact. We wanted to bust it open and make grassroots projects visible and accessible to anybody”.

Ruth also emphasizes, there’s no other organization like Small Change Fund in Canada. The Small Change approach gives concrete answers to some of the most pressing questions that face donors. Where does my money go? What is the outcome? Why does it matter? It also tackles the often-insurmountable challenges faced by community groups. How do we raise money? How can we spread our message? What media tools will raise our Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/got-some-change/ We hear all too frequently of the abuses suffered by women in the countries we work with. It was reported last month that a woman in the Kunduz province of Afghanistan was murdered by her mother-in-law and husband for failing to produce a son. In a recent report by Doctors without Borders, it was revealed that only 1% of pregnant women in DRC with HIV are receiving treatment, and one of the reasons given for this is that international donor support is being withdrawn. It is important that the international community supports women in Afghanistan, DRC and other war afflicted countries to ensure their voices are heard and their demands for peace and equality are met.

This year marks the beginning of the second century for International Women’s Day (IWD), and the beginning of a renewed effort to secure equality, security and a voice for women around the world. We Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/join-me-on-the-bridge/ When I say ‘Coca-Cola’s reputation’, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

Coca-Cola may not have the greatest reputation for its business practices around the world, but for thousands of women in many developing countries, the Company’s business decisions aren’t looking so unjust!

When It All Started

At the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative Meeting in New York City, Coca-Cola’s CEO Muhtar Kent announced the Company’s FiveByTwenty project – their pledge to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs in the developing world by 2020. The idea is to integrate profit-making with local community support, not through charity, but through innovative and inclusive business models. For women entrepreneurs around the world, this means access to the skills training, small-business loans and professional networks that are crucial to the prospect of a bright future for themselves and their families.

By 2020, The Coca-Cola Company aims to partner with civil society and other private sector actors Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/fivebytwenty/ Buying a Car? A house? Starting up a business? Need money for college? I could go on but whatever the reason is, you’re in a situation where you need a loan. You’re looking for a bank to lend you a helping hand and in exchange you will pay them back (in installments) the full amount, plus interest.

Seems like a pretty normal situation.

However, what if that bank was you? What if poor students and entrepreneurs from across the world told you why they needed a loan, how it would help them and were willing to pay you back (with interest)?

Seems like an interesting concept?

Well, that’s exactly what Kiva.org is – a crowd-sourced micro-lending website/platform service that allows individuals (like you and I) to lend money to extremely low income students and entrepreneurs across the globe.

Crowd-sourced micro-lending?

This is the source of how Kiva operates and it’s basically a group of people contributing Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/kiva/ Ripple (verb) – to cause small waves.

A ripple effect is often used to describe a situation where an effect from an initial state can be followed outwards incrementally. These effects can be either negative or positive and occur quite frequently in society and yes, the Internet. But let’s switch it up for a few seconds – We use search engines (like Google) to look for things on the web (news, entertainment, products, information, etc.).

Alright, so imagine combining the two and creating a search engine that creates a positive and socially conscious ripple effect.

Well on May 4th 2007, 4 friends from Australia (Jehan Ratnatunga, Simon Griffiths, Matt Tilleard and Mack Nevill) did just that.

Together they decided to use Google’s built in search engine (Google Co-op) to build a non-profit website that harnesses the power of the Internet, leverages affiliate advertising to generate revenue, and use that money to help people, instead of Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/ripple/ What if your plastic shopping bag or the ring pull tab from your Coke can could help pay for a child’s education?

Recycle for a Cause, a campaign launched in the UAE, allows for just that kind of wonder—turning your trash into treasure.

How so? Plastic bags and ring pull tabs collected from the community are sent to the Philippines and used to create and sell high quality merchandise as a source of livelihood for Filipino families in poverty.

The Recycle for a Cause campaign has been launched by Abu Dhabi Cause Connect (ADCC) in support of the Philippine Community Fund (PFC), which helps to provide shelter, food and education for children who are rescued from living on dump sites. PCF is a UK registered charity that works to free Filipino children and their families from the effects of poverty. The Recycle for a Cause product line alone provides employment for over Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/pcf/ 3 litres of water per day.

According to the Water Encyclopedia, that’s how much the average human needs per day for survival.  This amount increases with physical activity and with temperature.  Aside from replacing our body’s water we need water for a number of purposes including agriculture, cooking sanitation and hygiene.  This amounts to 50 liters required to meet human needs.

Treatment and delivery of water costs a lot of money.  The water needs to be pumped from a source like a lake, river or well to a water treatment plant.  Depending on requirements the water can be treated in different ways.

Commonly it is filtered and then disinfected with a chemical such as chlorine.  However, the equipment to do this costs thousands of dollars.  Plants also need a building to be situated in, sensors to monitor the process, and an operator to run and maintain the system.

Costs for this are often Read more...]]> http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/sodis/