Habitat for Humanity

I chose Habitat for Humanity which is one of the Non-Profit Organization. The Organization is providing a place to live to people all over the world. The vision of the organization is "A world where everyone has a decent place to live." Their mission is that by building and renovating houses, they provide the environment where people live uncomfortably and promote the self-development of the local society. Homes are built using volunteer labor and are sold at no profit. In locations outside the United States, Habitat for Humanity charges interest to protect against inflation. I have been studying architecture, and I always think what I can do for the other people with what I have learned. Involving this organization and activity is one of my solutions for the problem which is what I can do with architecture. To involve the organization, you need to make a team and apply for volunteering. Or, you need to join into the existing team.

Burning Man

I chose Burning Man because it represents a uniquely functional gift economy. Burning Man is a weeklong festival in Black Rock Desert, Nevada with over 40,000 participants. During this festival the desert is transformed into a temporary metropolis called Black Rock City. The participants of this event are called “burners,” and have established a unique culture of funky costumes, amazing art, and a gift giving economy. Thousands of tents are set up and themed camps are organized where services such as food, massages, and musical performances are offered for free as gifts. Practically everything at Burning Man is free, there is no buying or selling allowed once you go beyond the gates so you don’t use money for an entire week. This event creates a community that revolves around the aspect of gift giving, creating something specifically for the people of the community. Giving art as both a visual gift as well as a gift that is useful represents an escape from mass production, or a “market economy.” The culture at Burning Man represents a resistance to oppressive social and economic conditions and constraints that characterize mass consumer society. It operates in a structure common to more “primitive” societies where things were produced for their intrinsic usefulness in people’s lives. A capitalist commodified culture results in the disappearance of individual voice and a weakening of personal or individual relationships, and their replacement with “commodity” relationships. Even if you don't attend this festival, Burning Man emphasizes a culture and lifestyle that can be adopted by anyone who wants to escape the mass market society we live in today.

Slow Food Los Angeles

I have decided to write about this topic due to the gradual shift towards fast food in not only Los Angeles, but across the US as well. As can be seen on several fast food restaurant's menus, the value of a healthy salad is extremely expensive compared to a burger at McDonald's. Why is it that people have to pay so much to eat healthy? These manipulative schemes by fast food restaurants essentially tarnish their image through misleading advertisements. For example, I'm sure if someone has two dollars in their pocket, they would rather spend them by purchasing two, one dollar McChicken sandwiches off the dollar menu then starving themselves because they are not able to afford the five or six dollar Caesar salad. To me, that is pathetic. So essentially we are saving a few bucks by eating cheaper; however; as Raj Patel mentions, we will eventually multiply those savings and pay for health care costs due to the ridiculous quality of cheap, fast food. In my opinion, if I were looking for something fast, I would pay a couple extra bucks for a salad, but what happens to those who are less fortunate and are always stuck paying the unhealthy meals that most fast food restaurants have to offer? Slow food Los Angeles, is an excellent program that attempts to provide information on alternatives to these lucrative businesses who are responsible for a large portion of our citizen's poor health. To join SlowFoodLA, a onetime $60 fee is required, but if you want a dual membership (you and a friend) the cost is $75. Membership benefits include invitations to multiple international and national events that promote good, clean and fair food, and membership-only discounts on events and publications. Being a part of SFLA will increase the opportunity for others to gather and take collective action towards legislation regarding healthy food in LA. Similar programs that students like us may join are Slow Food in Schools, and Slow Food on Campus. The initiatives and message are the same, but they aim to gather students to cooperatively promote clean and healthy food on college and university campuses. This program also aids the younger sector in which it provides information on the health of our children through the Children Nutrition Act. I believe we as adults should be obligated to advocate for programs like this in order to encourage a healthy lifestyle to as many people as we can. By visiting the www.slowfoodusa.org website, we can educate others of the positive message that slow food LA has to offer.

Kiva- Microfinance

Kiva is one of the largest and most widely known players in the microfinance industry. Microfinance is the supplying of loans and other financial services to the poor. One of the reasons that I find microfinance far superior to simply donating money to a charity is that it allows the recipient to have access to a loan that they wouldn’t have access to. Currently, when someone wants to get a loan, they are required to go to a bank, where many entrepreneurs are turned down because of their lack of collateral or their poor credit score. Furthermore, Kiva allows poor individuals the chance to take out loans rather than asking for handouts from charities. Another interesting fact about microfinance is that these institutions tend to focus on women, which has helped to make women play a more prominent role in their communities.

Kiva works by disbursing money to a number of microfinance institutions around the world that approve and make loans to entrepreneurs in their respective areas. The microfinance institutions assist entrepreneurs in making profiles about their businesses and these videos are hosted on Kiva’s website where individuals around the world can go to choose who to make loans to. Over time, the loans are eventually repaid and your lender account is credited, at which point you can lend again to another entrepreneur. This program not only enables current entrepreneurs to grow their business, but also allows new businesses to take off. By empowering individuals and growing small business in underdeveloped countries Kiva is helping them move forward in a positive direction.

To participate simply log on to the Kiva website and start lending with a minimum loan of only $25!

Kiva's Website: www.kiva.org

National Cristina Foundation

After watching the "Story of Stuff," I started to think about the profound role "stuff" plays in my own life. After an introspective glance into my own role as a consumer, I realized that the majority of items that I buy are electronic devices, mainly music players, laptops, cellphones, etc. In fact, there's a whole area designated in my garage at home to all of our electronics. My dad is an engineer and loves to experiment with devices so, over the years, we've acquired the oldest of computers (floppy disk compatible) to rather recent, yet bulky desktops. I'm equally to blame-I have about 6 old cell phones, 2 ipods, 3 diskplayers, and a boombox that have not been used in years!
That's why the National Cristina Foundation was my calling, in a sense. What the non-profit organization does is recycle old electronics through donations and transport them to educational settings that would otherwise not be able to afford electronic devices such as computers. For example, the foundation has been able to send computers to special education classrooms as well as underpriviledged high schools and elementary schools.

It's really easy to get involved!
Donating is easily done online. All you have to do is meet the minimum requirements of the foundation and they will either come by your desired location to pick up the item or you can drive to one of their many locations nation-wide

http://www.cristina.org/

this video talks about the organization some more (about the first minute and a half of the clip): http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6436440n&tag=related;photovideo

GoodSearch

How many times a day do you go to Google (or whatever your preferred search engine is) to look something up? Personally, Google is my top-visited webpage...by a landslide...and I'm sure if I summed up the amount of time I've spent on it during my lifetime, it would total up to hours, days, or even weeks spent searching. I'm not at all saying that's a bad thing - in this day and age, search engines have become embedded in our culture - a tool we rely on for information.

But what if every time you searched, money was donated to the charity of your choice, without you having to pay a cent? When I found GoodSearch, I was so impressed by this concept, as simple as it may be, and am now trying to slowly phase out Google and incorporate GoodSearch into my daily routine. At first, I was worried that my search results wouldn't be as reliable or helpful, but GoodSearch is powered/supported by Yahoo!, so it's basically like using Yahoo's search engine and donating to charity at the same time. Personally, so far I have GoodSearched for Mortar Board, a senior honor society I am involved with at UCLA that always could use fundraising efforts, as well as the American Parkinson's Disease Association (APDA), a cause which I am very passionate about.

Even if you don't have any causes in mind to support, GoodSearch has a list you can peruse of 90,000+ charities and non-profits that you can help just by using their search engine. This is an awesome way to give back and contribute just by doing what you'd normally do on the Internet, and I think it's really admirable that this organization allows people everywhere to contribute to virtually any charity without paying a cent.

For anyone wondering how they can take time out of their busy lives to give back to a cause they're passionate about, this website is the solution to that problem. Although there are many efforts that can be made without donating money, the fact of the matter is that for some causes, such as research on diseases like HIV/AIDS, cancer, and Parkinson's, what they most need right now is financial support - which presents a problem to those who want to contribute to finding a cure (or whatever the cause may be), but don't feel they have the means to do it. This website allows you to do your part to provide it for them, no matter how much money you personally have available to give, all while receiving reliable search results in return. So check it out...www.goodsearch.com !

-Maddie :)

P.S.: On the same note, I really love The Breast Cancer Site, which donates money to fund free mammograms for women every time you click (a click a day). The Hunger Site, The Animal Rescue Site, The Literacy Site, and The Rainforest Site have similar concepts. Happy clicking! :)

City CarShare

So, I wanted to research Zipcar, but it looks like Allison already got than one :) The idea of having a car lately has been on my mind because I have been feeling very limited... I do not have a car and struggle to get to things off campus. I use the bus system, but even that has its limitations. So anyways, I have been researching my options, and organizations like Zipcar and City CarShare seem to be great options (and they're inexpensive!) Because Allsion already discussed Zipcar, I decided to look at a very similar company, City CarShare, located in the bay area.

City Carshare, like zipcar, is a bay area non-profit that allows members access to cars. Each member is given an electronic key that opens the car they have reserved- only during that time. Members can reserve cars on-line 24/7 in locations all over the bay area. These cars range from small sports cars, to trucks, to SUVs, and the like. Whereas it typically costs an individual $500/month to own a car- including gas, etc; City Carshare only costs around $45- including gas, insurance, etc. Plus, by sharing and not owning, you're keeping more cars off the road and protecting the environment. Also, City Carshare allows for individual, household, company, and university membership.

Unfortunately, City Carshare is only in the bay area... but Zipcar is available right here in LA!

www.citycarshare.org

Also, visit www.citycarshare/press.org to access some of the fabulous reviews!

This is so sweet :)