Every little bit helps

Every Little Bit Helps Every Little Bit Helps From Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution BY: From Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution The holiday season was coming to a close and the new year was approaching quickly I was so pleased with the resolution my family and I had made at the beginning of this year and especially proud that we were actually able to keep it For the past year we had made an effort to go green and, looking back, I knew we were pretty successful Last year we began recycling all of our glass, paper, plastic, and aluminum cans We changed all light bulbs throughout our home to those energy saving bulbs; we stopped purchasing bottled water and began using SIG bottles In addition, we made it a point to use reusable bags when grocery shopping; even taking my reusable bags to the mall One of the best things we did was to subscribe to a service called Green Dimes For a small fee, Green Dimes will stop all that annoying junk mail that arrives in the mailbox and use part of the fee they charge to plant trees in the community Just think of all of the trees we helped save and all of the trees we helped to plant! Although I was proud of all the changes we had already made, I felt that we could take it a step further for the new year and more I was especially interested in teaching my kids, who could always use a good lesson in giving back, to become more involved in learning how important it is to take care of the environment I began thinking about ways I could further the connection It took awhile for it to come to me but when it did I was inspired and excited about it I figured that, in our own way, we were already giving back to Mother Earth But wouldn’t it be great if we could give more to organizations that support causes which help the less fortunate around the world? What I decided to was take the money we earned from recycling our aluminum cans, glass, and plastic and give it to charity We would give to a different charity each time we collected the cash when we turned in our recyclables My seven-year-old son, Brayden, would even be able to join in, as he was responsible for sorting the items and taking them to the recycling center with me I wanted him to become even more involved, and so I decided that he would help me decide which charity to support He could help to the research about the various charities on the Internet Because we cashed in our recyclable items every month or so, we wouldn’t have a large lump sum; but I loved the idea of teaching my son that it doesn’t matter how much you give; what matters is that you give The smallest donation can make a difference As this year comes to a close we are all proud of the steps we have taken to make a difference And next year, although the dollar amount won’t be huge, we will be doing our part to help the environment and make this world a better place All of the changes we make don’t have to be huge, but if everyone became involved, just think of the difference we could make