Archive for the ‘Volunteerism’ Category

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10 Things to Consider Before Starting a Volunteer Recogntion Program

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

An effective recognition program with the right mix of formal and informal recognition systems and that truly functions as an integral component of a volunteer program can honor and motivate volunteers for their contributions. (Formal volunteer recognition includes certificates, plaques, pins, or dinners to honor volunteer achievement. Informal recognition occurs in the daily interchange between volunteers and the organization when its staff conveys appreciation for the volunteers’ work.)

Volunteer recognition programs also help to:

  • Communicate basic volunteer standards
  • Identify organizational volunteer best practices and trends
  • Create role models and set benchmarks for volunteers
  • Strengthen the bond between volunteers and the organization
  • Create and/or strengthen brand awareness and marketing opportunities

Ask and answer these 10 questions to help your organization develop and implement an effective volunteer recognition program:

1. How much staff time can be devoted to administering the recognition program? Will it be administered from the organization’s headquarters or local offices?
2. Who should be included in the development of the program?
3. How can senior management buy-in be secured for the recognition program?
4. How can the recognition program help to meet the volunteer program objectives and overall organizational needs?
5. What are the best practices of similar organizations’ volunteer recognition programs?
6. Is there an existing recognition program that can be adapted and customized to suit the needs of the organization (e.g., President’s Volunteer Service Award, Daily Points of Light Award)?
7. How do our volunteers want to be recognized for their community service? How can we incorporate recognition mechanisms that work for different types of volunteers (e.g., longterm and short-term volunteers)?
8. What will the award criteria and eligibility rules include? Who will judge the award nominations?
9. How will the volunteer award(s) be announced (e.g., special ceremony)? What communications vehicles currently exist to promote the award internally and externally?
10. Should external counsel and expertise be sought to help develop this volunteer recognition program? Are there core functions of the program that should be outsourced?

Does your organization have a volunteer recognition program? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

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Celebrate the Movers and the Shakers

Monday, May 14th, 2012

“Through their guiding wisdom, enduring love of family, and inspiring commitment to country, older Americans continue to steer and enhance our national life.”- President Barack Obama

On May 1, 2012, President Barack Obama declared May: National Older Americans Month. The president stated that May should be a time for celebrating those who have contributed so much to our nation over their lifetime.

The Corporation for National and Community Service reports that older Americans have contributed 3 billion hours of service from 2008-2010. Although there are service groups that directly engage older Americans such as RSVP, Senior Corps, and AARP, how will your organization better engage this sector?

43% of Americans from age 55-64 engage in volunteering. Check out our tips below to learn how you can boost this statistic and embrace the skills and expertise that older Americans can offer to the service sector.

 

  • Activists: Many baby boomers come from a generation of activism. They desire a way to take a hold of this passion. Volunteer opportunities should be developed with this idea in mind. Whether your program is designed for neighborhood, community, or world activism, it is important to provide them a sense of fulfillment through service. Make sure that your organization’s mission is clear, so that baby boomers know they are volunteering for a specific cause. Allow older volunteers to form relationships through volunteering, it will make them feel more connected to the project.
  • Consumers: Older volunteers are sophisticated consumers who expect variety when making choices. Your organization should try to offer a variety of opportunities that will fulfill different interests and passions, so that older volunteers can find their niche. It is important that your organization offer a variety of short-term opportunities; to introduce beginners to volunteerism. Design projects to target specific groups to yield better results. Projects should also include skills that these specific audiences have developed over the years.
  • Workers: Many baby boomers are overworked in their professional jobs. When older American retire, their biggest complaint tends to be loneliness and lack of relationships that they once had in their jobs. It is important to understand that fact when recruiting older volunteers. Service should be designed to offer meaningful relationships to volunteers, while employing their skills, as well. Projects should allow the baby boomer to feel a new sense of fulfillment that they once felt in their profession. Allow volunteers to play an active role in planning volunteer projects, to rid the stereotype of older volunteers. Offer incentives and chances for advancement to volunteers, as well. 54% of volunteers state that they would offer more time, if they received incentives to work.

It is important to engage this sector of adult volunteers when planning your next service project. Older volunteers have a great deal of information, skills, and commitment that they can give your organization. Celebrate older Americans this month by giving them a new fulfillment through volunteerism!

Does your organization engage older volunteers? We would love to hear your suggestions in the comments section below!

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Managing Volunteers 101

Friday, May 11th, 2012

Without volunteers, most non-profit organizations would cease to exist or suffer a drastic reduction in capacity to serve communities and achieve the organization’s mission. Therefore, a refresher course in basic volunteer management is always in order! The way you plan your service projects will significantly affect the success of your volunteer recruitment. The best way to increase your volunteer base is to retain current volunteers; retention is simply a matter of making volunteers feel good about themselves and their service. Class is now convened! Read on for a few key volunteer management reminders.

Accommodate Volunteers’ Schedules

Just as volunteers come from different backgrounds and community groups, they also have a wide variety of schedules. In order to engage the highest number of volunteers, consider ways to coordinate service events for people with varying schedules, needs, and interests.

  • Include volunteer efforts at different times of day and different days of the week.
  • Have flexible hours or recruit volunteers to serve in shifts instead of an entire day.
  • Plan projects around multiple impact areas or diverse opportunities within a single issue.
  • Offer family-friendly projects in which parents and their children can serve together.
  • Provide opportunities for first-time volunteers and for volunteers with more advanced skills.
  • Plan projects for individuals and for groups.
  • Include indoor and outdoor projects.
  • Offer short-term and long-term projects.

Communication & Motivation

From the very beginning of volunteers’ involvement in your service activities, you should maintain good communication with them. Motivate them to stay interested and involved in your project with a few simple steps:

  • Be prompt in your response to phone calls/e-mails. Return volunteer calls or e-mails within 24 hours.
  • Be thorough in your explanation of the volunteer duties. Volunteers will be more likely to sign up if they know exactly what they will be doing, and they will know what to expect at the project.
  • Use this opportunity to teach potential volunteers about the issue area, the community service organization they will be serving, and the potential impact of the project.
  • Use their names often; this helps develop a personal connection.
  • Keep the commitments you make. People will not support you if you don’t provide information requested, address issues they bring up, and/or miss scheduled appointments.

Cultivate Reflection

Reflection is an important part of offering closure to a project. Reflection allows volunteers to stop for a moment, think about what they’ve accomplished, share their experiences, and offer feedback for future projects or ideas for how they will continue to address the social issue. Reflection is designed to encourage volunteers to examine the project so that they see the impact of their service. Understanding how their service impacts the community will encourage volunteers to be involved in future projects.

Sample questions for reflection discussion:

  • What did you learn today—about the agency, your fellow volunteers, the service recipients, or yourself?
  • How do you feel about the project? Was it worthwhile? Was it time well spent?
  • What would you change about this project?
  • Do you plan to take future action related to this issue?
  • What other ideas or opinions can you offer this program or project?

Do you manage volunteers? Share your tips and tricks in the comments below!

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5 Ways to Make the Most out of Youth Volunteerism this Summer

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

Summer is just around the corner and students are ready to escape from the tedium of school. Summer vacation is a great time for kids to take a break from homework and grades, but it’s an even better time to engage in a different kind of learning – service learning! Volunteering has countless benefits for kids and teens. It helps develop important skills, including critical thinking, organizing, and collaboration and increases self-confidence. Teens learn to critically think about the world around them through hands-on work that benefits others. Volunteer jobs can even lead to future careers!

However not all volunteer jobs are created equal and finding the best summer experiences for teens can be challenging. Now is the time to start discussing how your teen will spend a part of his or her summer! Read more for six tips on how to help your child or teen get the most from their summer volunteer experiences.

  1. What do service & learning mean? Sure, volunteering looks good on a college application, but it is not just about the ability to put another experience on a college resume. Help build character strengths in your children by discussing service as something that bring deeper meaning to your lives. When kids do community service only as a route to college admission, they miss out on the deeper meaning of service.
  2. Explore your teen’s interests. It is important for children to choose their own activities, based on their own interests. Let go of what you think your child should do and help facilitate a conversation that links your child’s interests to possible jobs in your community. Kids have a much greater capacity to develop purpose and initiative when they choose for themselves.
  3. Research jobs. Once you’ve determined your son or daughter’s interests, help them begin to research opportunities; older children and teens can do this for themselves. Use the internet and personal networking to find organizations in your community. Check out the websites GenerationOn,  All For Good, VolunteerSpot, and HandsOn Network. Learn about what’s possible and what generates excitement for your child.
  4. Don’t forget to commit. It is important for your teenager to learn that all jobs come with commitments, including volunteer positions. Talk about how much time they will spend and in what ways they will discuss and reflect on their experiences with parents or other adults. Encourage teens to solicit feedback conversations with employers. Oftentimes supervisors are more than happy to take time to review a student’s performance and help them learn new skills.
  5. Be interested. As your child volunteers, they are growing and learning in many ways. Find out how by asking open-ended questions about their day. Asking questions like, “Tell me about…,” “How did that impact you?” or “How did you handle that situation?” will help you engage in meaningful conversation.

Service can encompass a variety of volunteer jobs, including visiting elderly people, tutoring children, raising money for nonprofit organizations, working in community gardens, cleaning up public spaces, monitoring environmental sites, creating websites, and working in food banks. So get involved and volunteer over summer vacation!

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Woof! Meow! We Need Animal Volunteers

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Woof woof, we’re excited! Why? May 6-12 is National Pet Week. For us animal lovers, this week is dedicated to celebrating our four-legged friends and veterinarians for the joy they provide for us daily!

Celebrate your favorite animals by volunteering for them! Whether you have a pet or not, this is an excellent way to get out and provide happiness to animals in need.

  • Volunteer at your local animal shelter: 5 to 7 million companion animals enter shelters every year. These shelters constantly need volunteer support to care for their current residents. If you cannot adopt an animal, volunteer at a shelter for a couple hours. It will not only make you feel happy, but it will spread happiness to these animals that need companionship! The Humane Society and ASPCA are great places to start your search.
  • Volunteer at the zoo: Zoos accept all types of volunteers from adults to youth; the zoo is a great place to volunteer with animals! Zoos have many different volunteer opportunities. Contact one today to find out their current needs and opportunities.
  • Train a service/ seeing eye dog: Many nonprofit organizations deal directly with training canine assistants. Find one in your area today to see how you can get started. You will not only feel rewarded for the service, but you will provide a wonderful service to someone in need!
  • Make collars: Many pets in shelters do not have collars. Get your kids involved in volunteering by helping them design and make collars for your local shelter dogs.
  • Donate animal food: Many shelters are short on dog and cat food and would greatly benefit from your donation. Next time you are at the store, buy an extra bag of food for your local shelter.
  • Hold a fundraiser: Know an animal nonprofit that could use some extra funding? Hold a fundraiser with your community. Guests can make monetary donations, toy donations, or food donations.
  • Volunteer your animal: Train your animal to be a member of a dog therapy program. Research shows that interaction with an animal can greatly improve the spirits of resident hospital patients.
  • Volunteer with horses: Does your community have an equestrian therapy program? Horses have been proven to be very helpful to children and adults with learning disabilities. Find a ranch that supports this type of work and volunteer with them.
  • Help the rainforest: Foster a wild animal. Rainforest devastation and changing climates are greatly affecting our wildlife. You can help save an animal habitat by teaming up with organizations such as World Land Trust, World Vision, or Rainforest Alliance.
  • Clean up: Your litter affects our ecosystem including your community’s wildlife. Stop littering! Trash pollutes oceans and kills vital plants causing animals to be unable to eat and live in unsafe environments. Volunteer to clean up your local parks, highways, forests, or bodies of water. Every little thing counts!
  • Get your pet spayed or neutered: This step is vital. As mentioned earlier, many animals go to shelters because they are overpopulated. End the cycle by fixing your animal.
  • Put a tag on your furry friend: By giving your animal an identification tag, he or she will be less likely to get lost or end up in a shelter.

By volunteering with animals you are working to greatly improve the well-being of your community! Animals are a vital part of the ecosystem; they must be protected and cared for. Celebrate animals this week and year round by volunteering in your community.

Do you volunteer with animals? We would love to hear about it! Share your comments and thoughts with us below.

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Make Workplace Volunteering Excellent

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

Experts and layman alike agree that employee volunteering is a good thing. A strong employee volunteer program can make a company develop employee skills, develop customer loyalty, improve relationships with the community, and spur innovation and creativity. In addition, time-crunched employees are increasingly looking to their jobs to provide opportunities for the good deeds that they don’t have the hours for outside of work. Read on to discover clear principles of excellence and best practices to create a successful workplace volunteering program.

  • Acknowledge that the workplace’s employee volunteer efforts contribute to the achievement of its business goals.
  • Commit to establish, support and promote an employee volunteer program that encourages the involvement of every employee, and manage the employee volunteer program like any other business function.
  • Target workplace volunteering at serious social problems in the community.

ACKNOWLEDGE that the workplace’s employee volunteer efforts contribute to the achievement of the organization’s business goals.

Why: Ensure program sustainability by aligning the program with core business values, thus laying the strategic foundation for the employee volunteer program.

How: Integrate the company’s social vision with the business vision. Use mission statements, credos, or social policy statements, to illustrate the understanding that societal and community issues impact the company.

1. The company recognizes that societal and community issues have a direct relationship to the organization’s future success. This relationship is expressed through organizational identity statements such as mission, vision, values statements, and/or organization, business or department goals.

2. Employee volunteering is a key component in the organization’s overall community involvement efforts.

3. The organization communicates its corporate social vision consistently to its external and internal stakeholders through means such as an annual report, posting on web sites, newsletter articles, etc.

4. Senior management participates in leading the volunteer effort and takes an active, visible role in the community.

5. The employee volunteer program brings strategic benefits to the organization and contributes to its business goals.

COMMIT to establish, support and promote an employee volunteer program that encourages the involvement of every employee, and manage the employee volunteer program like any other business function.

Why: Making an organizational commitment to the program is essential for its success and longevity.

How: Allocate sufficient resources to develop, manage, and sustain successful employee volunteer efforts. Manage the employee volunteer program with a business plan. Conduct evaluations of program to determine its effect on the company, employees, and the community.

6. The employee volunteer program is designed with a work plan including goals, resources, a promotional plan and recognition strategies, evaluation, etc.

7. The employee volunteer program is employee-driven and has input from senior management and community members.

8. The employee volunteer program is supported with policies and practices that encourage optimum participation.

9. The employee volunteer program is managed to bring value to the organization. Value can be gained through team-building, employee leadership development, family-included events, enhanced community relationships, strengthened business relationships, etc.

10. The employee volunteer program is evaluated to determine the outcomes that it brings to the company, employees and the community.

TARGET: community service efforts at serious social problems in the community.

Why: Targeted volunteer efforts at community social problems will bring tangible results and outcomes for the program, employees, and the community.

How: Survey employees to determine their interests on which serious social problems they would like to work. Focus employee volunteer programs so that they address serious social problems. Analyze results from regular evaluations with nonprofit partners and employees to determine the program’s outcome.

11. The employee volunteer program has a focus on addressing serious social problems.

12. The organization develops employee volunteer partnerships with local businesses, nonprofits, or grassroots agencies to leverage resources to meet serious, systemic social problems in the community. The result being that both the organization and the community view the employee volunteer program as a resource for the community.

13. The employee volunteer program engages in increasing its nonprofit partners’ capacities of skills and resources to work toward their missions.

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Once Upon a Time the Magic Kingdom Was Full of Royal Volunteers

Friday, April 27th, 2012

April 22-29 is a very special week for many reasons. Not only do Earth Day, Arbor Day, William Shakespeare’s birthday, and National Pretzel Day occur, but it is also National Princess Week!

Of course we are all princesses at heart, so put on your tiara and celebrate the kingdom you have made because it is your week to shine!

What else can you do to celebrate this royal week? Volunteer with the original Disney princesses! Didn’t know they volunteered? Good thing you are sticking with us.

Snow White: When Snow White is not busy keeping up with her 7 little friends, she is busy promoting health issues! Back in 1937, Snow White was fed a very bad apple by her an evil Queen, and almost died! Since the horrific event, Snow White has made her passion in life community health education. She has donated 5 million hours of community service to her organization Prevent Bad Apples whose focus is safe food storage and healthy eating habit learning.

Cinderella: Cinderella spent her teens as an indentured servant to her stepmother. She lived a life of poverty and economic turmoil. One day, Cinderella’s life changed completely when she met Prince Charming. Since Cinderella became a princess, she has dedicated her life to helping the young girls in need. Cinderella founded the organization Operation Glass Slipper. Her organization is dedicated to donating prom dresses to girls from low income homes.

 

Ariel: Although Ariel left her world under the sea for Eric, she made it her mission to protect the world’s oceans. Ariel developed The Triton Foundation after her father. Ariel’s foundation focuses on protecting ocean wildlife from pollution. Since its founding in 1989, The Triton Foundation has taken over 700 tons of trash out of the Atlantic!

 

Belle: Belle found her community calling thanks to her beast-like boyfriend. Belle took her inspiration from teaching the Beast how to love into teaching low-income students. She has established many charter schools across the magic kingdom thanks to her foundation Beauty and the Pencil. Belle has changed schools from failing to soaring thanks to her donations and educational resources. Her organization currently operates 13 different schools!

 

Jasmine: Jasmine began her life as a privileged princess who did not understand the meaning of hard work. After she met her husband Aladdin, her whole world changed. Aladdin showed her that hard work and poverty are a daily reality. Jasmine made working with the homeless her life goal thanks to her organization A Whole New World. A Whole New World focuses on housing projects for homeless families. Since its founding in 1995, they have housed over 300 families!

Mulan: Mulan is a princess on a mission! After helping her country’s army defeat the Huns, Mulan could not get enough of fighting for good! Mulan decided to turn her brave fight toward disaster preparedness. In 2000, Mulan founded The Ping Foundation, named after her army alter ego. The Ping Foundation focuses on disaster clean up, specifically relief efforts in Asia. When Mulan is not focused on disaster recovery, she enjoys teaching communities about the importance of emergency preparedness plans.

 

When the Disney princesses are not busy at The Magic Kingdom, they are dedicated to community service! Celebrate your inner Disney princess by volunteering.

 

Need an idea? Check out our volunteering resources and opportunities so that you can volunteer like a Disney princess to!

 

Are you a dedicated philanthropist? We would love to hear about it! Share with us in the comments section below.  

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National Volunteer Week Project Linked to Tropical Storm Irene

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

National Volunteer Week Service ProjectDid you volunteer during National Volunteer Week last week? If so, we want to thank you! National Volunteer Week was an incredible celebration of people doing extraordinary things through service. Celebrate the spirit of National Volunteer Week all year at the Points of Light webpage.

Today’s post is written by Diana O’Neill, executive director of the Long Island Volunteer Center. O’Neill’s account originally appeared on the Points of Light blog.

I am the executive director of the all-volunteer Long Island Volunteer Center, an affiliate of HandsOn Network. Volunteeringinamerica.gov continues to rank New York last in the nation, and we were named a regional volunteer center to help raise the profile of volunteerism and increase the number of volunteers in the region.

One of our National Volunteer Week service projects had all the right ingredients to create a memory marker. It was accomplished in honor of our beloved Founder and President, Joan Imhof, who we lost in December after a brief illness. Board member, Dave Okorn, who heads the Long Island Community Foundation, donated the funds to the Suffolk County United Veterans Project, which helps homeless veterans on Long Island. We refurbished the grounds of a group home and cleared debris caused by Tropical Storm Irene. The project was done in conjunction with a corporate community service initiative we support, and that Joan helped create 20 years ago, called Long Island Volunteer Enterprise. It was serendipity from start to finish – we even learned that our efforts fell neatly into the Keep America Beautiful Project!

Here is how the day in Shirley, N.Y. unfolded:

The backyard team consisted of Warren Ferry of United Methodist Church Disaster Volunteers leading the effort to clear out debris with the help of my brother-in-law who has a strong desire to help veterans. Dave brought a friend to help rake while he cut down tree limbs. In the front, were members of the corporate initiative representing Deloitte, Peoples Federal Credit Union, JMC Enterprises and MTA Transit Solutions as well as our co-sponsor, United Way of Long Island, Joan’s daughter, Meg Imhof Callinan, and her two children, Jackie and Michael, lent their support by helping to clean out and weed flower beds, plant flowers and plants, and rake the side yard of debris.

There were 17 of us doing our part to beautify the area, improve the life circumstances of homeless veterans and remember a great humanitarian who founded an organization dedicated to volunteerism – a “trifecta” of good. It was a collaborative, voluntary effort which recognized the sacrifice of our veterans and helped clean-up from the wrath of Tropical Storm Irene.

Click on the link to view more highlights from National Volunteer Week.

Click on this link to learn more about Points of Light & HandsOn Network disaster services.

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4 Ideas to Help Mobilize Volunteers

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Today’s post comes from Gregg Michaelsen, Fundraising Consultant at Simple Fundraising Ideas. Gregg specializes in providing unique fundraising ideas for non-profit organizations.  Check out his site at http://simple-fundraising-ideas.com/ to get ideas on how you can raise funds for your organization.

I love setting up fundraisers.  There’s something fulfilling about them especially if the fundraiser is for a great cause.  If you have the right fundraising ideas, setting up a fundraiser is actually very easy.  After all, you just need to let people know that you need help for your cause.

Do you want to know the hard part?  It’s finding volunteers.  I’ve long faced the fact that people are busy.  They have their own responsibilities.  We can’t blame them if they’d rather perform their responsibilities that spend some time volunteering.

You don’t have to worry because there are still a lot of people who will be more than willing to help.  These are the people that have set aside time and resources just so they can help out your cause.  Needless to say, you have to make it worth their time and effort.

This is a common scenario.  The volunteers can’t perform their tasks because your organization wasn’t able to come up with the funds needed.  It’s really unfortunate to see volunteers that have nothing to eat or drink.  It’s unfortunate when they have to cough up their own money so in addition to donating their time and effort, they’re also donating money.  There’s nothing wrong with this if it’s their choice.  But if they’re forced to pay for their own transportation to and from different venues, that’s something that should be addressed.

This is why I came up with ideas that can help mobilize volunteers.

1. Team up with a local restaurant for the meals of your volunteers.

A lot of restaurants are more than willing to help in their own special way.  What better way to do it than to provide for the meals of the volunteers?  Approach the restaurants in the area and tell them that you’re offering them a unique opportunity to help out.  I personally like approaching pizzerias and a lot of them are more than willing to donate several boxes of pizza.  In return of the free meals, you can place a small banner in the fundraiser’s venue with the restaurant’s information on it.

2. Donate a van.

Look for someone who’s willing to lend his or her own van.  This is to make sure that the volunteers can go anywhere as needed without worrying about their transportation.

3. Use discount cards.

This is another favorite of mine.  Team up with a supermarket and hand out discount cards to your volunteers.  They’ll get discounts when they use the card for their purchases and the supermarket gets additional businesses.  In addition, the cards should accumulate points that you can later on convert to cash for additional funds for your organization.

4. Give volunteers allowance.

Now, this is not in any way payment for their services.  That will defeat the whole purpose of volunteerism.  This is just a small amount of “pocket money” just in case they need to buy something related to the fundraiser.  This way, they don’t need to spend their own money.

With these tips, you can easily mobilize volunteers and they’ll actually enjoy volunteering.  This is very important so they will volunteer again for your next fundraiser.

Check out these fundraising ideas to raise a lot of funds so you’ll have the funds needed to mobilize your volunteers.  Remember, their success is your success.

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10 Ways to Serve the Planet this Earth Day!

Friday, April 20th, 2012

Spring is in full force! And with it comes Earth Day, a celebration of the day the modern environmental movement was born. Our friends at Earth Day Network are celebrating with acts of service, so why shouldn’t we? Read on to discover how you can serve on Earth Day this Sunday!

Go local Consider participating in a in a local environmental festival or event. If your community doesn’t have one, why not organize one? There is no better time than Earth Day to start a recycling competition at work or organize a cleanup day in your community!

Conserve water Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth. Adjust your sprinklers so they don’t run in the middle of the day when the sun will simply absorb it. If you have a dishwasher, only run it when the machine is full. If you wash by hand, consider filling one side of the sink to wash in rather than leaving the faucet running. A few simple adjustments can make a world of different on your water footprint!

Pledge an Act of Green Earth Day Network has set a goal of a billion Acts of Green. Be it big or small, pledge to do something good for the environment today!

Grow your own produce We encourage your to get out and embrace this beautiful spring weather, by starting your own garden. In addition for being good for the environment, food from one’s own garden just seems to taste better! Not sure how to get started? Check out our post on community gardens.

 E-cycle Recycle and/or properly dispose of electronic waste such as computers and other gadgets. Dell, Hewlett Packard, Apple, and IBM, among others, offer recycling programs. Add e-cycling to your spring cleaning list!

Support your National Parks Volunteering at a National Park is a great way to spend Earth Day. Contribute to everyone’s enjoyment of the great outdoors while enjoying it yourself! The United States Forest Service has plenty of volunteer opportunities to get you started.

Pass on gas Take public transportation, carpool, plan your day to reduce trips and vehicle emissions. Consider using human powered modes of transportation to get from place to place! Walk, jog, skip, ride a bike instead.

Conserve energy Turn off lights and electronics when you leave the room. Unplug your cell phone charger from the wall when not using it. Turn off energy strips and surge protectors when not in use (especially overnight).

Go zero Log on to the Conservation Fund’s Carbon Zero Calculator and in less than five minutes, you can measure and then offset your carbon dioxide emissions by planting trees.

Spread the word Do you use social media? If you have friends and followers, consider loaning some of your social media updates to raise awareness of World Water Day. Social media is a powerful tool, and you may very well incite your friends to action!

How do you plan to celebrate Earth Day on April 22? Let us know in the comments below!

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