Social Responsibility - Good sites and resources

[Andy R]

Besides U2 being one of my favorite bands one of the things that attracted me to Interference was Bono's plight to bring awareness to the issues in Africa. Although I have short hair, I consider myself a green hippy kind of guy deep inside and think it's important that we all work to be socially responsible. When I use the phrase social responsibility I mean it in a pretty broad way. I mean being green (using less energy, trying to recycle, etc), helping other people in your local community and also raising awareness about global issues.

As Interference evolves (mostly the home page content) I'd like to feature more good things people are doing to help make our world a better place. That being said, if you know good links to sites that are on any socially responsible topics, please post them here. We will ended up writing a full article and also trying to partner with many of these sites so we can help each other bring awareness to the viewers of our sites.

Thanks in advance for your help...

 

[AngelofHarlem01]

Here's a bunch of different ones

AfricaAction.org
TomsShoes
Kiva.org

United Nations Online Volunteering

GreenDaily.com
CoolCities.us
Defenders of Wildlife

 

[The_Edge89]

These are just some mixed charities mostly U2 related in one way or another. I hope they are of use to somebody.

ONE | FrontPage
EDUN clothing: socially conscious fashion from Ali Hewson and Bono supporting Africa and the developing world
Music Rising
Oxfam International : United for a more equitable world
Make Trade Fair - Oxfam International
Amnesty International | Working to Protect Human Rights
Home | Greenpeace International
http://www.joinred.com
Data.org - Debt AIDS Trade Africa
African Well Fund - Building Hope One Well At A Time
Official Chernobyl Children's Project, Donate Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Charity, Adi Roche, Relief, Humanitarian Aid For Chernobyl Children, Charitable Donations for Chernobyl Children - Chernobyl Children's Project International
Make Poverty History
War Child International - Home page
http://www.wwf.org/

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Heifer International: Charitable Gift Giving that Makes a Difference | Heifer International

Play Pumps: http://www.playpumps.org

 

[Andy R]

Great, thanks for posting those. Now we need to find some volunteers to help review and write Bios on these organizations. In a perfect world we could then contact them and show them the Bio and create some banner ads for them to put in the rotation here on Interference. I am really excited to see how we can leverage our community to bring even more awareness to these great causes. If you are interested in volunteering (as much or little as your time allows) please send me a PM.

 

[big-mad-drongo]

There's also Doctors Without Borders.

Also, Pants to Poverty, which I don't know anything about but was featured on the BBC News website recently.

If you are interested in volunteering (as much or little as your time allows) please send me a PM.

Only premier members can do that.

 

[Sicy]

You can also email him at andy @ socialknowledge.net

 

[sue4u2]

Would it also be beneficial to post sites or organizations we know to be scams or not living up to who/what they say they are?
Or is there a better place for visitors or others - to interference, that can check out scumbag like this?

 

[Andy R]

Only premier members can do that.

For now please send me an email as Sicy posted andy @ socialknowledge.net (remove the spaces). I hope we can open up PMs for regular members soon though.

Would it also be beneficial to post sites or organizations we know to be scams or not living up to who/what they say they are?

Or is there a better place for visitors or others - to interference, that can check out scumbag like this?

Maybe we can search for a site that is good for reporting scummy/scammy charities and write an article about it but I'd rather see us keep things on the positive side of things. There is enough bad news out there, lets try to focus on the good stuff here.

 

[big-mad-drongo]

Maybe we can search for a site that is good for reporting scummy/scammy charities and write an article about it but I'd rather see us keep things on the positive side of things. There is enough bad news out there, lets try to focus on the good stuff here.

That sounds safer. Let some other website get the threats of legal action for libel if a charity doesn't agree!

Are you just wanting to deal with charities, or also socially responsible businesses? One that springs to mind, unless it's changed drastically since the owner's death, is the Body Shop.

And also ACCION International and the Grameen Bank with their system of microloans for the poor.

Are you thinking about concentrating mostly on Africa or do you want to include organisations which help out anywhere in the world?

How long should these articles be? The standard 500 word sort of thing or do you want something more detailed?

 

[AngelofHarlem01]

Here's a bunch of different ones

AfricaAction.org
TomsShoes
Kiva.org

United Nations Online Volunteering

GreenDaily.com
CoolCities.us
Defenders of Wildlife

Here's another one to add to the list:

OneLaptopPerChild

More information on the organization: Here

I saw the founder giving an interview on tv a few months back and it seems like a really cool project. The computer they've designed for the kids is extraordinary!

 

[lynnok]

This is an organization I have some experience with:

Vacations For Veterans is a nonprofit organization created to provide recently wounded veterans of the United States Armed Forces with a week of free lodgings donated by a vacation homeowner.

Support Wounded Veterans

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Nothing but nets: Home | Nothing But Nets Campaign

 

[Andy R]

Are you thinking about concentrating mostly on Africa or do you want to include organisations which help out anywhere in the world?

Anywhere in the world is fine. The goal is just to try and help bring some exposure and props to all these fine organizations who help make the world a better place. They could be here in the USA, Africa, or anywhere else.

How long should these articles be? The standard 500 word sort of thing or do you want something more detailed?

500 words sounds great but even smaller blog like posts (two paragraph summary of a new article, website review will also work).

The plan right now is to develop our u2.interference.com portal and get that dialed in and a team in place to manage that over time. After that is done we have some work on the InterMedia section of the site and after that is done it will be time to create the Social Responsibility portal. We are going to need to build a team of people to manage this section (just like the other sections will have). We will need editors, writers, bloggers, etc.

So this thread is just like an early brainstorming session for what will become a new section of our site where we feature how we (the people of our earth) work to make our planet better.

 

[sue4u2]

Maybe we can search for a site that is good for reporting scummy/scammy charities and write an article about it but I'd rather see us keep things on the positive side of things. There is enough bad news out there, lets try to focus on the good stuff here.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[hiphop]

Andy that´s cool.

From Granada, Nicaragua:

Esperanza de Granada Free volunteering organisation
Casa de los Tres Mundos

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

This story was on my local news last night and it brought me to tears. This organization is called Joey's Toybox, and was started by a 9-year old boy named Joey who is suffering from Cancer. His goal is to provide toys for all children suffering from Cancer in Children's Hospitals in Atlanta. Here is the link to his site: Joey's Toybox

 

[joyfulgirl]

Here's a great, practical site I use religiously to eliminate junk mail, specifically catalogs. If you don't want to receive a certain catalog either for environmental reasons or because you receive multiple copies, you can take care of it here. I have not gotten one catalog that I opted out of receiving since I put it on the list. I opted out of the Design Within Reach catalog just now (much as I love it ) which made me think of it. It's best to have the catalog in front of you so you can fill in the customer code number.


Catalog Choice - Eliminate unwanted catalogs you receive in the mail

 

[A stor]

Here are a couple of Fair Trade websites for shopping that I know of. They have some beautiful items. And all of the artisans are adults and are payed a living wage. They will even send you a free catalogue, if you live in the United States or Canada.

A Greater Gift fair trade gifts and chocolate

Fair Trade | Catholic Relief Services

If anyone knows of some more. Please post them.

 

[bonoz]

I like sports and I like charity; this organization combines my passions:

Right To Play: Right To Play International

 

[ouizy]

Stufish | Mark Fisher Studio