Tag Archive for share

Prepare and Share for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is almost here and you don’t have a gift for your Special Person.  Why not choose a gift that says, “Let’s share our love!”  Present Sweetie with something that benefits a group or cause.  Many companies dedicate proceeds from the sale of certain products to fighting cancer, preventing domestic violence, or helping victims of disasters.   Others offer “fair trade” products–food items, for example, whose production has been overseen to ensure that workers have not been enslaved or mistreated.   Possible gifts include cosmetics, gloves, scarves, T-shirts, fitness aids (exercise mats, heart-rate monitor watch, etc.), lunch boxes, coffee, and chocolate. 

For the “I Don’t Wanna Garden” Person

Want a garden but don’t have space? Or have space but don’t know how to garden? Consider sharing a garden.  Go to www.sharedearth.com to learn how

[For more easy, money-saving, Earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

 

Expand Your Hobby this Season

We’re getting into the season of love, when we feel the urge to give and share and make the lives of others brighter. We buy gifts for loved ones and give money to charities. We may even break our long-standing rule and give a buck to the homeless person standing outside the grocery store.

But we can also personalize and humanize our help.  Someone who knits or sews for relaxation can make items for a specific charity (new, handmade items are a treat).  When you cook your specialty, double up and take the extra to someone who is sick or living alone.  Bake your favorite cookies, muffins, or scones to take to a shelter.  Go to the movies often?  Brighten the life of someone on limited income by treating him sometime, explaining that you’ll enjoy it more in his company.   Like gardening?  Help an elderly or disabled person plant a small, manageable garden at her home, then stop by often to admire its progress.  If you unwind by doing auto repairs, volunteer to help get that laid-off neighbor’s car into running order.

The key is this: figure out what you do as a hobby, then share.  You’ll find it more enjoyable—and more fulfilling—than ever before.

 

Time to Enjoy

This Sunday morning we turn our clocks back.  What will we do with the extra hour we’ve gained?  Why not share it with someone who doesn’t necessarily consider time a friend, like that neighbor or acquaintance who is too ill or shy to get out much.  We can spend time feeding hungry families at a kitchen, gathering food for local food pantries that serve them, visiting veterans at the VA, bringing a picnic lunch and conversation to Aunt Sally at the nursing home.  Or give that extra hour exclusively to our children, playing, reading, or just being together.  Or nurture our marriage with an uninterrupted hour together, being present to each other. Through that one hour, we won’t let stress, overwork, or other pressures interfere with our relationships. In short, rather than waste that morsel of extra time we can use it to enjoy and share the gift of life.

 

Earth Tip: Bike-Share…or Just Bike

So what if five San Francisco Bay Area cities, including San Jose (http://www.vta.org/bike_information/bike_sharing.html) and San Francisco(http://www.sfbike.org/?bikeshare), are launching their bike-share program?  Well, it encourages us to leave our car behind and rent a bike for an hour or a day while we run  errands, go sightseeing, or whatever. (More details can be found at http://bayareabikeshare.com.)

This reminded me of some figures I ran into some time ago about what would happen if all Americans aged 10-74 walked or biked half an hour a day instead of driving: we would save 6.5  billion gallons of gas and lose 3 billion pounds off our bodies.

Something to think about…and try.

Leaf 6

 
[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]