A little goes a long way..

Assalaamualaikum..

First up, thank you to Atikah Yusof for her enthusiasm and interest =) Alhamdulillah..

She asked for some simple tips on how to support worthy causes, charities, etc. So here it goes!

 Tip top tips to get started!

TIP 1

Do what is easy for you - To hear and see others put an effort to give back to the community/environment, inspires us to do the same. And when the upsurge of motivation rides us, we want to get on board, NOW.

A second later though, we think again, 'Wait a sec, I don't have a car to go to the recycling center nor the opportunity to go to charity events. I'm on a tight budget and time just always seem to be against me.'

Here's a quote for ya.

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll get, what you've always got" - Anthony Robbins

The trick is to do what you've always done, but do it differently.

Example:

a) What you do with your time online. Most of us catch up on facebook, go through new photos on tumbler, read our friend's blogs, skype, gaming, some do their research on assignments or follow up on world news and etc. We use the internet for leisure, academics and business. But we rarely use it or think of it as a way to give back to the community, help charity work or support environmental efforts.

Spend a few minutes to search for some sites that are trustworthy, such as The World Wildlife Fund, The Red Cross, GreanPeace, etc. If you come across new organisations that you've never heard of, browse a lil' through their site to get a vibe of their goals and agenda. Then, do what you can! May it be giving your name to be included in a petition or supporting a campaign or spreading the word or doing simple online activities.

b) Separate your trash and chuck the recyclables at your nearest recycle bin.

c) Keep a foldaway recyclable lil' bag in your handbag or bag. I use mine as a keychain so it goes everywhere with me! Aren't they cute?

I bought mine at Jusco, though you can buy these at souvenir shops, art shops, Giant and even at some top quality pasar malam.So the next time you purchase something, kindly decline the plastic bag, just whip this out and tadaaaa...! Intsant bag out of nowhere 0.0

d) Turn your lights off when you leave a room

e) Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth

f) Use a biodegradable plastic bag for your rubbish bin. Its only a teeny bit more pricy.

g) For those who have a printer at home, buy two types of paper. A cheaper, thinner 70gsm, 60gsm or even 50gsm paper and a heavier, better quality 80gsm paper. Use the 70gsm paper for test printing or light printing work and use the 80gsm paper for important documents and for double sided printing.

h) support 'Green' products and companies.

i) when photocopying simple notes or work just for your reference, ask to photocopy in 'image com'. 2 original papers will be copied on a one side of a paper, half for each original page. And if you ask for back and front photocopy, 4 original papers will be photocopied on a single piece of paper, 2 on each side of the paper. Yeah, that sounds a lil' confusing, sorry. It might take a second thought to figure it out, haha. Give it a go though. The writing will obviously be smaller but still readable. It'll save ink and paper! Kill two birds with one stone =)

And there are lots more things you can do. InsyaAllah, I'll post when I can. The point is, whichever one you choose to do, do what feels easy for you. Don't overwhelm yourself. You don't have to straight away join a charity society or go to an orphanage or drive to recycle centres or do hours of voluntary work. Start with baby steps and we move on from there. Fit in these new little changes in your daily routine.

Simple changes, a little effort here and there, will snowball into a real positive difference for this world.

Hope this was helpful! More to come, God willing.



Assalaamualaikum..