Project 20

EARTH DAY- GIVE A TREE

What We Did:

Planting a tree is one of the classic Earth Day projects so we came up with this project that could help encourage others to celebrate Mother Earth by growing something green.  We have some very large Coast Live Oaks growing by our house whom's acorns have produced many seedlings this year.  The seedlings wouldn't have survived the gardeners whacker much longer so we re-potted about 16 Oak seedlings into plantable pots.  We took some to playschool to share and sent the rest with Dad to the office.  Hopefully these native trees will continue to be a source of life and happiness and, in our case, tree swings. 

How Long it Took:
45 minutes


How Much it Cost:
$6 for plantable pots.


Would We Do It Again?
Yes.  Fun, easy, hands in the dirt kind of fun.


Next Time:
Cross our fingers that we'll have have more seedlings :)

References:
http://www.earthday.org/

Project 19

ADOPTING GINGER

What We Did:

After one of our few trips to the animal shelter we decided that we wanted to try to help one of these homeless animals.  It didn't take long before we found a spunky little puppy to rescued from an unknown future.

How Long it Took:
Just a couple of hours for the adoption but with this project your in for the long haul :)

How Much it Cost:
$110 for the adoption and license.

Would We Do It Again?
Yes. It felt really good to get her out of the conditions of the selter and to provide her with a safe, physically and emotionally rich environment. As our vet put it "this dog won the puppy jackpot". The dog is happy, the kids are in love and I'm trying to become a dog person.

References:
http://www.adoptapet.com/
http://www.petfinder.com/index.html
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/adopt/tips/adopting_from_shelter_rescue.html

Project 18

ETHIOPIA READS POSTER

What We Did:

We found this brilliant program called Ethiopia Reads.  Their mission is "to create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books".  One of the ideas that the program has listed a way that we can help is to make posters of the front cover of a favorite book to hang in their library.  Since we don't have a favorite family book we took a fun trip to our library to explore some of the classics, especially those with simple cover designs.  After we read many books the kids choose their favorite and got to work painting the poster board blue.  I did all of the rest (see Would We Do It Again below :) We are going to laminate the poster and send it off.

How Long it Took:
4-5 hrs.

How Much it Cost:
$1 for the poster board.  We used paint that we already had.

Would We Do It Again?
I'm going to have to say no, at least not with the expectation of it being a much of a family project.  After the initial painting fun nobody was into the project except for me.  Ruby painted the letters a little bit but was done in 5 minutes.

I had a good time though :)

Next Time:
Wait a few years.
References:
This site has a list of 20 ways that we can help Ethiopia Reads locally. 
http://www.ethiopiareads.org/help/community
http://www.ethiopiareads.org/home

Project 17

HEARTS FOR HAITI

What We Did:

We wanted to try to raise a bit of money for Haiti in their time of need, so we created little Valentine's Day  flower pots to sell.  We painted some aluminum cans and tied a strip of scrap fabric around each and then hot glued  small painted cardboard hearts onto the fabric.  We drilled some dain holes in the bottom and planted a spring flower in each. The signs are just painted cardboard cutout hears taped to bbq skewers.  We set the flower pots up for donation before and after church.

How Long it Took:
This one took a while.  With the help of my sister and her pre-teen kids our family managed the whole thing in about 3-4 hrs.

How Much it Cost:
$4 for the flowers.  We raised $38 for Haiti :)

Would We Do It Again?
We would.  We all felt good about creating something beautiful together and raising some money for people in need.

Next Time:I'd make location arrangements earlier and give advanced notice to the buying audience.  I think this would be a fun idea for Easter and plant wheatgrass.  Maybe try to set up next to a Farmer's Market?

References:
http://www.uusc.org/content/major_earthquake_devastates_haiti_uusc_uua_launch_relief_fund

Project 16

LESS TRASH- For one week

What We Did:
After watching another week of the garbages truck going up and down our street we decided to try to not buy anything that would end up in a landfill for one week.  We felt that we could serve Mother Earth (including all of those that rely on her) by consuming less waste and reducing the effect of their production. We tried to include all package groceries, toys, products, to-go containers, ect.

How Long it Took:
A few minutes or thinking ahead, creative improvising and however long it took us to get over going without.

How Much it Cost:
This one saves you money :)

Would We Do It Again?
Yes.  This service project made us much more mindful of the amount of trash that we produce and helped us find more creative ways to reduce our waste and be kind to the earth. Ruby said that she really liked this project but didn't want to do it again for a while :)

Next Time:
Be OK with inconsistancies!

References:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill

Project 15

BEGGING HIS BREAD

What We Did:

On the way home from the park we drove past a elderly man begging for money.  The man reminded us of Giovanni from The Clown of God and we felt like we could help, if only a little.  We drove home and filled a bag with some nurishment (oranges, almonds, raisins, rice milk and some cookie dough from the fridge) for this man.  Ruby and Max also wanted to include some money from their allowance.  I through in some toothpaste and floss but sheepishly pulled them out with the almonds and raisons when we realized he didn't have any teeth.

How Long it Took:
20 minute

How Much it Cost:
A few things from our cupboard and $3.25.


Would We Do It Again?
Yes, keeping in mind what we learned this time.


Next Time:
Many people begging do not have many teeth, so nuts and raisons are worthless to them.  In the future I'd love to have a few little kits already assembled in our car to hand out to people begging. 


References:

Project 14

RECYCLE KIDS ART PROJECTS

Recycle Kids Art Projects Into Children's Hospital Greeting Cards

What We Did:

Oh, what to do with those wonderfully artistic pictures that you don't want to throw away but --wow -- how many can you save?  With three little kids we have a large stash.  So this idea is one of my new favorites. We transformed 4 paintings into 10 colorful greeting cards for children in the hospital.  I wrote "inspiring" messages on the inside of the cards and the kids added some more color.  We followed the instructions on making approprate cards for patients at  the Los Angeles Children's Hospital and dropped them in the mail to hopefully brighten a child's day.

How Long it Took:
Maybe about an four five minutes with cutting included.

How Much it Cost:
$2.40 on postage

Would We Do It Again?
Yes! . . . I just love the idea of a young patient getting a little card sent up to their room with their meal.  It was supper easy, rewarding for all of us, inexpensive and it cuts down on clutter.  We took digital photos of their work just so it wasn't too hard to let go of.

Next Time:

References:
I'm sure that most Children' Hospitals have similar programs.  I have a fondness, for many reasons, to this one in L.A.
http://www.chla.org/site/c.ipINKTOAJsG/b.4952897/k.93A4/Greeting_Cards_for_Patients.htm