Month completed: December 2011

We Are What We Do is a not-for-profit organisation whose main purpose is encouraging people to make behavioural changes that benefit the wider community.

One of their initiatives is a book called ‘Change the world for a fiver‘, which is a collection of simple things that anyone can do to make a positive difference.

A great initiative indeed, and so I thought it would be great to do five things from the book (there are 50 things in total).

Here’s what I did:

1. I donated my spare change

I took all my copper coins down to a Coinstar machine at Sainsbury’s. It was quite a heavy bag. The receipt tells the story. 631 coins for a grand total of £14.49 (might not sound a lot, but imagine if everyone donated that much).

After you put in all the coins, and the final tally is calculated, you have the option to take the money as bigger denominations or donate to one of several different charities. I went for the latter option. My reward was just getting rid of those 600+ pesky coins!

2. I recycled my old clothing

I am a hoarder by nature. Old clothes, even ones that I haven’t worn for years, and don’t fit anymore, I tend to hold on to (you never know when they might be needed!).

So I decided this would be a very useful one to do (albeit a bit painful). Two garbage bags worth of clothes were taken down to our local charity shop, hopefully to find a nice second home.

3. I became an organ donor

One of the good things about the book is that it doesn’t suggest what you could do, but how you should do it too. If you want to become an organ donor too, here’s the UK link and here’s the Australian link.

4. I wrote to two people who have inspired me

In fact, I not only wrote to them, I also interviewed them this blog. Kyle MacDonald (aka the One Red Paperclip guy) and Sean Ogle are two people that have created something from nothing, and anyone who has the drive to do that is inspiring in my book.

5. I fill up the kettle less

In the past, I was a bit tap-happy when filling up the kettle, meaning I boiled way more water than necessary. I now much much more of a conscious effort to just fill it to the level required and no more.

As you can see, the tasks aren’t particular difficult, and you have probably done several of the 50 in the book already.

A few others included paying extra at a charity shop, learning basic first aid, and spending a day with the elderly.

My suggestion to you – grab a copy of the book and see if you can do them all.