Social Action Month Emails 2006

To see the replies and comments we have received from the emails please click here.

To see the emails from 2005 please click here.

If you wish to receive these emails, please email steeno@habodror.org.uk

If you have feedback or a story for us regarding these emails please email steeno@habodror.org.uk

There is now a forum on the message board to discuss these emails - please visit!   Click here!

Day

Day 1 - Plastic Bag Recycling

Hello Everyone,  

Who can believe it is a year since the last social action month! Over the next month we are going to send you a small daily task to do that will not take too much time, but will make a difference to the world in one way or another. We are sending this e-mail to over 1000 people daily from current children in the movement, parents, everyone else that has been connected with Habonim Dror in the past and friends of the movement. We would like any feedback you have from this scheme, from good/bad to suggesting different ideas for social action e-mails. If you are not interested in participating in this scheme or receive this e-mail more than once, drop us  an email and we will remove your details from our social action database. The person that does the most social action e-mails and gives feedback on their good deeds will get a very special prize, so good luck.  

Wishing you all the best  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers 2006/07      

Day 1 - Plastic Bag Recycling  

Did you know that we make and use twenty times more plastic bags than we did just over twenty years ago?    

The main problem with plastic is that it takes between 500-1000 years to bio degrade and without any change in our habits will continue to be manufactured and people will continue to throw away bags more and more, which is killing the environment.  

There are several suggestions for combating this problem of over usage of bags:  

1. Say no to a plastic bag, wherever possible I.e if you are just buying a sandwich and a can  

2. Re-use your old plastic bags. You can buy bag's for life at most supermarkets, you can also use old bags and take them back with you. I know that Tesco offer green points to you if you re-use old bags.  

3. Buy a real shopping bag, for example we use a rucksack to put all our shopping in.  

4. Recycle your old bags. Again I know you can recycle at Tesco, but if you go to www.recyclenow.org.uk you can type in your postcode and then search for types of recycling and you can find out where the nearest one to you is.      

For more information visit www.wasteonline.org.uk

To view the replies we have had for Day 1 click here.

Day 2 - Get a Charity (Tzedakah) Box

Afternoon all,  

Day two of social action month today, thanks to everyone that responded to us yesterday. As always it was lovely to get your feedback's, and soon we will be putting all the social action tasks and the feedback on the website: www.habodror.org.uk, and you can also debate about various matters on the social action section of the message board. We will keep the feedback anonomus so dont worry mum ill cut out all the mushy stuff! Please continue to give feedback as it is always good to hear what you thought of the task; is it something you considered, have you been doing that anyway, do you not agree with the task etc etc. Hold your suspense no more, here is the task of the day.............    

Day 2 - Get A Charity (Tzedakah) Box    

Last year we focused on giving Tzedakah, when you were out shopping and with the few pence change left over put it in the charity box (if you agree with the charity). Obviously we want you all to put your spare change into charity boxes - did you know that 1p per person per week adds up to about £30m - but this year we are going to take it one step further.  

This year we want you to go call or go into a charity of your choice and ask for a Tzedakah box to keep in your house, so if you are like me and you have lots of loose change lying around, you can stick it in the box and then everyone is a winner. The charity has more money, you have done a good deed and you tidy your house in the process  -Genious!  

If you get a Tzedakah box then we would love to see a picture, send us pictures of you with your Tzedakah box.  

Have a great day

To view the replies we have had for Day 2 click here.

Day 3 - Donate Toys to a Kids Hospital

Good Afternoon Social Actioners,  

Good job to all of those that replied yesterday saying they had or were going to have charity boxes in their homes, it is always encouraging to see people being active in the community. If you would like to see this years e-mails or feedback or last years please go to www.habodror.org.uk. Keep the comments coming in, nothing makes us happier than when we hear from you guys, so take a sec and reply to us if you have the time. We have social action e-mails ready, but if any of you would like us to cover something then please e-mail ideas to this address and we will try and include as many ideas as possible.  

We would all like to wish you a lovely day  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers      

Day 3 - Donate Toys to a Kids Hospital      

Many of us currently have toys, games consoles, and computers, etc but remember the good old days when we played with “my little pony” or Lego for days on end? (I know, I’m showing my age). Well if you are like me, you will still have all your old favourites (Lego,cars,scalextrix and a few select teddies) that you will not want to part with as you would like to see your children or grandchildren play with them.  However, it is likely that you have a lot of other toys that will never be used again

Today’s task is to look out a few old toys that will not be used by the family, and if it is clean and in good condition make a child's stay in hospital that little bit better. If you don't have any toys lying round the house, but like the idea then maybe you could buy some toys to donate. I am sure you will agree that it is worth taking a few minutes out of our lives to make others lives better.

To donate you can call your local hospital to see if they accept toys you can also try football clubs as many collect toys for Christmas to give to hospitals, but here are a couple that we found in case you are struggling.

http://www.gosh.org/donate/donations_in_kind.html

www.containers4africa.com  

To view the replies we have had for Day 3 click here.

Day 4 - Discharge!

Afternoon Everybody,  

Hope you are all having a lovely day and that work is not too boring. Thanks to all the people that gave us some lovely feedback yesterday it is always very much appreciated. Feel free to persue our website for social action letters, tasks and feedback as well as information about meetings, camps and education updates. We are also introducing a new Hebrew podcast that you can download very soon, www.habodror.org.uk.  

We would like to request that you forward this on to us many people as you can so once more we can hit a target of 10,000 people receiving this e-mail every day. It will only take each person forwarding this on to five friends everyday, alternatively if you wish to send us the e-mails of people that will be interested we would be delighted. We will only use this information for Social Action month and not other Habonim Dror activities unless requested.  

We hope you have a great day and look forward to hearing from you in the future.  

Lots of love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 4 - Discharge!  

Whatever happened to saying to someone you would meet them at a certain time at a certain place and people kept arrangements, or people called each others houses more, the answer - mobile phones.  

I would guess that everyone on this e-mail list has at least one mobile phone and all phones need to be charged when they run out of battery. The main problem of charging phones is the amount of time the charger remain in the socket after the phone is already charged, wasting energy and money.  

Today's task is simple, when your phone is fully charged, take the charger out of the socket, and when the phone is not charging at all make sure the plug is out the socket.  

For more information on energy saving go to www.suncharger.co.uk or www.wasteonline.org.uk

To view the replies we have had for Day 4 click here.

Day 5 - Gifts

Shalom one n all! 

Hope you are keeping well and looking forward to what will hopefully be a well earned weekend!  Don’t worry; Steeno hasn’t left us – this is simply my job for the weekend whilst he trains up our new eager madrichim (leaders) this weekend.  Please keep all feedback and suggestions for new social actions coming – it is a chance for you to try and kick other peoples annoying habits.  For those of you that are interested we have been posting all the replies we have had at; http://www.habodror.org.uk/chinuch/socialactionreplies07.htm.  Take a look – they raise some interesting points! 

We hope that you all have a great day, and if you are not going to check your emails over the weekend – we hope you have a great Shabbat and weekend too!

Lots of love

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers

Day 5 – Gifts

As it comes up to the Chanukah / Christmas period shops are starting to advertise all their Christmas gifts and Christmas specials.  It is always nice to receive gifts, and can sometimes even be nice buying gifts – you know, when you buy someone a gift that you know they will love; it really gives you a great sense of satisfaction!

Some people in third world countries barely have enough for the basics in life, never mind receiving luxurious gifts.  There is an excellent website that has been set up that encourages you to do one of two things;

a) Buy a gift for someone you don’t know – you can choose what gift you want, from an eye test in India (£3), to a paraffin lamp for their hut (£3), to 6 coconut plants (£9) – ranging up to gifts costing thousands of pounds. 

OR

b) Next time you have your birthday, or even for Chanukah, ask people not to give you a gift, but rather to give a gift from this website on your behalf.

And that is exactly what we are encouraging you to do.  Before we spend lots of money on luxurious items, let’s ensure other people in this world have the basic means to live. 

So visit www.goodgifts.org and buy a present for someone today. 

To view the replies we have had for Day 5 click here.

Day 6 - Donate Blood

Shabbat Shalom to all,

Hope you are well and having a fun relaxing weekend.  If you are bored with not much to do today, why not have glace at our website;  www.habodror.org.uk – there is lots of different and interesting resources there!

We hope you have a great weekend.

Lots of Love,

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers. 

Day 6 - Donate Blood

Donating blood will save someone’s life and all you need to do is give up 30 minutes of your day to donate blood. It is very easy to sit back and say “well if I don’t others will”, but the fact is that there is never enough blood as more and more blood is needed.

Today we want you to find your nearest blood centre and book an appointment to give blood, when you are finished you will realise that you have done something great to help a fellow person and will make your day that little bit more special.

If you have never given blood before, you may be like me before I gave blood and be scared of the thought of needles and the process of giving blood – but after conquering my fear a year ago, I have given blood a total of 3 times, and it really is not that difficult or scary.

For more information visit www.blood.co.uk or www.scotblood.co.uk today.

To view the replies we have had for Day 6 click here.

Day 7 - Donate Your Old Specs

Shalom,

Hope you are all doing well and having a nice relaxing weekend.  Just because it is the weekend and (the majority of you) are not working, doesn’t mean we should stop being socially active in life – so keep on acting with the emails!

As usual, we welcome and appreciate all feedback, so please don’t be shy to email us back your thoughts and opinions! 

Lots of Love,

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers. 

Day 7 - Donate your old specs

There are about 200 million people that need glasses every year, but are not in a position to afford them, meaning that they are doing jobs or going through their lives without being able to see properly.

There are also about 10 million pairs of glasses that are just thrown away each year that can be given to people in the developing world.

Today’s task is:  if you are getting new glasses, recycle your old ones, or if you have an extra pair of glasses that you don't wear lying around the house, then donate these too.

Here are a couple of websites to give you more information http://www.foe.co.uk/living/tips/recycle_your_old_specs.html, http://www.reuze.co.uk/posters/reuze_glasses.pdf#search='recycle%20old%20glasses'

To view the replies we have had for Day 7 click here.

Day 8 - Stand Up For What You Believe In

Afternoon Social Actioners,

Hope you are all well and your Monday morning is not too boring or depressing! Hope you all had a lovely weekend and are looking forward to the challenges a new week brings. Please continue to keep the feedback coming, if you are doing the tasks let us know, if not why not? All feedback is on the Habonim Dror website; www.habodror.org.uk.

This Habonim Dror social action campaign is part of the Jewish Social Action Month, which happens all over the world. For more information about other projects and the month itself, please visit www.chessman.org.

Yesterday we had a few technical difficulties so if you did not get yesterdays e-mail it is at the end, after today's task.

Hope you have a great day and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Lots of Love

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers

Day 8 - Stand up for what you believe in

There are many things in the world that we do not agree with, a persons point of view, a newspaper article, a decision made by the government - these are just a few examples. The problem is that we complain about many things, but very rarely take the time to actually stand up and speak against it.

If you are against war, then why not protest, if you don't agree with an article in the Guardian then why not write a letter in response. Few people actually take measures to respond, whilst most just sit back and let someone else do the job.

This makes me think back to a well known poem from the Holocaust;

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Don't sit back and watch the world go by, stand up for what you believe in.

To view the replies we have had for Day 8 click here.

Day 9 - Buy Fair Trade

Good Afternoon Everyone,  

Someone correctly pointed out yesterday that I automatically presume that work is boring, so I apologise to all those that enjoy their work and Monday mornings!!! Great feedback so far including a couple of pictures coming through, so keep them coming into us and go to www.habodror.org.uk to see what people have thought of this scheme so far.  

Just a quick correction from yesterday as I put down the wrong link, so if you would like to see what is going on for social action month please visit www.cheshvan.org.   

Hope you all have a great day and look forward to hearing from you soon .   

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers      

Day 9 - Buy Fair Trade  

This action is another that was used in last years campaign and again we think it is that important that we are using it for a second year running. More and more people are becoming conscious of what they buy, however we want everyone when they go shopping to stop and think about the products they are putting in their baskets/trolleys.  

Fair Trade products ensure that the money goes to the people who grew the product, rather than the middle man that gets all the profit and gives back next to nothing to the farmers. Fair trade products ensure the money goes to the right people and although the products are a bit more expensive you can be safe in the knowledge that you are helping someone less fortunate in the world.  

So next time you shop, buy fair trade. For more information on fair trade visit http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/, or if you wish to buy online go to http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/ . All fair trade products will have the logo below.

To view the replies we have had for Day 9 click here.

Day 10 - Take a Walk / Public Transport

Afternoon Everyone  

Hope you are all keeping well and you are having a great day. Again thanks for all the feedback and keep it coming into us, it brightens up our day! To see all the social action feedback and all that is going on in Habo Dror for example camps, educational pieces and much much more go to www.habodror.org.uk.  

If there is anything you wish to contribute to our social action month, please feel free to send in ideas.  

Have a great day  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 10 - Take a walk/public transport    

It is very easy to get into your car and drive to the shops or work, but do any of you take a moment to think what the journey is doing to the environment. Cars may be an easy option, but this action plees with you to ditch the car for a journey and take an alternative mode of transport.  

The first method is by walking; when you are going somewhere locally for an errand and you take your cars for a two minute drive, take a walk to the shops, not only are you saving the environment but you are also getting healthy.  

If you are going slightly further then hop on a bus or a train. According to "we are what we do" a bus carries the same number of people than 40 cars put together and the bus is seven times safer.  

There is an amazing website (http://www.liftshare.org/) which allows you to find people doing the same journey as you and for you to share the costs.  

So dont just drive without thought, look for alternative methods

To view the replies we have had for Day 10 click here.

Day 11 - Recycle at Home / Work School

Good Morning Everyone,  

Hope you have all wiped the sleep out your eyes and your looking forward to another day in the office or at school. We are a third of the way through the e-mail campaign so if you have any messages for us it would be great to hear. Thanks to everyone that has replied so far, it is always nice to hear what the masses think of the e-mails we sent out. For any information on Habonim Dror feel free to go to our website www.habodror.org.uk.  

We are all travelling up to Glasgow for the Rangers vs Maccabi Haifa match so keep an eye out for us in the papers!!!  

Hope you all have a lovely day  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 11 - Recycle at Home / Work / School  

If like us you live where you work then this task halves, but for the vast majority that don't, this task is actually divided into two. There can be no doubt that people have become more conscious about waste, and recycling is becoming a normal feature in day to day live, however there are still many people that do not recycle.  

The first part of the task is to start recycling in your house. Where we live, if you call the council and ask about recycleing  they will bring round different colour bins for glass,paper and garden waste.  Then for all the other things to recycle that our council do not provide for, for example cardboard and plastic, we keep in the garage or kitchen and take it to the nearest recycling depot at our convenience. So firstly call your local council to ask what recycling schemes they have running in their area, then go to www.recyclenow.org.uk to see where your nearest recycling depots are and what you can recycle there.  

The second part of the task is to instigate change in the workplace or school. Work and school is commonly where there is the most wastage. Think about how much paper is used, and about how little gets recycled. Even if you have to shred your paper you can still recycle it afterwards. The second part of the task, therefore, is to contact the manager of your work, or head of school and ask that recycle bins are put in all around the building. If you are a manager, you have the ability to make the world that little bit better and you can be happy in the knowledge you have made your workplace that little bit more environmentally friendly.  

There you go peeps, a bigger task, but an extremely worthwhile one.

To view the replies we have had for Day 11 click here.

Day 12 - Donate Old Clothes

Hello everyone,  

We would like to start with an ammendment, after speaking with a few people it comes to light that we were incorrect when we mentioned that own brand fair trade can mix coffee with their own to make it cheaper. I can asure everyone that if it has the fair trade logo then it has been approved by the Fair Trade Foundation, so apologies for the mis-information.  

We would also like to make you aware of an event called Blackout London on Saturday 4th November. This starts at 4.30pm until 7.30pm and the event calls for the largest demonstration of people power, by turning off all lights and non-essential electrical items. The principal cause of Global Warming is the rising Carbon Dioxide emissions into the atmosphere from the burning of Fossil Fuels, for electricity generation,transport, manufacturing, industry, space heating and air conditioning. So please take part in this really worthwhile initiative.  

So then happy Friday to you all, not long till the weekend comes around for that little bit of relaxation. If you have any comments about this project - good or bad, then let us know. If you are doing any tasks then let us know how they went etc. Just a reminder that the person who has done the most task wins a prize - so there is some incentive for you! To see all the actions so far and the feedback we have had along with information about camp, Israel tour and educational pieces go to www.habodror.org.uk.  

For those interested we all went up to Glasgow last night for the Maccabi Haifa vs Rangers match, and although the game was fairly poor it was a fun atmosphere and the few hundred or so Haifa fans gave a good account of themselves. For pictures go to www.habodror.org.uk and we will stick a match report on the website for good measure by Sunday.  

As Shabbat is almost upon us I am sending 2 tasks today (like 2 portions of manna!), which are perfect for the weekend as we all have that extra little time on our hands. We would like to say Shabbat shalom to you all and we will see you on Sunday.  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 12 - Donate old clothes  

If, like me, you keep clothes "just in case I will wear it one day" you will most likely have a wardrobe full of stuff you don't wear or even know you had. Mum used to get so angry when it came to the annual "spring clean" (why spring?) and I always said, oh I didn't realise I still had that!  

Anyway there are loads of charities that look for clothes, there are charity shops and there are a couple of organisations I want to mention and you can go to their websites for more information. As an additional point, according to a few people i have spoken to, charity shops are happy to take clothes even if they are runied as they can recycle your old "threads" and get money from them.  

The first is Containers for Africa that will accept donations of clothes and games for people in Africa that are less fortunate than us. Visit www.containers4africa.com/don_clothes.htm for more information.  

Second is one I have a soft spot for as it reminds me of my nana each year when WIZO have their annual clothing sale. If you go to www.wizo.org/english then you can find out about the organisation and how to donate clothes.  

So this weekend have a scout round the house for some old classics that you no longer need.

To view the replies we have had for Day 12 click here.

Day 13 - Visit Hospitals

Day 13 - Visit Hospitals

This task  is something that will not occur to many  of us, unless we are unfortunate enough  to be in the hospital for a long-time.  The power of going to visit people in hospital, either people you know  or don't, is very underestimated.  Hospitals are very lonely places, so to go into a hospital and visit will really make a difference in someone's day.  

This task can be very overwhelming to do by yourself, so go with a friend or family.  Call your local hospital to find out visiting hours and then spend sometime in the hospital.  You will meet some very interesting people and you really will brighten up peoples day.

To view the replies we have had for Day 13 click here.

Day 14 - Recycle Old Computers

Day 14 - Recycle old computers

Many households in Britain have computers and many of us like to have the latest technology and upgrade our computers on a regular basis, especially in businesses and schools. The question has to be asked, what do you do with your old computers? Many of us have old computers lying around the house, and in businesses there will be the odd screen here or the odd keyboard there.

This action will not only help others, but also clean your workplace/home. There are many people in the developing world that don't have even the basic computers and could really benefit from the technology. Today's task is to look out any old computers that may be lying round the house and donate them to a charity.

If you go to the following websites you can find out more; http://www.computer-aid.org/home.htm and http://www.computersforcharities.co.uk/home.

To view the replies we have had for Day 14 click here.

Day 15 - Double Side

Good Morning to you all,

Hope you all had a lovely weekend, today is a double whammy for yesterday and today so hope you all enjoy. If you have any comments about the actions please let us know, we always love to hear what you have to say. Feel free to visit our website www.habodror.org.uk for all information about what's going on in the movement.

Today's actions are short and sweet so please try and do them if you have a chance. Just to let you know we have a new my space page so you can all go to http://www.myspace.com/habodror and become our friends!!

Lots of Love

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers

Day 15 - Double Side

Many of us at work or school need to print things out or photocopy, however not many people take a moment and double side their work meaning that 100% more paper gets used than is needed.

According to "change the world for a fiver" 350 million trees are cut down every year for UK offices alone. This task is really easy, if you are photocopying hit the button that says 1 to 2 side then you will half the number of sheets of paper used.

If you are printing then you can take a few minutes longer and print all the odd sides and then put the paper back in and print all the even sides (I suggest do a dummy run first to get the right order!).

So there you are, use two sides of every piece of paper - Easy!

To view the replies we have had for Day 15 click here.

Day 16 - Ethical Consumerism

Good Afternoon Social Actioners,

Although a bit nippy the sun is coming though the window of 523 Finchley Road and we are sending you another action to brighten up your day. We have had some lovely comments so if you have anything you want to say click reply and type away! For all information about Habo Dror go to www.habodror.org.uk and if you want to sign up to our new my space account go to www.myspace.com/habodror.

We are now over half way through the month and there is a clear leader in the competition to doing the most tasks. The prize is a great one so let us know what you have done so you can win!

Hope you all have a lovely day

Lots of Love

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers

Day 16 - Ethical Consumerism

We are faced with many choices in the world, we live in a consumer driven society and there are millions of companies looking to sell their products to us. It is no surprise to anyone that some companies do not "play fair" and are very unethical in all their practices.

It is very difficult to be the perfect consumer, but what we suggest is that when you are out shopping you take a minute to actually think about what you are buying and where it came from.

There are two things that can help you understand a bit more about ethical consumerism. The first is a book, which I highly recommend called the Good Shopping Guide which looks at over 700 companies and ranks them on their environmental policies, animal welfare and human rights records. Go to http://www.ethical-company-organisation.org/ and you can order the latest edition of the book.

The second website is http://www.gooshing.co.uk/ and this is a search engine that you type in what you are looking for and the engine will generate the products that are the most ethical.

It really does not take much to be an ethical consumer, don’t just buy ignorantly buy ethically.

To view the replies we have had for Day 16 click here.

Day 17 - Lobby Your MP

Hello Everyone and Good Afternoon,  

By looking at some of the general comments on the website http://www.habodror.org.uk/chinuch/socialactionreplies07.htm, it really seems that people are enjoying the campaign and we would like to say thank you to everyone that has shown us that this initiative is worthwhile. Please send us any feedback you have, all comments are welcome and we love hearing from you.  

If anyone decides that they do not want to be on the list for the scheme please let us know, we know social action is not for everyone.  

We all wish you a lovely day  

Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 17 - Lobby your MP    

There are various things in the world we do not agree with and things we are not happy about where we live, but day in day out we ignore problems and leave things up to other people to sort out. Today's action is to lobby your MP about something you are unhappy with. This could be something that has been bothering you in the area you live or can be larger problems that you feel the support of your MP could actually make a difference.  

A couple of years ago Habonim Dror participants on winter camp signed a petition to free Tenzin Teleg Rinpoche a Tibetan that was sentenced to the death penalty by the Chinese for a crime he did not commit. Habonim Dror sent the petition to our local MP urging our MP to sign a resolution. We found out days before the penalty was supposed to take place that he was no longer going to be given the penalty.  

We can do so much to help ourselves and other people, please contact your MP and lobby for something that is important to you. To find out how to contact your MP go to http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/.

To view the replies we have had for Day 17 click here.

Day 18 - Say No and Save the World

Afternoon Social Action Followers!  

Hope everyone is keeping well and your not too cold in your various cities! All is doing great in the offices and we are getting more and more feedback from people with new ideas and comments. Today's social action is contributed in by Diane who came up with the project herself, so thank you very much for your contribution. If anyone else has set up any schemes that we would be interested or has any ideas please e-mail me and we will be delighted to include them. To see updates on social action and to read past days and feedback go to www.habodror.org.uk.  

Enjoy the rest of your day  

Lots of love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers xxx    

Day 18 - Say no and save the world    

For those of you that have just said no, you have fallen into a trap that we have just set because that is not today's task (although an easy one, ill give you that!) We get so much unwanted post and free papers that we seldom read and we end up tearing them straight up and sticking in the bin (or recycling).  

This task will not only cut the amount of junk mail you receive it will also go that extra way in helping the environment. Anytime you get a mail shot (and this is the prime time of year) and it is from a company that you don't need a flyer from then go to their website and send an e-mail to customer services requesting that your name is taken off the list. For those that get a free paper, The advertiser in Manchester or The Extra in Glasgow for example) and you never read them, you can call the offices and request that you be taken off the circulation list.  

Apparently they will not always stop immediately due to forward mail out plans so keep a note of the companies you have contacted so you can follow up.  

This task benefits you, the money of the company and most importantly the environment, so just say no!

To view the replies we have had for Day 18 click here.

Day 19 - Shut Down

Afternoon all,  

Hope you are having a lovely Friday and you are looking forward to a weekend of relaxation. Thanks to all the lovely comments we have been receiving, it really lets us know that we are on the right track with this project. To let us know what you think just e-mail back and to view all that's going on in Habonim Dror visit our website, www.habodror.org.uk.  

As an addition to yesterdays task one of our social auctioneers e-mailed back with a mail preference website that can take you off any mailing list. Just visit www.mpsonline.org.uk to find our more.  

All of us here at Habo Dror wish you all Shabbat shalom  

Lots of love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers      

Day 19 - Shut Down    

We live in a country where everything must be now now now and if it is longer than that then most people just cant be bothered. In many businesses I have visited everyone just leaves their computers on over night, or throughout the day when they are not using them.  

Today's task is to wait the two minutes it takes to shut down your computer because it makes a huge difference. According to change the world 9 to 5, one computer left on all day results in the emission of 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide in a year. It takes between 100-500 trees to absorb that much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  

Think about it, another small task that makes a huge difference.  

For more information visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/appliances/index.cfm/mytopic=10070      

To view the replies we have had for Day 19 click here.

Day 20 - Volunteer

Day 20 - Volunteer    

This is for people that feel that they can spend half a day or a few hours a week or so to help other people - volunteer!  

There are so many organisations that need people's help. For example, political parties, charity shops, youth organisations. It is very easy to say you don't have enough time, but you try and convince yourself of that when you are watching telly or drinking with friends. There are many people that volunteer and get so much out of it and the people they help get so much from it.  

For more information on volunteering go to this great website, http://www.do-it.org.uk/, here you can type in your interests, your postcodes and then it will search all the projects near you.    

Find an organisation that really interests you and give up the most precious thing you can give, your time.

To view the replies we have had for Day 20 click here.

Day 21 - Help a Friend

Hello Social Actioners,  

Hope you all had a relaxing weekend and you are ready for another week ahead. We have had some great feedback from you and people are suggesting some really great ideas, which we really appreciate. Drop us a line if you have any comments you want us to hear, feedback, comments (positive or negative) and any other ideas you have. To view all that has happened in the last month or to read comments please go to www.habodror.org.uk. We always love to hear what you have to say so click reply and tell us what you think.  

We all hope you have a great week  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers      

Day 21 - Help a Friend    

Have you ever been in the middle of a task and wish you had some help? Maybe you have been in the middle of making some flat pack furniture and that screw is just out of reach, maybe you have been walking back from the shops and your bag has burst all over the street and you wish you had a friend there to help - you catch my drift.  

Often we are so consumed in our own lives that we do not think to help our friends out. Next time your are on the phone with your friend and you know they have a job they don't want to do, why don't you offer a hand. Maybe you are no good at the task your mate has to do, but maybe they need some moral support. You will be amazed at how much fun you can have.  

So help a friend not just yourself!      

To view the replies we have had for Day 21 click here.

Day 22 - Bone Marrow Donation

Day 22 - Bone Marrow Donation    

Last year during social action month we asked that everyone donate blood to save other peoples' lives and this year we want you to take it to the next level and donate bone marrow or donate money to raise funds for others to donate.  

Bone marrow or stem cell transplants are nessesary when the bone marrow cannot function normally due to it being damaged or diseased. This can be a result of leukaemia or cancer of the blood. A bone marrow transplant restores cell production without which the patient cannot live.  

If you want to find out about bone marrow donation or to find out more information go to http://www.blood.co.uk/pages/marrow_info_why.html. If however you do not want to donate but you want to help you can always donate money to fund bone marrow testing. Policy 4 Life is a charity set up to raise money for Ezer Mizion bone marrow registery to allow the organisation to double the number of doners. This is especially important as Jews can only accept transplants from other Jews, as it is social action month go to http://www.policy4life.org/ and save another person's life.  

To view the replies we have had for Day 22 click here.

Day 23 - Mobile Phone Recycling

Shalom to one ‘n all,

Hope you are all well and having fulfilling and productive days at work / school / uni.  Keep going with all the social action projects that you manage to do – remember that the more people that do them, the more effect it has on this world.  One by one, we can change this world! 

If you have a project or social action task that you feel passionate about that we have not yet focused on, then feel free to drop us an email, and we will try and put it in as one of our last remaining days.  This project is for your good, so we are happy for this to be a forum for you to share your ideas and opinions. 

Hope you have a great day,

Lots of Love,

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers

Day 23 – Mobile Phone Recycling

Today’s world is full of technology.  Technology is always moving forward, and always changing.  Mobile Phones are no exception to this, in fact, more and more of us are getting mobile phones, and with today’s contracts means that we are constantly changing and upgrading our phones. 

It is estimated that over three quarters of the population will replace or upgrade their handset in the next 18 months, yet only 5% of unwanted handsets will be recycled.  Not only can recycling phones help charities if recycled in certain ways (they often get money for phones), but it also helps save the environment; most mobiles contain toxic substances that leak into the soil and pollute the environment if simply thrown in the bin.

Today’s task is to look out your old mobile phones that you have in your drawer that you are not using, and recycle them in a way that will help a charity.  One option is Oxfam (http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/recycle/phones.htm), another is ActionAid (http://www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk/), or the third is one close to our hearts; Habonim Dror UK itself.  In our offices we have yellow bags that are freepost bags.  Simply place your old mobile phone in them, freepost it back to the company, and Habonim Dror gets money for your mobile phone recycling effort.  The more mobile phones, the more money that gets donated to us.  If you wish to receive a bag, simply email back with your postal address, and we will be more than happy to post you one out!

To view the replies we have had for Day 23 click here.

Day 24 - Get Involved with Co-Existence Projects

Afternoon one and all,  

Hope you are all having a lovely day wherever you are. We are getting some encouraging feedback about the campaign this year and we really would love to hear what you think about it. E-mail any comments and go to www.habodror.org.uk to see what others have said about the scheme. The most important thing is to do as many of these tasks as possible, please don't just ignore these the only way we can change the world is we all stand up and change our actions.  

If you have any projects you are working on and think we can get involved we would love to know, do you have any social action tips for us, if you do please e-mail back.   Hope you all have a great day  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers        

Day 24 - Get involved with Co-Existence Projects    

It is very easy as British Jewry to sit around a table and discuss Israel and Politics, we debate, argue and then often the conversation finishes and that's that. Today's social action is to avoid the that's that, we want to give examples of co-existence projects that are going on in Britain and Israel that you can either get involved in or find out more about.  

The first action you can do is to sign the petition for the Israeli solders that are missing in action. To find out more about the stories, what happened and to sign the petition go to http://www.mia.org.il/.  

There are two groups in Israel that we think are such amazing projects. Firstly is an organisation called Rabbi's for Human Rights, and they do what it says on the tin! They protest, they are activists and they are Rabbi's from Orthodox to Reform. For more information go to http://www.rhr.israel.net/. The second project is called The Parents Circle which is a growing (unfortunately) organisation of parents or brothers and sisters that have lost family members in attacks by the IDF and Palestinian Terrorists. For more information go to http://www.theparentscircle.com/.  

There are also a couple of projects that are going on in Britain. The first is Windows for Peace which is a group of Jewish and Muslim people in Manchester that get together and organise meetings for Jewish and Muslim youth to get together and learn more about each others faiths and work on projects together. If you are in Manchester and want to get involved in the committee then let me know and if you know of any youth aged 14-18   that would be interested then contact me. Next meeting for youth is Sunday 26th Nov. The second project is in London and is a short films fundraiser on the 10th Dec, 1pm at the tricycle theatre. Short films have been made by Jordanians, Israelis, Lebanese and Palestinian film makers. For more information on the charities and the event go to http://www.myspace.com/cinemitic.  

So don't just talk, Do!

To view the replies we have had for Day 24 click here.

Day 25 - Be Nice to Others

Good Morning One and All,  

An addition to yesterdays e-mail that I forgot to include is a project called the Muslim Jewish Youth Theatre in Manchester which is a co-existence project in Manchester that breaks down barriers using theatre. There is going to be a show in March 2007 at the Royal Exchange in Manchester. The participants are 16-25 and they are still looking for over 18 year olds. Be in touch if you are interested.  

Hope you have had a lovely start to the morning and you are all ready for a hard days work. We love to hear what you think of the scheme so if you have any comments send them our way. We have had some lovely comments which can be viewed at www.habodror.org.uk, there are loads of interesting things on the website for example we will be putting ivrit teaching podcasts on the website soon as well as the weekly parsha, camps and regular Israel updates.  

If you have anything that you would like to contribute to social action month we would be absolutely delighted, just drop us a line.   Have a lovely day  

Lots of love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers        

Day 25 - Be Nice To Others    

Everyone always seems to be a rush, we never have time we must be here or there and often do not consider other people around us. Being nice to others will not only make them feel a lot better, but you will also get a warm feeling out of being nice to others.  

If you smile at someone they will smile back, if you go to a shop why not say thanks to the person at the counter and then have a great day. We live in such an impersonal society and you will be amazed at how nice a few words can be.  

Be nice to others and have a better day.

To view the replies we have had for Day 25 click here.

Day 26 - Reverse Haggling

Good Afternoon Everyone,    

Hope you are well and happy on this friday afternoon. This is the last friday double wammy and we hope that you enjoy as much as the feedback has informed us so far.

If you have any comments about social action month we would love to hear from you. To view all the social action and replies please feel free to go to our website www.habodror.org.uk.   If you have any social action ideas that you want us to get on board with we would love to hear from you. We hope you all have a lovely shabbat and you manage to find time to do what you really want to do.  

We wish you all the best  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 26 - Reverse Haggling    

This idea is from "change the world for a fiver" and was our favourite from last years social action campaign. We did it last year and it is great fun and greatly appreciated by the charity shops.  

Basically go into a charity shop and have a look around, there is so much you will find that you might want. There are clothes, books, cd's, videos, DVD's and much much more. Once you find the item you have found go to the till and ask how much the item costs and then reverse haggle. Haggling is when you get the price down so reverse haggling is when you get the price up. They say £2 and you say can you do it for £2.50 and they get confused and you say ok £3 then etc, you can take them up to whatever price you like.  

Please do this, you have sometime over the weekend, you get something from it and it is much more fun than just giving to charity. If you do this we would love to know what you bought, how much you paid, what it felt like etc.  

Enjoy!!        

To view the replies we have had for Day 26 click here.

Day 27 - Talk to Someone You Love

Day 27 - Talk To Someone You Love    

All of us will have a person that we need to speak to, but we never make the time to actually do it. Recently i got in touch with someone in Israel i had not spoken to for nearly five years. I arranged to meet him and it was truely amazing.  

There is nothing more precious than giving your time to someone else and especially someone who you have just not had time to make that phone call to.

This weekend catch up with someone you love

To view the replies we have had for Day 27 click here.

Day 28 - Turn off the Tap

Hi Everyone  

Hope your weekend is going well and you are all having some fun and relaxation time. This is the final stretch so we would love to get some feedback about the scheme. If you are interested to read what others have said or to see what's going on in the movement then go to www.habodror.org.uk. We really want to see what you think and it brightens up our days!!  

With two days left you have the last chance to send us any actions you have for us, please feel free to e-mail us.  

Have a lovely day  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 28 - Turn off the tap!!!    

We all brush our teeth, but I reckon there are lots of us that do not realise that they can make a big difference when we are doing it.    

Did you know that by leaving the tap running when we brush our teeth wastes around nine litres of water a minute or 26,000 litres per family per year, which could fill an Olympic size swimming pool.    

There are so many people in the world that do not have enough water, so lets think about that when we are wasting water un-necessarily every day.    

So turn off the tap when you brush your teeth.

To view the replies we have had for Day 28 click here.

Day 29 - Take Control of Social Action

Good Afternoon Social Actioners,  

Hope you are all having a lovely day on this the penultimate day of social action month. Please keep all your lovely feedback coming in, it is always a good indicator about what you thought of this years campaign. To view all the comments we have had and all the tasks form this year and last go to www.habodror.org.uk.  

Just to let you know we have decided we don't like myspace and we now have a facebook account, and already have lots of members. To join go to www.facebook.com, ensure you are a member, then simply search "Habonim Dror UK" as a group and join!   

Have a lovely day and look forward to hearing from you soon  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers.    

Day 29 - Take Control of Social Action    

We have been thinking about the project and obviously we want social action to last longer than one month. This action is a continuation of what we have started here over the last month.  

We want you to be the voice of social action. We want you to spread the word around school, uni, your workplace or just between your friends. If each one of you told one person to do a task we would have about 10,000 people doing social action.  So your task is to be the pioneer of social action in your school / workplace / friends circle - inform them of new initiatives.   

If you really believe in social action then stand up and do something about it.    

You can make a difference  

To view the replies we have had for Day 29 click here.

Day 30 - Don't Stop Here

Hello Everyone  

Cant quite believe we are here, but it is the final day of social action month and we are all really delighted that the project has gone so well. Your feedback has made us smile and give us the support to continue everyday. Thank you all so much for sticking with the project and doing social action on a regular basis.  

We want to mention that Habonim Dror runs many activities and amongst other topics, social action is a constant message throughout the movement. We run weekly meetings, winter camps, summer camps, Israel tour and much much more. We have attached some fliers about current events in the movement in case any of you are interested or know any youth that would be interested. You can always go to www.habodror.org.uk to see what is going on in the movement or you can join our group on www.facebook.com.  

Thank you for all your contributions to this scheme and we really hope you have got something out of the month.  

Lots of Love  

The Habonim Dror Movement Workers    

Day 30 - Dont Stop Here  

This is the most social action of them all in our eyes and the message is simple

DO NOT STOP HERE

Be active in your day to day lives

To view the replies we have had for Day 30 click here.