Charity of the Month: April 09

This Wednesday is EARTH DAY! (And also one Nashville roommate of mine's birthday... happy birthday Babs!)

Ergo, it is appropriate that this month's charitable donation(s) be environmentally-minded. I split my money between two places.

The first, I finally joined the Sierra Club. I have been wanting to do this since I started the monthly charity, but I talked myself out of it for a little while because my parents give me their Sierra Club magazine and I figured, well, that'll do [pig, that'll do... name that movie!]. But I realized that my reasons for wanting to join the Sierra Club were not actually centered around getting the magazine - rather, I wanted to have a membership in my local Lake Erie Sierra Club chapter through which I may have opportunities to volunteer my time. I also wanted to donate money to a worthwhile cause.

So, I'm not clear on how much of my donation was "membership dues" but I know that $8.50 went to national and local Sierra Club publications. What does confuse me is that next year, to renew my membership, I will have to pay $14 more than I did this year... so, we will jump that hurdle when we get there. In the meantime, this donation isn't 100% charitable - I am getting something for my money.

The Sierra Club was founded by John Muir (I've been to his woods ... look mom and dad, I do remember some things from our vacations) and they are currently focused on a mission of "climate recovery."

My second donation, or half of my monthly charity allowance, is pure donation... I don't get any direct benefit back (except for clean air...). I planted some trees through The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign, which helps to protect and restore the Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s biggest and most endangered tropical forests.

I urge you to do the same!

It's fun being semi-crunchy-granola!