Sometimes it isn’t so much about making a huge impact as it is about recognizing the little things that can go a long way. Here are 5 things you can do to effect change everyday. 

1. Amazon SmileDid you know that by shopping on www.smile.amazon.com  instead of plain ol’ amazon.com you can have most of your purchases contribute to the charity of your choice? How amazingly simple it that? Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase totals to charity of your choice and you don’t have to do anything (except sign up and shop!). I feel so warm and fuzzy when companies give back. Thanks, Amazon. If you are curious, I have been supporting the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research through AmazonSmile for over a year now. If you are looking for a company to back, I would love your support in finding a cure for Parkinson’s Disease!
2. Charity Miles This app is pretty amazing. It encourages you to get out and be active by offering to donate cold hard cash to the charity of your choice. Download it for free on your phone and simply open it up before you head out to walk the dog, go for a bike ride, or even just meander through a shopping mall with friends. I love to hike and run, and this app accompanies me on the trail or track always. As an added bonus, it tracks your distance and your workout streak while giving you a dollar-by-dollar tally of your impact. Once again, I support the MJF Foundation. Do the world some good as you do your body good – Charity Miles makes it easy.
3. Just Take One A good friend of mine got me thinking about my waste production when he declined a lid for his coffee. When I asked him why he didn’t want the lid to help prevent spilling his coffee as we explored LA together, he replied that it was just an easy way to limit his landfill contribution. It definitely got me thinking. Here is something we probably all have done at one point or another: use two paper towels to dry our hands off while in a public restroom. My challenge to you is to just take one. You may be saying to yourself, no way that will dry my hands, but give it a try anyways. If you use one paper towel instead of two, you are already reducing your waste production by 50 percent. That is huge! This idea can also be applied to passing up on using straws and coffee stirrers, limiting excess napkin use, going paperless with bills, and reducing plastic bag use while grocery shopping. Being cognizant of the waste we are producing can go a long way.
4. Save Some Water As I live in California and we are currently experiencing a drought, this tip is pretty crucial to ‘the now.’ First, limit your shower time to under 10 minutes (preferably keep it around five). You can get a shower timer, or you can put on some music. Once two songs are over, so is your shower. Also, put a bucket in the shower with you. I have talked about this on FromBrownEyes before, but it is still a great idea and something I do every day. Put a bucket in your shower to catch the cold water as you wait for the water to warm up and let it collect some of the water as you shower. Then, use that bucket to water a tree or the grass in your front yard. It is super easy but makes a huge difference. If you collect one bucket of water (let’s call it a gallon of water) every day for a year, that is 365 gallons of water you are putting right back into the earth. Mother Nature thanks you.
5. Pay It Forward You have probably heard of this before – treating the coffee of the person in line behind you at Starbucks – but I think this can be translated to many other ways as well. If you don’t want to invest your money into paying it forward, then use your words. What I am personally working on right now is taking the time to vocalize a compliment I have in my head. I feel that we often think nice thoughts about people, but we rarely take the time to tell them. Or worse, we take the time to vocalize the criticism over the compliment. Loved working with someone? Endorse him or her on LinkedIn. See a woman with a cute hair cut or outfit? Walk up and let her know. A third-party employee did great work for your company? Pass your compliments along to them, or even better, to their boss. Love your friends and family? Write and mail a thank you note to their house. Your words are more powerful than you might think, so use you voice for good. Have the goal to spread kindness by vocalizing one compliment a day.

How exciting it is that we can do such little things to collectively make such a large impact.

-TM

What recommendations do you have to do good every day? Let us know below.