saving the world...one website at a time

Social websites such as MySpace and MyYearbook have systems where users can have fun and contribute to various causes at the same time.

Myyearbook.com gives users "lunch money" when they play games, send messages, or just tour the site. Users can then go to the 'causes' tab and give their lunch money to a greater cause. These causes include research to cure cancer, stopping AIDS, books for kids in poor countries, clean water, saving the rainforest, and more. It sounds easy, but lunch money only goes so far. 2,400 lunch dollars will only buy a square inch of blanket for the homeless. 5 will get a millisecond of peace to prevent genocide, and 1,032 lunch dollars will save one square foot of the rain forest.

But users have banded together and make a difference. As of today, we have bought: 133,486,889 grains of rice for the hungry, removed 4,994,594 ounces of CO2 from the atmosphere, saved 4,223,680 square feet of rainforest, bought 10,225,935 calories of food for animals in need, bought 70,941,456 ounces of clean water, purchased 288,619,766 milliseconds of research time, written 42,820,199 words in books, bought 116,035 condoms, bought 467,669,376 milliseconds of peacekeeping, and provided 2,398,725 square inches of blankets for the homeless.

If it isn't a lot, it's something. It's a difference that wasn't there before, and the numbers continue to rise by the minute. MySpace also offers applications to help. The application "dog world" helps shelter dogs every time you send a virtual gift to a friend. For every gift sent, a small amount is set aside to donate to the SPCA. They make the donations at the first of ever month to save abandoned animals.

The "Green Planet" application uses the similar strategy. For every ten gifts you send through this application, one square foot of the rainforest is saved. They use sponserships to the Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program. Adopt an Acre is a program that provides critical funds for rainforest protection and restoration. And the AdoptForest's Acres Adoption Program. The financial contributions support the protection of natural resources and the creation of social and economic development programs for the people living in South American rain forests. 3,661,361.5 square feet have been saved so far.

Through activities like this, we can help save the world.