You may not be able to change the world, but every act of kindness, random or planned, is a step towards constructive engagement with the planet. Here are some ideas to kickstart your mind.

Plant a tree. The most effective way to reduce your carbon footprint and help cool and beautify our suffering planet, planting a tree in your garden, if you have one, or sponsoring a programme that promotes city or district greening can heal your soul too. Join an environmental initiative like the ‘Stand Up Take Action 2008 Campaign’ to plant endangered ghat trees around the UAE, or log on to www.missiongreenearth.ae to order free seeds. As eco-feminist writer Alice Walker says in her famous tree poem, we all have a responsibility to rise up and resist suffering imposed by fellow human beings. “When they torture your family, plant a tree…when they begin to torture the trees and the forests they have made, start another.”
Clean up your neighbourhood. Besides getting to know your neighbours, starting a group in your area to recycle plastic, glass and cardboard or even a neighbourhood watch to keep an eye out for intruders can snowball into a warm environment or part of a bigger action group. Motivate for recycle bins, alternative ways and uses for plastic mineral water bottles or glean new ideas from foreign cultures. “Though I’m not sure what to do about it, it struck me when I was visiting India that the biodegradable leaves fashioned as take-away plates for food sold from street stalls would not only cut down on costs but also help the environment,” says European traveller Sue Mills.
Volunteer your time. Whether it’s for the underprivileged, an environmental or human rights concern, giving up some of your time is often more precious than forking out money by way of support. Contact the India Consulate in Dubai to help out with their Amnesty programme, join a non-governmental organization at the Dubai Humanitarian City or teach English at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. Take inspiration from individuals like Ashwani Gogia, 49, who, after a 12-hour shift, seven nights a week between 10.30pm and 1.30am, teaches English and “life skills” to labourers. “I try to help these men, some of whom are illiterate and do not have very much, to improve their thinking. I want them to be like lotus flowers that manage to bloom despite their surroundings,” says Gogia, who says nothing helps give him more pleasure than helping others.
Walk or cycle; don’t drive. If your destination is too far to walk to, ensure you reduce your carbon impact by doing regular maintenance checks and taking cautionary measures like accelerating and braking more gently, switching the engine off if you’re going to be stationary for longer than two minutes and avoiding carrying extra weight in the boot. Make sure, that, at the very least, you use unleaded petrol.
Sponsor an endangered animal. Sponsor endangered animals, and get feedback, by sending money to the World Wildlife Fund via the internet, or, if you’re more adventurous, join a foreign volunteer programme and give back something to the country you’re travelling in. Or send your children on a reputable foreign hike like the Snow Leopard trek in Nepal (http://www.snowleopardschooltreks.co.uk/) which donates money to the Snow Leopard Trust for every child that participates. Start a fundraiser like one child who put up a poster of a leopard at a fete and raised money by getting people to buy ‘spots’ on the cat.
Petition for change. Feel about something strongly but think it’s too petty to be noticed by the powers that be? Though they don’t all work, history shows that major changes have been brought about by petitions like the mammoth 1893 Suffrage for Women petition which resulted in New Zealand being the world’s first country to give women the vote. These days, websites like www.care2.com and www.petitiononline.com make standing up for your rights easier to formulate and distribute as well as being accessible to most of the population.
Go to charity concerts. Besides giving a local artist a chance to prove themselves, you also often get to broaden your horizons. For example, when Rob White, of the Tibetan Music Trust in Dharamsala, arranged an informal concert recently for refugee Doyee Tsering, he told the audience that though they could buy the CD, a donation to the entire project, which aims to help preserve their musical culture while in exile, would be more beneficial. A small act for one person can easily become a giant leap for mankind. Contact tibetanmusictrust@gmail.com if you think you can help from outside India.
Promote education. Moulded on Nelson Mandela’s contention that education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world, South African rugby player Francois Pienaar and a circle of friends came up with MAD (Make a Difference) to provide educational opportunities for less fortunate children. Go to www.themadbunch.com if you would like to make a donation or start your own trust in your area.
Go to the mountain. If, as the saying goes, the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, you can always go to it. Which is what Stacy and Lorena Townsend did when they discovered their dad had Alzheimer’s. Joining a team of eight mountaineers, the sisters climbed Africa’s highest peak, Kilimanjaro, in 2007 to raise over $10 000 each for the Action for Alzheimer’s cause. “My dad was diagnosed more than eight years ago and I stood by and watched helplessly as he slipped further away from us. I don’t want to feel helpless,” she says. “I want to feel hopeful!”
Start where you are. The biggest step to moving in a meaningful new direction is awakening the heart, says Pema Chodron, author of Start where you are (Element, 1994). “Rather than seeing the unwanted aspects of life as obstacles, Jamgon Kongtrul, a 19th century Tibetan teacher, presented them as the raw material necessary for awakening genuine uncontrived compassion: we can start where we are,” says Chodron. Whether it’s a spiritual revamp you’re after or a minor change, the first step to creating a mini-revolution is being kind to yourself and the rest will follow.
Do a good deed every day. “Even though it probably makes me feel better than the person I am helping, I still do it,” says call centre manager Martin Liefeldt, who keeps the acts to himself unless pressurised. “Yesterday I bought a magazine from a street vendor for double the price and took one of my disadvantaged employees for a ride in my expensive sports car. I played Bob Marley and she was ecstatic as she usually only gets to ride in a bus.”

Published in Aquarius, Dubai, 2009.