With our Push for Good series, we have identified crowdfunding opportunities for the GOOD community to get behind. Now we are also shining a light on crowd-doing opportunities—so you can join others in working towards the greater good with actions as well as donations. Here’s our weekly round-up of our favorite projects from the crowdsourced world.
Crowdsourced Positivity
Write Seven Letters to the Homeless in Seven Days
GOOD member Morgan Grace has created a Happiness Project in Austin, Texas. Each month, she meets with a group to talk about spreading happiness. Today, they’re volunteering at a local food pantry and next month they’re planning a side-of-the-highway-dance-off while passing out affirmations to people coming home from work. With this project, her aim is to brighten people’s days. Add her DO to your To-Do list. Tell her if you tried her experiment. (And, while you’re at it, check out the crowdsourced happiness projects of Negin Singh, Nicholas Kraft, and Jonny Miller.)
Crowdsourced Rewrite
Change This Outdated “Rules of Conduct for Women” List
This code of conduct was written by a bishop in 1943. While it seems laughable, some churches still used it up until 1960. And, now, some Christian bookstores won’t sell evangelical blogger Rachel Held Evan’s book about following all of the Bible’s instructions for women because she used words like champagne and vagina. Rewrite this code of conduct into a code of empowerment. Send @GOOD pics with the message, “I rewrote this outdated code of conduct for #women” and use the hashtag #feminism.
Crowdsourced Research
Become a Citizen Scientist: Measure Local Water Levels
Want to do something about global warming but don’t know how? Researchers at University of Buffalo are asking you to measure your local water levels by adding your favorite bodies of water to their crowd-hydrology map. Email them at cslowry@buffalo.edu to get a stream gaging station set up in your area.
Crowdfund
(Less Than a Day To Go) A Book About Quarterlife Breakthroughs, Not Crises
GOOD member Adam Poswolsky wrote about his quarterlife breakthrough book project before it made our roundup, and he got overfunded within four days of posting! He even had a successful Google Hangout this week in which he offered tips to our community about how to find a fulfilling job.
(Two Days to Go and Not Close) A Raw Food Snack Kitchen
GOOD member Angelica Xavier had a health condition that led her to adopt a raw food diet. Now, she’s making tasty raw food snacks (including truffles!) and wants to expand her kitchen. Read more from her here.
(14 Days to Go and Not Close) Demystifying Mental Illness in Indonesia with Photography
When GOOD member, photographer, and filmmaker Gabriela Bhaskar learned about mental health treatments in Indonesia, she wanted to document how clinics and families were treating patients. Her aim is to demystify mental illness, and make it something we can all talk about. Read more from her here.
(18 Days to Go and a Quarter of the Way There) A Film About the Happiest People in America
According to Shawn Anchor, New York Times best-selling author of The Happiness Advantage, and founder of the Institute of Positive Research, only 10 percent of our happiness comes from factors we cannot control—genetics mainly—while the remaining 90 percent is based on choice. Filmmaker Nicholas Kraft is exploring people of varying backgrounds across America that have chosen to be happy, despite circumstance. Read more from him here and tell him about the happiest person you know.
Crowdsourced Activity
Pledge to Get Offline This Weekend
GOOD member David Zimmerman has created an app that connects you with the people around you—offline. Unplug at some point today so that you can meet up with friends, or get involved in your community. Collectively, this action could help us build better neighborhoods.
Click here to add crowdsourced projects you can care about to your To-Do list.
Illustration by Jessica De Jesus
