If we were all to redirect a mere 5% of the billions of dollars that we already spend each year on gifts, there would be enough to eliminate extreme poverty in about 15 years.
UEnd:Poverty. Gift different.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
An Easy New Year’s Resolution
I’ve never kept a New Year’s resolution for the entire year. There, I said. They usually last the first two weeks of January. I make a “commitment” to run every day. I “promise” I will finally master that song on the guitar. But I don’t. Feel the same? Still bummed about those 10 pounds you didn’t lose? Or the trip you didn’t take?
Let’s make a different choice for 2012.
This holiday season we introduced the idea of gifting differently. We provided the ability to give the gift of giving through a UEnd gift card. Did you pick one up?
My family got them in their stocking stuffers! Family members who had never heard of UEnd were thrilled to hop on the ol’ internet and check out the website! It was my favourite gift I gave this year.
So with that warm, gooey feeling that made my heart grow three sizes this holiday, my resolution (a manageable one!) is to keep that feeling alive. Why does giving have to end there? We North Americans love our holidays, birthdays, weddings and so forth. So let’s keep gifting different year round!
And why do we have to treat other people? Buy yourself the gift of giving. Sign up for U:Powered or give directly to a project of your choosing.
Let’s not pick resolutions that will bring us down. Let’s pick ourselves up and end poverty while we’re at it.
Wrapping, Ribbon and Bows, Oh My!
What kind of wrapper are you? Do press down clean and tidy edges, taping with perfectly evenly cut strips like Monica Geller from Friends, throw it all together with quirky abandon like Seinfeld’s Cosmo Kramer or leave the paper behind entirely going with the bear gift like Homer Simpson from the Simpsons?
Whatever your gift wrapping style, you might like to reconsider how you wrap those gifts up. All that paper is a weighing our planet down! More than 8,000 tonnes of wrapping paper will be used on Christmas presents this year. That adds up to the equivalent of approximately 50,000 trees. Every year we North Americans generate at least four million tons worth of waste from shopping bags and wrapping paper. So forget the wrapping paper this season and let’s lighten up.
Sure.
Alright, I know, you’re thinking. “Wrapping paper is beautiful. I just spent hours trekking through packed stores looking for the perfect gift. I must have listened to simply thousands of snippets of Jingly Christmas songs from holiday albums in my search for the perfect gift. And I found it too. I love these people I buy presents for. If I put this much effort into my gift choosing, I’d love for the presentation reflect that thoughtfulness.”
It’s true. You’re gifts are important.
You can have both. That’s the beauty. That 12 pack of multicoloured socks your brother kinda knows he’s getting can look great under the tree while you help keep our planet green. Here are 3 earth friendly gift wrapping ideas:
Why buy wrapping paper when you can reuse something you already have? Use magazine pages, calendars, shopping bags, the comics, phone book listings or whatever else catches your eye to make a collage.
Wrap using stylish cloth and ribbon. It’s reusable and gives you the perfect chance to show off your ninja like cloth tying techniques like Furoshiki. Try this Japanese website on the art of Furoshiki to inspire awe:http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html
Dress it up with something from nature. Go ahead, take a walk. Pick up something beautiful like dried flowers, some fir, and a few pinecones to do it up for nature in style.
PS. Take a listen to this cute song about wrapping: http://www.last.fm/music/Cream/_/Wrapping+Paper
New Year’s Resolutions
With only 4 days left in 2010 it is time to think of your New Year’s Resolutions. Now…one can joke that a resolution is a bit like a Miss America pageant question. You know that one where they ask what the contestant wants more than any else in the world… with world peace being the pat answer.
Now you might think that an end to extreme poverty is along these same lines- a dream for those that have not thought the answer all the way through. However if you are reading this then you might be thinking otherwise.
If we know that North Americans spend 1 trillion dollars on Christmas each year (using 2008 numbers). And we know that the World Bank says we need 50 billion over 15 years. WB says that if these funds are spent wisely the extreme poverty rates would be cut by half. Now do a bit o’ math dividing the Christmas spending by the World Bank number and it works out to about 5% of the annual gift spending of North Americans. Knowing this detail, it can now be argued that we have the means by which we can end extreme poverty.
It is no longer just a dream, it is possible. But to make it happen, we need your help. UEnd: Poverty asks you to consider making one of your 2011 resolutions a commitment to help end poverty? It doesn’t require you to go to any gyms or campaign on behalf of a cause, in fact it requires very little change in behaviour beyond a commitment to gifting different. If you would buy at least one gift of a $20 value in 2011 that goes towards ending poverty and you ask your friends to consider it for themselves (or you buy them a small gift to show them how) we can in fact start changing the world.
That’s not so hard is it?
Help us, help you change the world by resolving to gift different!
New UEnd Gift Video
Check out our latest video about the state of gifting.
Click here.
Last Minute Gift Idea
This is the second time that we are posting this list as it is timely.
Do you have to buy a gift for the person that has everything already or have no idea what to buy someone or are feeling unispired for the holiday party host/ess present when the usual bottle of wine is a cop-out or have a friends interested in world or green issues… Try a UEnd gift card.
Here is a list of reasons why you should buy one:
1. It helps change the world.
2. It shows that even small contributions can change the world.
3. It gets more people involved in ending extreme poverty.
4. It is a green gift.
5. You get a tax receipt- not many presents do this.
6. It’s unique
7. It allows you to become part of movement to change the world
8. You don’t want to risk bodily injury to go to the mall
9. It is a responsible way to still buy a gift
Feel free to pass this around this holiday season. The more people that know the more people we can help get out of poverty.
An interesting fact:
Did you know that if 1 out of every 20 people gave up 1 $20.00 gift in North America this Christmas gift season we would raise enough funds to end poverty for one year. If we did that every year for 15 years, the World Bank says we could end extreme poverty in the world. If you need incentive- that is it.
Thank you!
The Start of a Movement- World Changers Unite
Hi!
I want to personally THANK YOU for your support in building UEnd! I have a sense that you will look back on this time and know that YOU led the way for others. You’ve chosen to be part of a movement of everyday people by:
1) taking responsibility for their world and
2) effecting change where it is needed!
Exciting times! So again, thank you - for your courage & commitment.
You are now part of something quite significant. There WILL come a day when poverty no longer exists. And you will know that YOU participated in this. Wow, just think about that…this is now part of YOUR story!
Our next step is massive action. U:Powered was designed to be accessible to all. At $5/mth or $60/year, anyone who wants to play part can - change is within everyone’s reach. There are no more excuses to wait for others to take responsibility. So now, if I may, I want to encourage you to find 3 more people to join you in this journey…
There’s nothing more powerful than those who walk their talk, which is why I’m turning to you. Would you take this on? No worries if you can’t. But if you could help spread the word and rally more world-changers, more magic will happen. $5/mth X 500, 1,000 & 10,000 people starts to get very interesting!
Thank you for ‘getting it’, and most of all thank you for caring…and more importantly, acting.
With Warmest Holiday Wishes!
Jay
A second video about gifts at Christmas from UEnd
Here is another video about Christmas and Christmas gifts from our Youtube channel UEnd Foundation.
Follow this link to view.
Links to Recent Media Coverage for Give up a Gift Challenge
Hi Everyone,
Here you will find links to each of the media stories that UEnd has recently received for the Give up a Gift Challenge. Feel free to pass it along to anyone you know that has school aged kids.
Here is the Herald Article.
This is the Metro News Article.
Finally here is the link for the Global TV footage.
Thank you to our friends in the media for their assistance with getting the word about these amazing youth.
An Elbow-free Christmas Gift Idea
Hey,
Do you have to buy a gift for the person that has everything already or have no idea what to buy someone or are feeling unispired for the holiday party host/ess present when the usual bottle of wine is a cop-out or have a friends interested in world or green issues… Try a UEnd gift card.
Here is a list of reasons why you should buy one:
1. It helps change the world.
2. It shows that even small contributions can change the world.
3. It gets more people involved in ending extreme poverty.
4. It is a green gift.
5. You get a tax receipt- not many presents do this.
6. It’s unique
7. It allows you to become part of movement to change the world
8. You don’t want to risk bodily injury to go to the mall
9. It is a responsible way to still buy a gift
Feel free to pass this around this holiday season. The more people that know the more people we can help get out of poverty.
An interesting fact:
Did you know that if 1 out of every 20 people gave up 1 $20.00 gift in North America this Christmas gift season we would raise enough funds to end poverty for one year. If we did that every year for 15 years, the World Bank says we could end extreme poverty in the world. If you need incentive- that is it.
Thank you!
Some Poverty facts to ponder as we enter the Holiday season
1. 1 in 5 people in the world “live” on $1.07/day…yet 1 trillion dollars are spent on gifts during one Christmas season in North America
2. 50 billion a year for 15 years if spent intelligently would end extreme poverty- world bank- that’s 5% of NA Christmas spending or 1 in 20 gifts
3. 40 billion spent annually on video games yet 22000 people die daily from poverty related cause
4. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names
5. Nearly half of the world’s population lives on less than US$2 a day.
6. Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
7. Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
8. 2.5 billion people are forced to rely on biomass—fuelwood, charcoal, animal dung. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 80 percent of population depends on this for cooking.
9. Based on enrolment data, ~72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls.
10. 880 million people lack access to basic healthcare.
You can do something about this by buying one of our gift cards that can start helping those that live with these realities on a daily basis. You have the power to choose- besides who wants to risk their lives in a mall these days. Our gift cards are elbow free, quick, easy and changing the world- what more can you ask for in a gift?
