"I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues." The Lorax

Quite a ways back I posted about a great site called Freerice. It is a game site that when played earns rice to be donated to others in need. Now TreeWala is almost exactly the same concept but for trees. We all need more trees. All you do is answer questions, mostly vocab and a couple of sciencey ones, to gain leaves. For every correct answer you get one leaf and for every twenty leaves one tree will be planted. It all works through ad revenue and a co-op between the site and the Marion institute. It is one of those simple games that you can play guilt free. I mean first and foremost it is educational and second it is doing something beneficial for the planet. If you are a word buff or just trying to be green, give this a try.

Note: Yesterday I was in the lab and saw a patron using FreeRice. I asked her if she knew about TreeWala and she said she knew nothing about it but her English teacher (ESL) was making her do it to improve her vocabulary. Now I don't want to be geekier than normal but I think that is AWESOME!

“As long as I have rice to eat, and pure water to drink, I can find joy within.” Confucius

Ok you have some free time and you want to be charitable. Well free rice is blending a love of words and rice. Yes rice! For every correct answer the advertisers of this site pay for ten grains of rice. Now I know this is not much alone but played by many it would add up. However if you hate vocabulary and the elegance of the English language avoid this site. They set you up with a quick definition and 4 word choices. Get it right and rice is donated. Get it wrong and you just have to try again. So if you enjoy words, quizzes and rice give this one a try.

“In charity there is no excess.” Francis Bacon

Sometimes doing something nice can get you into real trouble. An example of this would be donating to a charity that turns out to b supporting the drug trade or some other equally unknown insidious act. The problem is that you still want to give money to a worthy cause but are they using the money for the intended purpose and how do you know? Give.Org is brought to you by the Better Business Bureau. They give guidance and suggestions to donors so they can make informed decisions. They have tips on giving and there is a place to make a complaint so that you can inform others as well. They show you how to watch out for scams and hoaxes. I believe if you are planning to donate you should check here first. Give it a try.