Consumption

• Buy Fair Trade products - these products from developing countries such as tea, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, cotton or rice are not produced by children and the producer gets a fair price for his product
• Buy FSC products - if you buy wooden products, be sure not to support cutting down of the rain forest
• Buy BIO products - they are better for your environment and for your health
• Buy local product - you reduce the transport costs and support local work force
• Ask for those products if you can´t find them in your shop! Sellers follow consumers´demand
• Think about the products you buy. As a consumer you have got greater power than the producer. By choosing goods you are supporting the kind of way they were made.
• Ask how, where and out of what (raw materials) the product was made. Often you can buy the same products (e.g. clothes) from different countries and have impact on the land of origin of that product
• Talk to your friends about your buying behavior. Personal examples and non-formal informing has got a huge power.
• Don´t get influenced by advertisment and buy just the things you really need.
• Don´t look for the cheapest price! Not all the costs may be covered, the worker/producer might not get a fair remuneration, or the environment might be spoiled by the cheap production.

Ecology

• Give the priority to means of mass transportation instead of individual transport
• Don´t go by plane since it produces too much CO2 -> atmosfair
• Train is the best mean of transport for the environment
• Going by bike is not only a possibility of doing sports but also a means of transport
• Separate the garbage – recycle
• You can give various trash to pickups (paper, metal, textiles)
• Take your bag with you instead of buying a plastic bag when you go shopping.
• Pass on your clothes that are to small or for you or that you don´t wear anymore to your younger friends. Give them to a Second hand shop or to a charity organisation
• Don´t spoil too much water: keep taking showers short (instead of baths) and don´t let run the water while brushing your teeth or doing the dishes
• Collect the rainwater for watering your garden
• Use detergents and other cleaning products that were not tested on animals
• You can use vinegar instead of chemical detergent
• Salting the streets during winter pollutes the (ground) water
• If you have garden, use the organic waste in the compost
• Don´t overheat the rooms
• Air the rooms shortly and heartily
• Use economic light bulbs (saving the energy)
• Smoking doesn´t harm only your health, but also our environment

Voluteerism + non-government organizations

• You can become part of a non-profit organisation as a volunteer and contribute by this way to the sustainable development of your community, city, country or even other (aslo developing) countries
• As a volunteer you are a necessary part or the non-profit (or non-government) organization and you work on a meaningful activity, that can have great impact on your environment (in social, ecological, cultural or other fields)
• You can contribute to distant areas (apart from your country) in various volunteer programs, where you can connect traveling with a useful service. Mostly, you get food + accomodation free
• You can find out more about voluteerism and the possibilities to get involved in various internet pages, as for example:
• http://www.volunteermatch.org/ - website giving information to volunteers, as well as non-profit organisations
• http://www.unv.org/ - United Nations Volunteers page
• http://www.globalvolunteers.org/ - possibilities for volunteerism in different countries
• For oppurtunities to work as a volunteer in your country, see local web pages (e.g. in The Czech republic: www.dobrovolnik.cz)