As the holiday season approaches, with it comes a well-meaning outpouring of affection and recognition, also known as holiday gift-giving.  We’re sure that you, like us, have been trying to Simplify your life.  As we Simplify, we become acutely aware of the burden that excess consumption of consumer goods is placing on our planet and on people in third world nations. 

This holiday season, we invite you to join us in a different, more meaningful approach.  Rather than giving physical gifts of consumer items, please consider making a charitable donation in honor of the person for whom you would ordinarily buy a gift.  We recommend the following worthy causes:

Heifer International.  Operating on the concept of “teach a man to fish,” your $20 donation gives a flock of geese, your $10 donation gives a share of a goat, together with training in animal husbandry, to a needy family in a third world country.  www.heifer.org

Water for People.  In developing nations, many villages exist in desperate conditions with respect to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.  Your donation funds water kiosks, sanitary platforms, hand pumps, health and hygiene education.  www.waterforpeople.org

Solar Cookers for Darfur.  Refugee women must leave the safety of the camps and walk miles to get firewood.  The land around the camps is being stripped of plant material, plus, as the women leave the camps, they are being assaulted.  Your $30 donation will give a family two solar cookers, two cooking pots, and skills training, to purify water and cook their family meal.  This in turn lessens the amount of violence against women and girls.  www.jewishworldwatch.org/donate/solarcookerproject.html

Ecology Action.  Your donation helps educate community organizers from least-developed nations in sustainable mini-farming – how to grow healthy food for their people while saving the world’s resources.  www.growbiointensive.org

TreePeople.  For $25 you can plant a tree in L.A.’s urban forest in honor of your loved one.  As well as beautifying our environment, trees help counteract the effects of global warming.  www.treepeople.org