HEY YOU! GET SPONSIBLE!

By now you probably get the idea behind sponsible. It's about taking action while others sit on their hands. Sponsible people take every opportunity they can to inform, inspire and make positive change. Whether it's at a grocery store, in the office, or in our homes we're always poised to see solutions where others see problems; make change where stasis rules.

As we enter the last day of 2007 and roll into a bright new year we'd like to ask you to consider making one of your resolutions (along with getting to the gym and sticking with your diet) a sponsible one. What do we mean? Glad you asked. Here are a few examples:

1. I will speak up
Say, you're chowing down at your local Denny's (this is hypothetical, remember) and the waitress drops you a stack of 10 napkins with your meal. Even if you don't use nine of the napkins odds are they'll end up in the trash. Immediately hand nine back to her and let her know your fondness for trees. Hit her with a stat like, "If everyone in the United States used an average of one fewer napkin per day, we'd save a stack of napkins as big as the Empire State Building from going into landfills." Everyone loves stats like that.

2. I will lead with my actions
You're in the office kitchen one Monday morning, heating up your Hot Pocket (hypothetical...) when you notice the stack of plastic soda bottles bulging over the top of the garbage bin. Chagrined over the thought of the growing mountain of recyclables that will never be recycled, you remember that your company has no such policy in place.

You head back to your cubicle and Google "plastic bottle recycling" and find a recycler just blocks from your office. They send you a free bin, signs and stickers and by the end of the week your office has a recycling program.

3. I will directly affect the lives of those in need
You're going into your local supermarket when you see a donation container on the counter. The proprietor tells you that the family of one of the clerks lost their home in a fire. He, his wife and two young daughters are living with family, trying to pick up the pieces on a grocer's salary.

The container is halfway filled with change, a few singles and a lone five dollar bill. You had plans to spend about $100 in groceries that day. Instead you get by with $50, stop by the mall and get a couple of toys and a $30 mall gift card, which you bring back to the supermarket the next day.

4. I will extend myself
You know that senior center the next town over? Did you know it's full of interesting people with fascinating stories who rarely get the chance to share them? Stop by one Saturday morning and makes someone's week, not to mention your own.

5. I will be heard
Let us know how you get sponsible. Share your ideas with the world so that your good intentions have the chance to multiply over and again, by way of fellow sponsible readers. Being sponsible means being heard, seen and felt. Don't let 2008 go by without letting someone know, in some way, that you truly care.

Happy New Year!