When your dog joins the Pooch Protest on PetParents.com, the manufacturer of K-9 Advantix will donate one treatment of the flea and tick repellent to Adopt-a-Pet.com.

Don’t you dare cross that doggy picket line!

Pick up some fudge for your July 4th holiday and honor America’s military men and women with a tasty reminder of your support.

Now through July 31, 2011 the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory will donate one pound of fudge to Operation Gratitude for each pound of fudge purchased by customers.  Operation Gratitude will use the fudge in overseas military care packages.  Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory will match fudge purchases both in stores and online.  Sweet!

photo from Operation Gratitude

Below you will find a list of charities that accept frequent flyer miles.  The charities are organized by type and note the miles programs accepted.  Please click on the name of any charity for specifics about donating.

Health

American Cancer Society — Delta, United
Mercy Medical Airlift — Delta, United, US Airways
Orbis — Asia, United

Children

Make-A-Wish — Continental, Delta, United, US Airways
UNICEF — Delta

Emergency Relief

Americares — Continental, United, US Airways
Red Cross — Continental, Delta, United

Military

Operation Hero Miles (Fisher House) — AirTran, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Midwest, NorthWest, United, US Airways

Check back to this post regularly, as I plan to update the list  with additional charities as they are brought to my attention.  If you do not see a charity listed, please suggest it in the comments below and I will add to the list.

You can mail your new and used bars of soap to Clean the World.  Used bars are sanitized and then sent on to developing countries.  Why is this important? Pneumonia and diarrhea are the top two killers of children worldwide.  Fortunately these diseases are easily preventable by practicing good hygiene like handwashing.  That gimme bar of soap you’re going to toss is a literal lifesaver!

image from Clean the World

But don’t stop there; Clean the World also accepts donations of new travel sized shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

Individuals are welcome to donate with single donations or organize community drives.  If you are the manager of a hotel or bed and breakfast property, you might be interested in joining the partner program. 

Don’t forget you can also support your local charities by donating hotel toiletries to an area homeless shelter, women’s crisis center, church league, disaster response, or military relief group.

Notice I didn’t say for the flight — everyone knows the best in-flight reading is the Sky Mall catalog, no contest.  On my recent flight to Las Vegas I was delighted/horrified to learn that Sky Mall had evolved greatly from novelty gifts like the hot dog and bun warmer.

That’s what happens when you take your first trip in five years.

If you’re an avid reader (like me) and an avid traveler (unlike me, but I’m getting there) you probably go through books pretty quickly.

I’ve found a great way to recycle my old books by trading them for new-to-me books: PaperBack Swap.

PaperBack Swap is a great website that lets you trade your books with other members for only the cost of postage.  There are no membership fees.  When you finish a gently used book you add it to your virtual bookshelf. Another member requests the book and when they receive it in the mail, you are awarded a credit to request a book of your choosing.  Nice!

Some features of the program I love:
the ability to print mailing labels with postage at home.
the tracking feature for following the progress of your book through the mail.
options to donate book credits to schools and military organizations.

Overall I find PaperBack Swap to be a better value than selling unwanted books to used bookstores and the website has a great community vibe with users that follow the swapping rules.  Join today!

And for another way to recycle used books check out The Lunchbreak Philanthropist’s post #9 Send a Care Package of the Mind.

So imagine my surprise when I found a stash of my old eyeglasses in a desk drawer.  At one time I had called these my emergency glasses.  Nothing is worse than taking a basketball to the face and having to wait for the replacement lenses to arrive.  Totally reasonable.  But at some point my preparedness morphed into hoarding and I now have five pairs I don’t need. 

Luckily I know someone that can use them.  The Lions Club International sponsors an eyeglass recycling program.  After you give Lions Club your unwanted glasses–either by dropping them off at a collection site or by mailing them into a processing center–the glasses are sorted, tested to determine their prescription, and then distributed for clinics around the world.   At the clinics  locals are given sight tests and a new (to them) pair of glasses totally free!

Check out the video below and then redeem your hoarder self asap:

Help me out by taking the poll.  Your responses will directly influence the content of this blog!

Unless that spilled milk is lonely because it can no longer be enjoyed with a Mars candy bar.

I speak of the American version which was discontinued in 2002. Chocolate over nougat, almonds, and caramel.  Unfortunately, I had my first taste of Mars in August 2001 so my fandom was short lived.  For a while my dad was able to buy some of the last produced cases through the family grocery store, but those didn’t last forever.  For 9 years I’ve been inconsolable.  (And before you go running to Wikipedia to disprove me, I assure you the currently available US Mars bar is different as is the British version!)  I do love my Reese’s Cups and my Baby Ruths, but it’s not the same.

Some six years later my boyfriend suggested to me that the Mars bar did still exist in the form of the Snickers Almond.  This was a potential deal-breaker.   He said it was the same in theory.  I called over our waiter who refused to take sides.  The Olive Garden: forever the peacemaker.  Finally we agreed to disagree and haven’t mentioned it again.

To get into such a heated disagreement over the Mars bar obviously tells you I take my candy very seriously.  You’ve probably already realized that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  After I got my haul home I would count my candy a la Silas Marner and then squirrel it away under my bed.  Probably not the Fort Knox I imagined it to be, yet my method proved highly effective… until the year I forgot about my stash and my bedroom became infested with ants that spring.  All that candy, wasted!

Don’t let your family’s haul of Halloween candy meet the same tragic end.  After you’ve had your reasonable allotment, find the nearest dentist participating in The Halloween Candy Buy Back Program!  The dentist will buy back your extra Halloween candy for $1 a pound and then mail it to Operation Gratitude.  Operation Gratitude will then send the candy to U.S. Military troops overseas.  Sweet!

photo from livo.wordpress.com

I imagine I’m not alone when I say I want to give breast cancer a piece of my mind.  Perhaps in the form of a bulleted list–I have a lot of points I’d like to discuss.

But it would probably be a lot more productive for me to vent those ideas in letter form as part of Ulta’s Windows of Love program.

Whether you’re battling breast cancer firsthand, are a survivor yourself, or are a family member or friend whose loved one was affected by the diease, Ulta invites you to write a “Love Letter” about your experience.  When you’re finished, take your letter to your nearest Ulta and a store associate will tape it up in the store’s front window. What an uplifting show of support! 

Plus Ulta will donate $1 for each of the first 50,000 letters submitted in store to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  If you have an extra $5 you can also make a donation in store and receive a cute pink ribbon umbrella or tote.  Let’s start writing!

image by elizabeth&jane photography in ottawa, canada

Are you guilty of canine profiling?

When it’s time to pick out your new pooch do you lean towards the young, fuzzy, and fair-complexioned?

Yeah, me too.  Which is why Petfinder declared September 19-25 Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week.

According to the shelters and rescue groups polled by Petfinder, the following pets have the hardest time finding homes: senior pets, FIV+ cats, big black dogs, shy pets, pets that need to be the only animal in a household, pets with medical problems/handicaps, and victims of breed prejudice.

Next time you’re ready to bring a new fur baby into your family, buck the trend at your local pet shelter and welcome one of these less-adoptable pets into your life.