It’s official, I’m giving up on Movember. Aside from not being very good at the growing a moustache part (see above, day 21), I’ve been unsuccessful in obtaining any donations so far. I still love the idea. I’ll probably do it again next year but be part of a team instead of going solo and get a better jump on promoting my efforts to drum up more cash.

So, with a heavy heart and a happier wife, I’ll be putting my almostache out of its misery this evening.

I’m proud to announce that I’m taking part in Movember (Mo, slang for moustache, and November). Movember aims to raise awareness and funds for cancers that affect men. Like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.

It sounds silly but the impact is significant. What started as an idea over beers in Australia in 2003 has continued to grow year after year, expanding to the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and Finland. In 2009, global participation climbed to 255,755, with over one million donors raising $42 Million US equivalent dollars. Funds raised through Movember’s US campaign benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

So I started the month clean-shaven and optimistic. No matter how much of a ‘stache I grow I would like to raise some money for this important cause. Please consider making a donation in any amount on my mospace page (yes, that what it’s really called) before the end of the month. Thanks!

You can follow along with my progress on Facebook.

Nearly 1 billion people don’t have access to something we take for granted — clean, safe drinking water. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable. Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die as a direct result of these conditions. The United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right in 2009.

I believe this is a crisis the rest of the world has a responsibility to address. Unlike so many challenges of our time, this is one that money can solve. All it takes to give one person water for 20 years is $20!  We can build wells, treatment plants, irrigation systems and infrastructure. The social web has given us the tools to mobilize the planet, to focus global conversation and collaborate on a massive scale. We can fix this. We just need to make it a priority to do so.

Bloggers across the globe will unite today for Blog Action Day. As of this writing, participants include 4,896 blogs in 136 countries with 37,867,698 readers. The goal of this annual event is to raise awareness and incite discussion about important issues that affect us all. Having so many write about the same issue on the same day is an elegant and dramatic method of accomplishing this. Focus in the past has been placed on the environment and poverty. The issue this year is water.

The art of maximizing social activism and online fundraising for this issue has been mastered by charity:water. Although their simple mission (to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations) has attracted the attention of celebrities and the media, I’m more impressed by their outreach to individuals. They provide powerful web tools that make it ridiculously easy to for anyone to make a substantial difference. Most notably, the first Twestival (Twitter Festival, get it?) used social media to raise almost half a million dollars for them in 2009.

I’d like to highlight two Minnesota friends whose inspirational efforts have made a big difference. TV producer and photographer Erica Meyer gave up her 29th birthday to raise $10K for charity:water. She wound up bringing in $11,111 and making clean water a reality for 111 families in two communities in need. Not to mention the impact of putting the issue in front of countless others online.

Another tireless advocate for the cause is writer/editor Kevin Hendricks. A portion of the proceeds of his latest book, Addition by Adoption, raised more than $5,700 to build a well in Ethiopia. Previously he held a Bald Birthday Benefit to provide 30 people with clean water in the 30 days before his 30th birthday. He vowed to shave his head if the goal was achieved. It only took six days before he had to put the razor to work. A clean shave for clean water.

Kevin created the short video below which quite literally brought the issue home for me. In it, he carries five gallons of water (weighing 40 pounds) from the Mississippi River two miles to his house. African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying similar vessels to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.

In the time it takes for another child to die without clean water, you could take just a moment to spread the word:

• Tweet about Blog Action Day or retweet others, use the
• Read, share or comment on Blog Action Day posts from around the web (lists of featured and recent posts)
• Embed the Blog Action Day video on your blog
• Mention it in a Facebook status update
• Start a conversation about the issue with a coworker
• Bring it up with your family at the dinner table this evening

If you’d like to go further you can make even more of a difference.

• Sign the petition to support the UN’s efforts to bring clean, safe water to millions globally
• Fundraise for charity:water or donate to water.org
• Take time to learn more about this crisis and share what you learn

Thank you.

I’ve always been passionate about efforts to reduce or repair the damage we’re doing to the planet. Since having children, this issue has gotten personal. I want to do all I can to make their future better. Aside from supporting groups and candidates  working to make a difference, I’ve struggled with how to make more of an impact. That’s when I started thinking about the unique role design could play this battle.

Thoughtful design can convey complex ideas and act as a powerful agent for change. While hardly a new concept, we are entering a time when grassroots design activism could produce some very interesting results. Coupled with the immediacy of social media, it seems that the potential to create change is within everyone’s reach.

Here are some folks leading the charge:

Living Climate Change was launched last month by IDEO, the design and innovation firm. The goal is “to expand the dialogue about our environment beyond policy positions and national sacrifice, and instead explore new possibilities” utilizing what they call “Design Thinking.”

The TckTckTck campaign has created a great tool for learning the stories behind the human face of climate change. It’s called the Climate Orb and it is an animated interactive tool housing first-hand stories searchable by country, keyword and timeframe.

The Environmental Defense Fund designed this infographic detailing how carbon caps can actually create jobs. Then they made it available online for reporters, editors, and bloggers around the country to use.

Of course, this is just a sampling. There are more great examples popping up everyday. Please share some of your favorites in the comments.

Flickr photo by me.