What Kind of World Do You Want?

What if you could shape the world in the best possible way? What kind of world would you want? Photo: © olly - Fotolia.com

This week, as we say goodbye to 2009 and greet 2010, Blue Planet Green Living asks you the question posed by Five For Fighting in their song of the same name, “What Kind of World Do You Want?”

Singer John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting invites all of us to create a video response to the question and post it on his website, whatkindofworld.com. By creating an original video and posting it on the site, you can earn money for one of five charities, selected by Ondrasik: Augie’s quest; Autism Speaks, Fisher House Foundation, Save the Children, and Operation Homefront.

Another way you can help is to make a donation to the site. You can designate one of the five charities or make a general donation to support all of them.

How does it work? Every time someone views a video — and there are 362 videos posted as of this writing — the charity they’ve linked to earns money. In the list of contributions on the home page, many of the donors have specified that their contribution should be doled out at $1 per view. Contributions listed range from as small as $10 and to as much as $50,000.

According to the “How This Works” blurb that follows each video, 90 percent of all funds raised go directly to the charities. “The 10% expense includes Revver.com’s .01/view webhosting cost, California Community Foundation’s 1.25% administrative expense and site maintenance.” Contributors have donated $272,450 to date.

We invite you to go to Ondrasik’s website and view some of the videos. Each one of your views will result in a contribution to a worthy cause. In just a few minutes, you can help create the kind of world you want. But, as Ondrasik says, “Be careful what you wish for. History starts now.”

Julia Wasson

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)