If you find yourself unemployed, seek out your local unemployment office for help in finding a new job. Googling “unemployment office” and the name of your state should bring up the information, if you don’t know it.

Get involved in planning processes too. Have your say in whether new supermarkets, box stores and housing estates have their place in your corner of the world. Find out what environment, social and health benefits these projects promise for the local community (beyond the profit motives) and speak with your representative and at city council meetings to let them know what you think.

Volunteer. You can volunteer with local branches of organizations that mean a lot to you. [3] X Trustworthy Source HelpGuide Nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, evidence-based mental health and wellness resources. Go to source Try Habitat for Humanity which builds homes for the less fortunate, or Big Brothers Big Sisters, which provides mentorship to at-risk youth. Help the homeless. You can volunteer at a local soup kitchen or shelter to help homeless people stay safe and healthy. Donate. You can donate your money to lots of organizations: local, national, and international. Just be sure that whoever you donate to is a good organization that uses their money well. Many charities do not and are really just a money factory for the people that run them. Try using Charity Navigator or the BBB to find out if the organization you want to help is really on the up and up.

Donating blood and plasma is especially important when there’s been a major crisis. Massive numbers of injuries often result in serious blood shortages.

Contact your local homeless shelter about finding workers there. Oftentimes, homeless people are simply regular folks who ran on hard times and the small amount of money they earn from your job can be enough to help them get back on their feet.

If you need help with exercise or eating healthy, wikiHow can help. With many vaccine-preventable childhood diseases on the rise, it may be a good idea to update yours. You aren’t yourself at risk, as an adult, but the unvaccinated children around you are.

It’s also important to vote in local elections. At the state and county level, you’ll often vote on things like transportation initiatives, which can affect how people get to work, and other important laws and measures that affect your area.

When you serve on jury duty, make sure you find out the rules you must follow to prevent causing a mistrial, as this is a waste of the court’s time and can be distressing to the people who are having their case heard. Sometimes juror misconduct can be as innocent as a juror trying to learn more about the case, although jurors are only supposed to know what is presented in court. [8] X Research source

If you don’t know how to contact your representative or who your representative is, you can go to the official website here to find out.

Recycling helps cut down on waste that fills up landfills.

Items you can compost include leftover food, extra pieces of ingredients (like the leaves from carrots), and unbleached paper. Compost by collecting all of these items together in a large box outside. Turn the mixture every few weeks and add soil, until the whole thing looks like a single mixture. This can often take months. When the compost is done, it can be sold or it can be used to provide nutrients to your own yard or garden.

You can also join citywide groups that go around the city and pick up litter in the most affected areas. Contact your city hall to locate a group for your city.

At a minimum, move your car onto the grass in order to wash it. This will help keep the chemicals out of your drinking water. Try to go waterless and simply clean your car with a green window or all-purpose cleaner.

Food is often labeled with where it was produced. Look for products that are organic and as close to where you live as possible.

If you want to water your lawn, use gray water (which is the water left over from preparing food or taking a shower). Take showers that last 10 minutes or less and wash your hair only every other day. Avoid having things like swimming pools, which take lots of water out of the system and make it undrinkable.

Turn off lights in empty rooms. Spend less time on the computer and more time reading books.