Sustainable Ideas...

How many instant messages do you send every day? What if each time you sent an IM, you ended up contributing money to fight global warming or protect the environment?

Microsoft's i'm Initiative does just that. The program's name is short for "I'm making a difference," and it does just that. By using Windows Live Messenger as your IM client, and by adding a special code to your screen name, you end up contributing to one of ten charities every time you start an IM conversation.

The money comes from advertising revenue (the ads appear on Live Messenger, just like with any other IM client), and Microsoft has promised that each of its ten "partner" charities will receive at least $100,000. (The program has already raised more than $1,400,000 -- so they've obviously already past that point!)

You can choose from three different conservation organizations -- StopGlobalWarming.org, the Sierra Club, or the Humane Society of the United State -- as well as other worthy causes like the Susan G. Komen Foundation or the American Red Cross.

I like this system because it takes something people are already doing and turns it into an instant act of activism. So if you're already IMing, why not use it to do some good?

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