LINKS to WORLD IMPROVEMENT sites (charitable organizations and the like --- some of which may be scams --- LET THE GIVER BEWARE!)

Home page > This WORLD-IMPROVEMENT LINKS page

! NOTE !
Like most 'LINKS' pages on the web, there will, no doubt,
be more and more dead links on this page over time.
It may be years at a time before I return to this page to
remove dead links and replace some links with better links.
In the meantime, try 'WEB SEARCH' links provided on this page.

Table of Contents: (links to sections of this page, below) ANIMAL AID web sites (for wildlife: gorillas, monkeys, elephants, rhinos, tigers, whales, ... and domestic: dogs, etc.) ECONOMIC AID web sites (small loans, livestock donations, home building, etc.) ENVIRONMENT web sites (clean air, clean ocean, clean rivers and aquifers, temperature=global-warming, trash, over-population, parks-preservation, conservation, etc.) FOOD and WATER IMPROVEMENT web sites (food and water supply/cleanliness issues) HEALTH / MEDICAL AID web sites (Cancer, malaria, AIDS, ... and less obvious. For example: water wells, for health as well as efficiency, are here rather than in ECONOMIC or ENVIRONMENT.) PEACE and HUMAN DECENCY web sites (Can't we just get along --- most of the time?) POLITICAL ETHICS web sites (esp. truth-in-politics sites ... example: eliminate-election-fraud sites) RECYCLING web sites Company SUPPORTERS / ADVOCATES web sites (companies and other organizations that promote world improvement organizations) 'WEB DIRECTORY' pages of PHILANTHROPIC organizations Some SEARCH engines (on a separate web page) by which to find more info on philanthropic organizations Note : You can use an option like 'Find in This Page ...' of your web browser to find keywords on this page, such as 'water'   OR   'ocean'   OR   'air'   OR   'gorilla'   OR   'cancer'. Each organization is placed in a single category. So the 'Find' option can help when you are trying to find an organization that could fall under more than one category. End of Table of Contents. Start of World-Improvement Links.

DISCLAIMER: I have not tried many of these sites. Most of these web sites were collected from mailings asking for donations. My apologies if some of these sites are loaded with annoying pop-ups, are slow to load up, or are actually scams and/or methods of collecting personal information. When I become aware of sites like that, I will remove their web links. I personally prefer organizations like Earth Justice that bring legal action against organizations that are damaging our environment or health. This seems much more effective than public education programs (anemic) and more effective than throwing money at a problem (with no significant or long-term effect). In most cases, legal action is the only recourse for stopping organizations who are pursuing the almighty buck no matter what the cost is to the rest of us. Earth Justice performs legal services for other worthy organizations like the Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club. So, in a sense, supporting Earth Justice is supporting those organizations as well. Some 'suspicious' organizations are documented by means of a collection of 'frequency-of-money-requests' data at a couple of Un-solicited Snail Mail pages on this site. (These 'unwanted mail' pages make the point that there needs to be a better opt-out system. It will have to be embodied in laws --- with real punishments for violations. The scammers have no scruples and no conscience.)

ANIMAL sites (for wildlife: gorillas, monkeys, elephants, tigers, whales, ... and domestic: dogs, etc.) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Center for Biological Diversity - at BiologicalDiversity.org ("legal, legislative, and grassroots efforts to protect endangered species") Jane Goodall Institute - at www.janegoodall.org (working for preservation of gorillas, monkeys) Wilderness Society - at www.wilderness.org ("the largest advocacy organization focused on public land conservation in the United States" --- "if we destroyed every scenic place in our country, it wouldn't produce more than a blip in the world's oild supply --- since America has only 3% of the world's oil reserves" and accounts for about 25% of annual consumption) World Wildlife Fund - at worldwildlife.org WEB SEARCH on keywords 'animal charity' Go to Table of Contents, above.

ECONOMIC AID sites (small loans, livestock donations, home building, etc.) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Fair Trade - at fairtradeaction.org Habitat for Humanity - at www.habitat.org (homes built for disadvantaged) Heifer International - at www.heifer.org (provides livestock, seeds, bees, etc. for bootstrap help) ONE.org - at www.one.org/caucusforone (8 U.N. Millenium goals --- the popular Bono version) UN.org - at www.un.org/millenniumgoals/goals (the rest of the ONE.org Millenium goals story) FINCA - at www.villagebanking.org (FINCA = Foundation for International Community Assistance) ("supports the economic self-sufficiency of the world's poor, particularly women, through the development of Village Banking groups" - "small loans, not hand-outs, are provided to generate income, savings, and to promote financial independence") WARNING: If you get on the FINCA mailing list by donating once, they will probably send you money requests almost MONTHLY. WEB SEARCH on keywords 'economic aid charity' Go to Table of Contents, above.

ENVIRONMENT sites (clean air, clean ocean, clean rivers and aquifers, temperature, trash, etc.) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Al Gore web site - at www.algore.com (climate change issues) Chesapeake Bay Foundation - at cbf.org Climate Action - at climateaction.org Co-op America - at coopamerica.org ("you can find place to buy [Fair Trade products] in Co-op America's National Green Pages") Earth Justice - at www.earthjustice.org (provides legal services to other environmental organizations) Earth Policy Institute - at www.earthpolicy.org Green America - at greenamericatoday.org ("for safe and socially responsible products" - Strongly supports recycling and proper disposal of toxic substances. Many of the links in the RECYCLING section below came from Green America lists. Green America is rather confrontational in regards to big businesses, like Walmart, Exxon, CocaCola, Nestle, Monsanto, General Motors, and McDonalds, but can provide some guidance on products you may want to avoid and products you may want to support.) Green Pages - at greenpages.org ("a nationwide directory of screened socially and environmentally responsible businesses") Green Peace - at greenpeace.org (an organization active on many fronts - whaling, global warming, and more - But I am starting to have doubts about Greenpeace. They send me requests for money every few months, seemingly hoping that I have forgotten that I gave to them only a few months ago. This seems like what political parties do, leading up to presidential elections.) National Park Service, Rivers & Trails program - at www.nps.gov/rtca/ NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) - at www.nrdc.org Nature Conservancy - at nature.org (buys land to preserve it from destruction ... for plant and wildlife protection) Ocean Conservancy - at oceanconservancy.org ("defends ocean environments and wildlife") Population Institute - at www.populationinstitute.org (strives to increase awareness of consequences of rapid population growth) Rainforest Alliance - at rainforest-alliance.org ("striving to save the Amazon and other rainforests around the world - before it is too late" --- "more than 85,000 acres are slashed and burned every day") Responsible Shopper - at www.responsibleshopper.org River Network - at www.rivernetwork.org (a river stewardship program) Sierra Club - at www.sierraclub.org (works to protect national parks, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas) Waterkeeper Alliance - at www.waterkeeper.org (purpose - "monitor, expose, and take legal action against those who illegally pollute our waterways and threaten human health" ; Chairman - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) WEB SEARCH on keywords 'environment charity' Go to Table of Contents, above.

FOOD sites (food and water supply issues. Also see the ENVIRONMENT section.) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Food and Water Watch - at foodandwaterwatch.org ("challenges ... abuse of our food supply and water resources") American Farmland Trust - at farmland.org "America loses over one million acres of farmland to sprawling development every year!" - "the only national, nonprofit organization solely devoted to the protection of America's precious remaining farmland" HOWEVER, it is not clear how this organization can really stop this action without actually buying up huge amounts of farmland. WARNING: If you give to them once, you may receive money requests many times per year, even after you send them request to take you name off of their mailing lists. WEB SEARCH on keywords 'farmland charity' Go to Table of Contents, above.

HEALTH / MEDICAL sites (Cancer, malaria, AIDS, ... and less obvious. For example: water wells, for health as well as efficiency, are here rather than in ECONOMICS or ENVIRONMENT.) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Medicins san Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) - at doctorswithoutborders.org (provides medical aid teams in regions struck by epidemics, wars, natural disasters, etc. --- "field staff depart on more than 4,700 assignments each year to provide emergency medical care") Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center - at mskcc.org Drop in the Bucket - at www.dropinthebucket.org/Our_System.html (Installs water systems in African villages. See their "our water system" link for photos of their system.) Global Water Foundation - at www.globalwaterfoundation.org/index.php?page=PhotoGallery (An organization started by ex-tennis-pro Johan Kriek, of South Africa, to install solar-powered water wells in Africa. See their photo gallery to see what the solar panels look like.) NOTE: I do NOT provide a link to the American Cancer Society (ACS). I gave money to them in the past. Now the ACS sends me money-requests about ONCE PER MONTH. The ACS seems to hope people with dementia will not realize that they have already sent money to the ACS, recently. WEB SEARCH on keywords 'health charity' Go to Table of Contents, above.

PEACE and HUMAN DECENCY sites (Can't we just get along --- most of the time?) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Amnesty International - at amnestyusa.org ("believe that all forms of torture, unjust imprisonment, and execution should be abolished") One Vote 2008 - at www.onevote08.org/ontherecord/visitafrica/?rc=visitafricataf (A petition to the 2008 presidential candidates urging them to commit to visiting Africa during their first term in office. We need to 'wage peace' energetically.) WEB SEARCH on keywords 'world peace charity' Go to Table of Contents, above.

POLITICAL ETHICS sites (esp. truth-in-politics sites ... example: anti-election fraud) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > NOTE: I do NOT provide a link to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) here. Back in the 1970's, the ACLU supported a neo-Nazi march in the Chicago area --- and the ACLU continues to support such 'killer' organizations. I believe you have to draw the free-speech line somewhere. These modern-day Nazis are not just shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater. They actually favor killing vast swaths of people --- like the horrors perpetrated by Germans during World War II. I gave money to the ACLU in the past. Now they keep sending me 'surveys' and money-requests, at least 4 times per year. I have repeatedly returned the surveys asking them to take me off their mailing lists --- with fairly detailed explanations of my reasons. The ACLU continues to send me money-requests, disguised as a survey. This continued (spiteful?) ignoring of my stop-mail requests is disgusting behavior. One more reason to never give the ACLU another penny. MoveOn.org - at moveon.org (Political action. Example : "We must act quickly to secure our elections with ... audits before November.") One Vote 2008 - at www.onevote08.org/ontherecord/visitafrica/?rc=visitafricataf (A petition to the 2008 presidential candidates urging them to commit to visiting Africa during their first term in office. We need to 'wage peace' energetically.) WEB SEARCH on keywords 'political charity' Go to Table of Contents, above.

RECYCLING sites < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > FreeCycling (TRADING) - at dailypress.com/freecycling/ (In freecycling, one can apply to join an online group in your locality, get approved, then give away and get free stuff --- for the sake of recycling.) Recycling - working APPLIANCES - at goodwill.org (Many stores will recycle your old appliance when you purchase a new one. Goodwill accepts working appliances.) Recycling - non-working APPLIANCES - at recycle-steel.org (Steel Recycling Institute) Recycling - wearable ATHLETIC SHOES - at oneworldrunning.com ("One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti.") Recycling - ATHLETIC SHOES (wearable or not) - at nikeuseashoe.com ("Nike's Reuse-a-shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring.") Recycling - BATTERIES - at batteryrecycling.com Recycling - wearable WOMEN's BUSINESS CLOTHING - at dressforsuccess.org ("Donate wearable women's business clothing to the nonprofit Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs.") Recycling - wearable CLOTHING - at goodwill.org ("Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter." - Also consider AmVets = American Veterans. "Offer unwearable clothes to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding.") Recycling - CFL = Compact FLuorescent bulbs - at ikea.com ("Take them [CFL's] to your local IKEA store for recycling.") Recycling - CFL = Compact FLuorescent bulbs - at sylvania.com/recycle/recyclepak ("You can order a Sylvania Recycle Pak.") Recycling - COMPUTERS and ELECTRONICS - at ban.org/pledge/Locations.html ("to find the most responsible recyclers") Recycling - FOAM BLOCKS - at epspackaging.org/info.html (or, for foam blocks, call the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers: 410-451-8340. For FOAM PACKING PEANUTS - Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept these for resuse. Or call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop off site: 800-828-2214.) Recycling - INK/TONER CARTRIDGES - at recycleplace.com Recycling - OIL - at recycleoil.org (provides used-motor-oil hotlines for each state) Recycling - PHONES - at collectivegood.com ("Collective Good wil refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country.") Recycling - PHONES for 911 - at donateaphone.com ("Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims.") WEB SEARCH on keywords 'recycling center' Go to Table of Contents, above.

Company SUPPORTER/ADVOCATE sites (companies and other organizations that donate a part of profits to world improvement organizations) < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Tom's of Maine - tomsofmaine.com (This maker of personal products that avoid harsh chemicals support the River Network, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Park Service's Rivers and Trails program) WEB SEARCH on keywords 'charity supporter' Go to Table of Contents, above.

WEB DIRECTORY pages on PHILANTHROPIC organizations < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > It seems that 'web directories' are dying out. Google and Yahoo closed theirs down around 2014. Then around 2017, the directory from which the Google and Yahoo web-directories were spawned --- the DMOZ "Open Directory Project" closed down. It seems that it is just not feasible for a team of people to keep up with all the sites that are going dead and the new sites that appear. About a year after the dmoz.org site closed down, it appears that a new web-directory site --- curlie.org --- arose from the ashes of 'dmoz.org'. It remains to be seen how long that web-directory lasts. Following are a few links related to 'web directory' sites. Wikipedia List of Web Directories - at en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ List_of_web_directories he 'Curlie' web-directory project on PHILANTHROPIC ORGANIZATIONS - at curlie.org/ Society/ Philanthropy/ Organizations/ (try category links such as "Disaster Relief and Recovery", "Food Not Bombs", "Human Rights", "Water Supply" ; also, try "related category" links such as "Health > Organizations") he 'Curlie' web-directory project on ISSUES and CAUSES, PHILANTHROPY - at curlie.org/ Society_and_Culture/ Issues_and_Causes/ Philanthropy/ (try category links such as "Community Service and Volunteerism", "Nonprofit Resources", "Organizations") Rather than depending on any remaining 'web-directory' links, here are some WEB SEARCHES to get you started with 'world improvement' inquiries --- using keywords 'philanthropy clean air', and keywords 'philanthropy clean water', and keywords 'philanthropy world health', and keywords 'philanthropy world peace'. Another approach to take: Go to the Wikipedia 'Philanthropy' page and start following links from that page. Go to Table of Contents, above.

Bottom of this WORLD-IMPROVEMENT LINKS page --- charitable organizations, preservation organizations, and the like. To return to a previously visited web page location, click on the Back button of your web browser, a sufficient number of times. OR, use the History-list option of your web browser. OR ... < Go to Table of Contents, above. > < Go to Top of Page, above. > Or you can scroll up to the top of this page. Page history: Page was created 2008 Feb 27. Page was changed 2010 Aug 10. Page was changed 2015 Jun 17. (Removed dead links to the old Google and Yahoo 'web-directories'. Removed some dead links. Added some links.) Page was changed 2018 Sep 25. (Added css and javascript to try to handle text-size for smartphones, esp. in portrait orientation.) Page was changed 2021 Feb 20. (Specified the width of images in proportion to the width of the browser window. Some minor re-formatting.)