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make a change in the world. You may already read my first blog post on this topic 10 ways you can change the world. TODAY . If you didn't, you can do it right now. Like that, you will have even more ideas on how we, as normal people, can





Here I come back with another 10 ways (actually 11) you can make a difference in the world and you don't even need super powers for that.





If in the first blog post I talked more of practical things we can do every single day in order to change our lifestyle and of course, the world, because every change starts from within, this article is a bigger mix of practical ideas and a mindset that we need to have to make this world a better place.





As I like saying, if we want to change the world and the society, we need to start from ourselves and the choices and the decisions we make every single day. Unfortunately, we can not “fix” the world and “heal” all its issues in one day. It's a constant long term process. It takes time! Probably, we will always have something to “fix”, but this does not mean that we don't have to do anything about it now. We do it for ourselves, our children and the generations coming after us. We, as people, are responsible for the things happening in the society and have to make sure to give our best to make this world a place where everybody has equal rights, is heard, understood and listened to. Where we take care of our planet, but also of our bodies and minds because they are our physical and spiritual homes.





So now, let's go to the next 11 things that one could do to change the world. NOW!









Do not throw away your electronic devices!





Electronic waste or e-waste is becoming a huge problem everywhere in the world. In my first post on this topic, I talked a lot about consumption and how new products and better models are coming out every new month – TVs, computers, smart phones, but also fridges, ovens, vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, blenders, printers, copiers etc. This means that all of the old stuff that we have and want to replace with new one is going to be thrown away (where?) or will be just put somewhere with nowhere to go. Of course, some of these objects could be broke or not working anymore. The problem is still the same. What to do with the electronic devices we don't need anymore?





The landfills are stuck with this kind of electronic matters (70 % of the heavy metals in the US landfills are from discarded electronics). I don't even want to think about the arsenic, mercury, lead and flame retardants the workers are dealing with every day... One thing that I personally find disgusting is that some companies ship this old equipment to “poor” countries where people don't have access to better quality products. Literally, we get rid of our old shitty stuff and give it to the poor. Only thinking about that and I am getting angry!!





So, what can we do to prevent these horrible outcomes? If your electronics still work, you can donate them to an organization that can sell them for a small price (like a second hand) in order to raise funds for theirs actions and programs. So, try to find an organization that could take your electronic devices and resell them. This is how I got my oven, my coffee machine and my blender. And I payed almost nothing for them! So, this is a great deal! However, if you can try your device before buying it, just to make sure it really works, do it.





Recycling is also an option. If your electronics don't work anymore, they maybe have some parts that could still be reused, resold or recycled.





Here are some links to organizations that can take away your devices and recycle, reuse or resell them.





For the US :





The Freecycle Network : https://www.freecycle.org/





For Europe (you have 44 pages of organizations in all Europe) :









Also, in the EU we have this law covered by the WEEE directive that makes the retailer take back the equivalent old model of an item when selling you a new one. Use this option!





And finally, I will come back to the first step in my previous article on the topic – Be conscious about the way you consume. Buy less, think before you buy something, if you really need it. Do not let the society tells you that you are missing on something better than the things you are having right now!









Try to buy mostly seasonal local food.





As I said in my previous article, buying local food is a great way to support small local businesses and forget about big supermarkets where the food you buy comes from all over the world in a plastic bag after weeks of traveling on a plane.





Is it normal to eat tropical fruits in the winter while living in Europe? Do you know that all the imported products that we buy involve the emission of carbon dioxide from the planes that brought them to us? Most of these products have been transported still “green” so they could be eatable by the time they reach their final destination.





However, it is also true that even local products can be sometimes not so good for our health – for example, if the products are grown in greenhouses or polytunnels in winter, which requires heating or there is high use of fertilisers and tractors, which is not carbon-friendly either.





Also, we don't have to forget that some products that we buy in our supermarkets, like for example coffee or cacao, coming from other third world struggling nations, are one of their biggest incomes.





This topic is a subject of many debates. My personal opinion is that we don't have to be maniacs and take ethical eating like the ultimate truth (I am not going to feel guilty because I ate a banana), but when we buy a product that has been transported to us, we can think a bit of the bad gas which ran out in the air and heated the planet.





So, finally, for me the most important thing to do concerning the food we buy, is to find the balance. We can not buy and eat only food grown in our local area, especially if we live in a big city. Sometimes that does not change anything and can be even worse in terms of quality. What is important, is how the food was grown (in what conditions), how it was stored and prepared. All the rest is a matter of choice, but it is still a very important one. When we buy our food we make a choice – what kind of business we support (local or big supermarkets), with what quality of food we want to feed our bodies and how we cook and store it (is it eco-friendly?). If there is a cooperative in your town, give it a try! It may sounds crazy, but after all, we can tell a lot about a person by the food they buy and eat.









Save money.





One thing that I learned from my work with people who live in extreme poverty is that saving money is very very important. Most of the people who live in poverty don't know how to spend their money thoughtfully. When they have money, they spend it for things that they could have passed by. They will buy TVs with big screens, new clothing, expensive toys for theirs children, they will take a loan to buy a new car... they rarely think of saving a part of the money they have. This is one of the reasons that when the money is gone, they have nothing left but loans to pay.





So, saving money is very important. Try to save at least 10% or 20% of what you earn every single month. You may think that it is nothing but by the end of the year you will have a good amount of money in your bank account and you will not even realize how it happened. Think about it – if you put aside 50 euros per month, by 10 months you will have 500 euros, by a year 600 euros. It is not bad. If you double it, you will have 1200 euros.





Having savings give you some sort of security. You know that in difficult times, you have something. If you need to go to the doctor, you know that you can pay. If you need money to eat, you know that you have some savings. If you loose your job, same thing. Unpredictable things happen and it is better to be prepared for them, you never know. We can not always rely on our relatives and friends to help us. We need to be independent.





Saving also help you learn how to spend your money in a more thoughtful and responsible way. You start looking more carefully the price tags and thinking before taking out your credit card.









Plant a tree, start gardening.





We all know that trees are the lungs of the Earth. The more trees we have, the more oxygen on the planet. So, if you can plant at least one tree in your life, this is great! If you don't really know how eventually you could do it (don't have a yard or a garden), there are many environmental organizations like Greenpeace and WWF that have projects on planting trees in the cities or building “shared” gardens in some neighborhoods.





Planting trees in your neighborhood or starting a small shared garden with your neighbors are amazing ways to improve the local environment and the planet's health. Also, having a shared garden is a great way to meet your neighbors and know them better, spend some time with them and actually, do something meaningful together. This is an awesome activity which is developing more and more in big cities.





Concerning trees and gardens, besides producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from the air, they have many other social and economic benefits. Being around trees and any other plants just feels good. This is why people who live in big cities feel better spending some time in parks or gardens where they can get in touch with the nature. This reduce anxiety, stress and has in general a great impact on mental and physical health.





So, if you have a yard, plant a tree, start gardening. If not, try to see what is happening in you neighborhood. Ask your neighbors. Maybe you can give a hand from time to time in your local garden or park. Maybe you can start an initiative in your neighborhood. Find an environmental organization, they will give you some information about the activities that you can get involved into in your city – like cleaning your neighborhood in the spring or cleaning a river, a hill, a forest near your town with other cool fellas . There many possibilities, you just need to look for them. Oh, and stop buying Christmas trees. Get a fake one!









Decrease your screen-time.





I am talking about TVs, smart phones, tablets, computers and any other electronic device that I don't even know it exists. Reduce the screen time. It is not good for your eyes and it can cause sleeping troubles.





Also, d o you know that spending too much time on screens restructures your brain? This mostly applies to people who are “addicted” to electronic devices, but still. This is quite scary! Also, spending too much time in front of a screen is not very good for your physical health. Often people who spend theirs days in front of a computer don't move a lot, don't eat very healthy (unconsciously we want to eat junk food) and start having metabolic issues. So, sitting still for hours is not a great deal. Some studies also show that too much screen-time may increase mortality risk.





Here I also have to say that most of the things that we see and watch on TV, apps and the Internet is brain-washing information that makes you consume more and have a very wrong vision of the world, far away from the reality. So, if you can reduce your time in front of screens and carefully choose what to watch, the world will not change because of it, but you definitely will. Try to read more books and to have a personal opinion on different topics and not get influenced by the things you see on TV.









Take care of your body, mind and soul.





In my previous post I talked how meditating and praying were shown to improve our well-being and lifestyle. It is the same about exercise. It is very important to have some physical activity every day. If you don't like exercising, just move! Go for a walk or a hike, ride a bicycle, take the stairs instead of the elevator, dance, play with your children... Now you can easily find some workouts on the Internet that you can even do at home and you don't need equipment. You also have HIIT workouts that take not more than 10 to 20 minutes in most of the cases... So, you got it. You don't have anymore excuses for not moving your body.





Exercising is also very important for the mind. When you do some physical activity, normally you don't think about your problems, your work or whatever is bordering you at the moment. You are physically tiring yourself and you just don't have the time for that. Your focus is elsewhere (on your legs or butt, for example).





It is crucial that every person take care of their body, mind and soul. You don't need to get crazy at the gym, but just moving your body, taking a time off and relaxing is really nourishing and you will immediately feel good. Once we start taking care of those tree parts of ourselves (the body, the mind and the soul), our lifestyle becomes “healthier”. Not only in terms of food and sport, but also by making healthy choices about the life, the people, the job we want to have . We reconnect with ourselves on these tree different levels (body, mind and soul) and we realize what is really good for us and what it is no longer in our service and we should let go of.









Have a dream.





One of the most important things, in my opinion, in order to change the world is for every person on this planet to have a dream. A big one. And to pursue it. We need to have a purpose in life. Otherwise, we live our lives day-by-day without knowing where we go, what we do and why we do it. You don't have to overthink everything that happened, might happen or would have happened, but you need to know what is important for you. What are your goals and values in life? What kind of a person you want to be? Who is your biggest inspiration? What have you learned form life until now? These are important questions that everybody should ask themselves. Of course, they change with time. We grow, we evolve and we change. But it is always good to make a “life check” from time to time just to know where you are standing right now.





Find your passion. Start enjoying life and do the things that really make you happy. Learn how to feel happy by yourself, how to feel good in your own skin. Nobody is here to save us. We are the ones who have to save ourselves. People come and go in life, in the end we only have ourselves. We have to learn how to love our own company. Have big dreams and dedicate your life to their achievement!









Smile, laugh, do not take yourself too seriously.





Sometimes a smile from a stranger can light up your day and make it better. Be generous with smiles. Give them to everybody you meet. People like being around positive people who make them smile and laugh. Life is hard sometimes, even very often, but people who smile and always try to see the good in every situation inspire us. They show us that nothing is too bad. It can always be worst and we have to be grateful for what we have right NOW. So, smile, be kind to people, laugh more often. You are not going to get sick from these things. Actually, you might get cured.





do not take yourself too seriously. Try to be humble and grounded. Nobody is the best. Every person has theirs weak and strong spots. We can literally learn something from everybody. Do not compare yourself to other people. There always going to be someone “better” than you and you are always going to be “better” than someone else (you can also check my article enjoy life. Do not think too much of who has achieved more than you. Instead of doing that, smile more, laugh more and enjoy life. Also,. Try to beNobody is the best. Every person has theirs weak and strong spots. We can literally learn something from everybody.There always going to be someone “better” than you and you are always going to be “better” than someone else (you can also check my article Be smart and stop trying to be perfect ). So,. Do not think too much of who has achieved more than you. Instead of doing that,









Have respect and compassion for EVERY person you meet.





In nowadays society we have, unfortunately, different social classes and some stereotypes of how a successful person should look like. It is easy to think that if someone does not fit in one of those cases: “well educated”, “successful”, “beautiful”, “rich” etc. we have nothing to learn from these people and they don't actually deserve our respect. This is very very wrong. Every person deserves to be respected. We need to respect everybody's feelings, thoughts, dreams, values and believes, even though we don't understand them and they don't match with ours. We don't have to forget that people build their believe system on things they have experienced and learned from life. We don't necessarily have the same life goals and this is fine. Everybody has the right to live the life they want to live. Who are we to judge them and decide what is right or wrong for someone else but ourselves?





Let's try to not be too hard on people and judge theirs decisions only because they are different than us. Be compassionate. We don't know what some people experienced in life. It may be a difficult childhood, a personal trauma... we all deal in a different way with our problems. Once someone asked me why homeless people don't go live with theirs families instead of living on the street. Well, some people don't have families. Some people have nowhere to go. We don't know what we would have done if we didn't have families, if we were at these people's place. Maybe we would have been on the street as well or even worse – dead.





So, having respect and compassion for every person we meet is a very important step to take in order to make a difference in the world! Think about it!









Trust people.





More and more of us have completely lost trust in people. And maybe it's normal. People are sometimes mean, aggressive, even violent, they hurt us, they say bad things to us, the manipulate us... It is difficult to still believe that good people exist. But they do. Yes, we all have been hurt and disappointed, but that does not mean that all people are the same. We don't have to judge the majority of people only because of some bad personal experiences that we had. People are different and I truly believe that good people exist. People who want to help others and care about them.





Not trusting anyone is really sad. You start constantly thinking that people want to do something bad to you, want to hurt you or lie to you. And this is not always the case. You start living in a constant fear of disappointment. This does not allow you to see the good in people and how sometimes they genuinely want to make you happy or be kind to you. Of course, you don't have to be naive and trust every single stranger you meet on the street, but let people in your life. Open up. Even if we get hurt, we will go through it, we will grow and learn from this experience (you can also check this article Our relationships with the others teach us the most about life! You start constantly thinking that people want to do something bad to you, want to hurt you or lie to you. And this is not always the case. You start living in aOf course, you don't have to be naive and trust every single stranger you meet on the street, butEven if we get hurt,, we will grow and learn from this experience (you can also check this article Why are negative people the best teachers? ). This is life. It happens to get hurt and get disappointed. But it does not mean that we have to shut the door to every person we meet.









Be authentic.





Changing the world is not only about making a difference for the others, but also making a difference for ourselves. Every change starts from within. Have an authentic life (What does "authentic" mean? ). Live your life like you want to. Nobody knows better than you what is good for you. Do not be ashamed to show the world who you really are. Let people see your inner child, your soul. Do not be scared of showing your vulnerability. Do not try to be someone you are not. Do not try to look like someone else. Do not do something only because everybody does, do it for yourself. Don't build your life on someone's expectations. Build it on your real dreams and goals. Do not let society mess up with your mind and make you believe that you need to have certain things in life to be happy. You don't need to be rich to be happy, you don't need to have children and a husband / a wife to be happy, neither a big house or expensive stuff. You may think for a while that you are happy because you have those things. But if in your core, you are not satisfied with your life, the initial happiness will slowly fade away with time. Every change starts from within.Do not be ashamed to show the worldDo not be scared of showingDo not try to look like someone else. Do not do something only because everybody does,. You don't need to be rich to be happy, you don't need to have children and a husband / a wife to be happy, neither a big house or expensive stuff. You may think for a while that you are happy because you have those things. But if in your core, you are not satisfied with your life, the initial happiness will slowly fade away with time.





Changing the world is not only about reducing our plastic use and recycling. It is also about having a conscious personal life. Knowing what is “healthy” for us, not only in terms of food and exercise, but also in terms of choices we make about the people we let in our lives, the decisions we make about our work, our lifestyle, the priorities we have, how we want to spend our free time, what kind of people we want to become, what kind of life we want to have. We should stop the pollution not only on Earth, but also in our lives, our bodies and our minds. So, let's start making a difference TODAY. Love, Elena