Today I renewed my yearly membership in the Student Conservation Association. I am not sure how long I've been a member, nor can I remember how I first found it. I think it was over 10 years ago, when I mixed it up with the Society for Creative Anachronism.

This SCA is a nationwide force of high school and college-age volunteers who are committed to protecting and preserving the environment. They are conservation in action. Through internships, conservation jobs and crew experiences, SCA members are rising to meet environmental challenges while gaining real, hands-on field experience. They complete projects in every conservation discipline - from archaeology to zoology - and everything in between.

How could I not support something like this? Free student labour making my environment a better place to be. And making the students better people.

We all win.

I also helped save my friend's farm by lending her money through prosper. Prosper is a people-to-people lending marketplace, and was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone.