Cleaning Up Bolsa Chica Beach

Ripplers joined Surfrider Foundation in cleaning up Bolsa Chica Beach, north of Huntington.

Surfrider Foundation provided each volunteer with a reusable canvas bags and a latex glove. There were other volunteers there from UC Irvine and other organizations. In the early morning hours, volunteers with bag in tow outnumbered beach goers.

We walked and picked up trash from Towers 21 through 25. It was a beautiful sunny day. The occasional mist of seawater from crashing waves was refreshing. Aside from the bags quickly filling with trash, it was just friends enjoying a stroll at the beach while the miles and hours evaporated.

At first glance, the sand seemed clean. However, a closer look will reveal small pieces of plastic and even larger non-biodegradable debris. Rippler Julesverne found more bottle caps than she could count. Rippler 608ds found almost a dozen pens. What was scary was that Rippler hcruz found 2 fully intact syringes. Working in the medical field, he handled the syringes with care and disposed of them properly. It was disturbing to consider how many families with children play at that beach. One syringe is one too many.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.  PeopleRipple.com definitely plans to join Surfrider Foundation at other beach cleanups.

Helping Intstructors and Students of English

PeopleRipple has been reaching out to teachers who are teaching English to students who have a primary language other than English. PeopleRipple was one of the sponsors for the May 2009 CATESOL Teacher’s Conference in Pasadena, CA. We also participated with Santa Ana College’s (Centennial Education Center) Earth Day Fair where we demonstrated PeopleRipple.com to English language teachers.

Through the PeopleRipple Language Exchange Group, we are hoping to supplement classroom learning with an interactive Online experience where students can learn and apply English language lessons:

1. Online interactions provide students with ample opportunities to apply classroom lessons at their own pace and from wherever they’re most comfortable.
2. Students are engaged and then motivated to interact with others regarding their real-life interests.
3. Weekly and monthly Language Exchange Challenges (questions/tasks), tailored for students of all levels, keep the learning experience interesting and fun.
4. Students become active participants in making positive Personal, Social, and Global impacts.
5. Students are introduced to a culture of giving back while having fun.

*The objective of the Language Exchange Group is to bridge classroom lessons and practical use of English through Online interactions within a safe, supportive environment.

Currently, the moderator of the Language Exchange Group, Elsie Lodde (currently an English language instructor) is working with her school to develop and test the PeopleRipple.com Language Exchange Program. This will serve as a model for other instructors. We also hope this will help students to continue their learning should lack of funding force continuing education programs to close. Indeed, some programs are already slated to close later this year.

With PeopleRipple.com, students learning English can:

• Regularly practice writing in English
• Freely express themselves within a supportive environment
• Interact with other learners of English and native speakers
• Connect with friends and family all over the world
• Join communities focused on their real-life interests
• Be a part of making a positive difference

Why does PeopleRipple.com want to support learners of English? Because the process of Making the World a Better Place must include people of all languages and cultures.

Some PeopleRipple Groups that students may find interesting are:

Book Group – Promote literacy

Cooking Group – Address hunger

Biking, Running, Fitness Group – Promote better health

Language Exchange Group – Promote language proficiency and cultural understanding

Music, Movie Group – General discussions

Sign Language Group – Promote sign language

This Can Change the World…

Dear Friends,

If you’ve ever wanted to make a positive difference in the world, please follow these 3 steps:

1. Register at www.peopleripple.com

2. Do the real-life activities you enjoy or get involved in the causes you care about

3. Have fun and connect with people who share your interests.

Why you should do this?

PeopleRipple.com’s mission is to Make the World a Better Place. And we’re betting you share that same dream. We live at critical point in our collective history. NOW is the time to make a personal, social and global difference. What we do as People, individually and as a community, will Ripple into the future. PeopleRipple.com is dedicated to making the process of making a positive difference accessible, relevant, and fun.

We believe that making a difference can be as easy as doing the activities you regularly enjoy or getting involved in things you care about. So, whether you’re into Running, Cylcing, Art, Cooking/Dining, helping the Environment, Volunteering, Video Games, Donating Blood, or just meeting other people with the same interests, you can make a difference each day with PeopleRipple.com. Every mile ran or biked, each cooking or environmental Challenge completed, each game played, each deliberate act of kindness performed, etc. counts and is tracked! — And there are even PRIZES to win every week!

How and Why are we doing this?

We’re a group of friends who just want to make a difference. So we pulled our resources together and donated our time and energy to build PeopleRipple.com. We’re not funded by big venture capital. And we don’t have a big budget for marketing. But that’s OK. We believe in what we’re doing. And we know that there are enough people out there who care and want to make a difference. And our hope is that this message will move you to signup and start spreading the word.

Do you like receiving or giving Hugs?

We have recently launched the Make A Difference Hug Drive. Using the hug cards (printable and electronic versions), we are able to track how many hugs are given. We are asking companies to make pledges at certain hug levels to support the causes our members care about. Each hug counts! Imagine, making a difference with each hug…

How does PeopleRipple.com make a difference?

A portion of every dollar we will EVER earn goes to supporting nonprofit partners like the American Cancer Society, American National Red Cross, United Way, Feed the Children, and other causes elected by our members. Also, we’re creating a new kind of social experience that is meaningful and enjoyable for people and which has the awesome side effect of Making the World a Better Place.

PeopleRipple.com is currently available only in the US, but we are looking to expand globally once we reach 1,000,000 US members.  We’re starting this movement from home.

What you can do now…

Complete Step 1 above. Then, send a virtual hug to your friends, family, and anyone who has ever wanted to make a difference. Help spread the word.

Let’s move together one person and one small action closer to the kind of life and world we’ve dreamed about. The more people who join, the bigger the revolution will be…