More Ideas

Here's a list of random ideas that might get you going, ranging from the serious to the frivolous.

• When you pass a stranger in the street, smile, say hello or ask for the time (even if you have a watch).
• Clean up a local park or nature reserve on a regular basis, perhaps in collaboration with your local council or a service group. Sunday afternoons might be a good time.
• Support local businesses.
• Participate in ‘Neighbour Day’, the last Sunday of March each year. Go to their website (www.neighbourday.org) for ideas.
• Organise a regular frisbee game in the local park.
• Form a 'purposeful walking group'. In addition to stretching your legs and meeting some new people, you might decide to add one or more purposes such as: making a list of damaged street signs or street furniture or blown street lights (and send the list to your council); salvaging recyclable containers and picking up garbage that people have dropped; taking secateurs to trim overhanging foliage which is seriously encroaching on footpaths; telling jokes to random strangers; asking people what they like about the neighbourhood and how it might be made even better.
• Start a community choir.
• Propose a group purchase of photovoltaic systems, solar hot water systems or rainwater tanks.
• Hold 'wild idea generation nights' in local pubs or cafes where residents can get passionate about their community.
• Bake a cake, have a slice and pass it on to a neighbour. Ask them to pass it on to another neighbour after they've all had a slice as well, and so on and so on until someone returns your plate.
• Erect a noticeboard outside your home. Display quotations or slogans like 'the best things in life aren't things' and invite neighbours to add theirs. Change the display regularly.
• Invite your local councillors and the local media to one of your events.
• Start a household sustainability competition which recognises the households with the biggest savings in the previous month. You could have categories for electricity, water, transport and food.
• Identify local charities and collectively brainstorm ways to help them.
• Promote the 'Walking School Bus' concept.
• Entertain people at the bus stop.