Last year the devastating earthquake in Haiti represented one of the first major opportunities for cell phone users to help rescue efforts by merely sending a text message to donate money. Many organizations like the Red Cross collected small sums (often $10) when people sent a text message to a specific number. The Washington Post reported that more than $5 million dollars were donated in one day through this technology.
Also in 2010, Electrolux, the Swedish vacuum manufacturer announced their Vac from the Sea project. In short, the company was raising awareness of plastic in the ocean by building a select number of vacuums with plastic reclaimed from the ocean. For more information, take a look at the video below. This year, the company has taken a page out of the text to donate playbook and introduced their latest campaign to support efforts to clean up plastic from the ocean. For each person that “likes” their page on Facebook, Electrolux will donate one Euro (1â‚Ź) to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. The foundation “is dedicated to the protection of the marine environment and its watersheds through research, education, and restoration.” They accomplish this by:
Conducting research and collaborative studies on
(1) Distribution, abundance and fate of marine plastic pollution.
(2) Potential harmful effects of plastics in the marine environment, including transference of toxins and their impact on human health.
The donation campaign which started on Thursday runs through October 30th. These contributions to the Algalita Foundation are on top of the 1.5% that Electrolux donates from the sales of its “green range” vacuums.
[Image source]
