Simeon Brody
The biggest ethical dilemma we are looking at this week may be the situation in Burma and what we can do about it.
We see what's happening and most of us wonder 'what can I do to help?' I flounder for an answer and find myself coming to the sad conclusion that there's very little that I can do directly.
I don't like that feeling of being unable to influence something, not being able to make things better.
In 1990 I spent 10 weeks in Zimbabwe and witnessed severe pollution, poverty and poor housing for some and nearby, opulent wealth, lax planning laws, unsustainable land management and human rights abuses.
Two weeks into my visit, a white dentist was shot dead in his car for driving past Mugabe's palace 5 minutes after the 6pm curfew. What shocked me more than the killing was that this was reported on page 7 of the daily newspaper, and for me it was 'front page' news.
I also experienced the warmth and generosity of the people and the beauty and bounty of the land. When I came back to the UK, I vowed to do something with my life which would help the planet and its people.... the careers advice I received led me to undertaking an Environmental Health degree.
However I've not been able to do anything practical to help the people of Zimbabwe directly, much as though I'd be only too happy to see fair and free democratic elections.
Burma and Zimbabwe are only two of many places which are experiencing poor living conditions. There are so many more countries which are occupied by invaders, ruled by despot dictators with army assistance, experiencing civil war or genocide, or blighted by floods, drought, endemic disease or epidemics.
How lucky are we? These inequalities are one reason that we should be doing whatever we can to help solve or reduce these problems.
But what can we do? Some advocate boycots, others are lobbying their local councils to debate the issues.
I've mentioned Amnesty before, but they do such a lot of good drawing our attention to human rights abuses that they deserve support, financial support. There's many other charities too, working to provide food aid, drinking water, medical help, immunisation, fair trade, microcredit, education. Any of these would be grateful for volunteers or money.
But I feel I am doing something by living a low-impact lifestyle, by not polluting our shared planet as much as many of my fellow Brits.
I feel I may be helping by choosing fair trade goods, and by being involved in local groups promoting sustainable lifestyle choices, by teaching people to compost their waste instead of sending it to landfill.
I'm happy to be able to write a column and blog to get green issues into the national consciousness a bit more.
My 'green tip of the week' is to do something you can do, something achievable, even if it's local or small.
Helping the situation in Burma or Zimbabwe directly may be beyond most of us, but how about helping raise some funds for a local hospice (we all get old, suffer from disease), or even something as simple as helping a neighbour.
It all counts.
Do whatever you can to make the world a better place, in your work, your family, your street. If you can help someone overseas somehow, that's great.
If you have advice for me or Community Care readers about how you think we could help people in Burma or Zimbabwe, do use this website to share it. I look forward to reading and learning.
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