The hotel company Starwood and the advocacy organization UNICEF have partnered to create a program called Check Out for Children. When you check out of any Starwood property, you have the option to add $1 to your bill to support UNICEF. With just $1, the organization can help nine children gain access to clean drinking water for one month. According to UNICEF, over 1,400 children die from diseases caused by dirty water every day. If you aren't staying at a Starwood property, you can also donate your Starwood points online to UNICEF to support their good works.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, millions of sharks are hunted ever year to be made into shark fin soup. The fins are removed while the sharks are still alive, and the sharks are thrown back into the water to die. If you're at a restaurant that serves shark fin soup, be sure to ask the owner or manager to remove the meal from the menu. But if you prefer to avoid confrontation, the organization has a free downloadable card that you can print and leave that expresses your concern and explains why sharks are threatened and need to be protected. Visit hsi.org to find the card.

Want to turn old newspapers, wood chips, garden waste and junk mail into long-lasting, clean-burning, free firewood? Invest in an inexpensive log maker -- which you can find online -- that compacts these items into dense firewood "logs." It's easy to do and takes no time at all; the logs will burn from 10 minutes to up to an hour, depending on how dense the logs are and what you put into the maker. Summer is a great time to start making a pile of recycled logs so once winter arrives, you'll have plenty to stay warm.