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Get a group of your friends together, or find a day when your family can all go out for a morning to a nearby park. Take a few large trash bags and some gardening gloves with you. Start at the parking lot, and follow every path in the park, picking up every piece of trash you find. Within a few hours, your park will be spotless!  If you see trash off the path, don't hesitate – go and grab it. If it's hard to reach, find a stick and try to knock and drag it closer. This doesn't sound like that much fun when you read it, but actually doing it is a great experience. In fact, you might like it so much that you want to set up a regular event once or twice a year to go back and clean it again. If you ask teachers and look at the local news, you'll probably find that there are other groups of people doing cleanup operations similar to your park project. In almost all cases, these people are happy to have kids and families join up. You might get to clean up a beach, a campground, or a pretty mountain trail when you go out with a bigger crew. You'll also get the thrill of being part of a bigger movement. Whether you like to plant trees, clean up trails, or even just spread the word about environmental change in your hometown, there's probably a local group of people who are interested in doing the same thing. Reach out to them and ask how you can help. If there isn't such a group, why not talk to your parents or school about making one yourself? You're never too young to make a difference, after all. That's just as true out in public as it is in your own living room.  If you know friends who are just as interested as you, have them all sign a piece of paper saying they're interested, and then take it to your principal. Knowing that a lot of people want to help will make the principal more likely to consider your request. One program that many schools can do but few schools take advantage of is a composting program. Composting reduces waste by separating food scraps and yard debris and allowing it to decompose and turn into soil. With enough community involvement, a composting program at your school could be a big success, so start spreading the word and drumming up support among your fellow students and their parents. While balloons are made of biodegradable material, you should blow them up for party events rather than have them filled with helium.  Blowing a balloon up is not only a very fun thing to do, it is also much more environmentally sound than using helium.

summary: Clean up a park. Join a larger cleaning operation. Join other volunteer groups.


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Distractions are one of the most common obstacles to effective empathy, so remove them whenever possible. Silence your phone, turn off the TV, put down the magazine, and truly engage with the person you are talking to. Distractions aren't just cellphones and TV, though. You can also become distracted mentally or physically, such as when you are worried or hungry. Attend to your needs before starting a conversation, so you can be fully present with others. Being vulnerable with your own thoughts and feelings is a call that allows others to exercise empathy. When you are talking to others, make an effort to use feeling words. This helps clue them into your emotional state. For instance, you might say, “I was shocked by the news of the accident” or “I’m angry that you didn't consult with me first.” Is someone around you in need of empathy? If so, use open body language that fosters a connection, make occasional eye contact, and soften your voice.  If you have a deep relationship with the person, you might hold their hand, caress their back, or hug them. Just make sure you are aware of the other person's personal boundary needs before you try to make physical contact with them. Sometimes, you may get the call to express empathy towards others, but not know how to do it correctly. If this happens, simply be present with the person—just be there. You can inspire others to be empathetic by taking action when others are in need. Rather than just standing on the sidelines (or expecting the person to request help), think of actionable ways you can offer assistance. For example, if a friend is stumped about a breakup, try to get them out of the house to see a movie or go to the spa. If a family member is struggling with mental illness, offer to accompany them to therapy sessions or support group meetings.

summary: Give people your full attention. Share your emotions when you connect with others. Respond appropriately to the concerns of others. Find specific ways to lend a helping hand.


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The overall size of your chives will vary depending on the variety you grow, but all varieties are harvestable around 7–10 inches (17.8–25.4 cm). This normally occurs around mid summer, and will continue until the weather cools below freezing. In some areas with light winters, chives will remain evergreen and produce harvestable plants until the following year. Use a pair of gardening shears or scissors to cut your chives straight across, starting from the outside of the plant and working in. Cut the chives about 2-inches from the base of the plant, as this will stimulate new growth for additional harvests. Do not harvest the entire plant at one time; cutting all of the leaves off will stop future growth. Try not to cut them at an angle, as this will cause them to lose moisture more rapidly than if they are cut straight across. This is because cutting at an angle exposes more of the stem, and therefore moisture in the plant dissipates more quickly. For the best-tasting crop, harvest your chives during the summer and late fall 3 to 4 times total during the year. It is not necessary to harvest the entire plant at once; only cut what you need from a patch, and harvest that particular patch 3-4 times per year. Chives can become an invasive species, as they are self-seeding and pollinating and may take over your garden. To prevent this, cut off the flower heads at harvesting time. This will prevent the flowers from seeding and spreading to other areas of your garden. Continue deadheading the flowers at each harvest. As a form of pruning, cutting off all the chives in the late fall will help to produce a better crop the following summer. Use your gardening shears to cut off the top of the entire chive plant 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) from the base. This should be done around the months of October or November. Chives are perennial plants, so they will continue to grow back on their own so long as they are taken care of. As a result of continually growing for many years, chives can get quite large. To prevent the chives from overtaking your garden and becoming unruly, it is practice to divide the chive plants every few years. Chives are a type of bulb, so they are easy to divide. Simply dig down in the dirt to reach the bulb, and split each large plant into sections ⅓ the original size for replanting. Give the extra sections to friends and neighbors to start their own herb garden, or add them to your compost.  Consider replanting chive your spare chives at the base of your apple trees. The chive plants will prevent a type of disease called ‘apple scab’ from occurring on the trees. Chives are said to repel deer, so consider planting your spare divisions in an area that deer have been a problem for you.
summary: Wait to harvest your chives when they are at least 7 to 10 inches (17.8 to 25.4 cm) in height. Cut chives 2-inches from the base. Harvest your chives 3-4 times per year. Deadhead the flowers when they start to seed. Cut off all the chives at the end of the growing season. Divide chive plants every 3 to 4 years.