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Kind things you can do on your own
No coordinating, no asking anyone, no waiting for a group. You can do every one of these today without telling a single person you are doing it.
Showing 31–60 of 274 ideas
Put water out in a heatwave
A shallow dish at ground level, refilled daily. In a dry week it is the difference between a bird surviving the afternoon and not.
5 minutesFreeAn animal
Not rated yet
Ask about the thing they mentioned last week
The difficult meeting, the scan, the argument with their sister. They probably assume you forgot, because most people do.
5 minutesFreeSomeone you live with
Not rated yet
Slow down at dusk, where the road meets the fields
Most animals are hit in the half hour either side of dark, on roads people know well enough to stop concentrating on.
5 minutesFreeAn animal
Not rated yet
Let one corner of it go wild
Stop mowing a square yard. Leave the log where it fell. Neatness is the expensive part, for everything that is not you.
5 minutesFreeAn animal
Not rated yet
Say the specific thing you noticed today
Not that you appreciate them. The actual thing, from today, that you would not have noticed about anybody else.
5 minutesFreeSomeone you live with
Not rated yet
Leave the accessible toilet alone
It is not the spare one when there is a queue. For some people it is the only one in the building.
5 minutesFreeA stranger3 people did this
Not rated yet
Read the form out loud for someone
Around one in six adults reads below the level most official forms are written at.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor1 person did this
Not rated yet
Keep sending the birthday card after the divorce
Children lose half their extended family in a separation, usually without anyone deciding that should happen.
5 minutesUnder $10A friend1 person did this
Not rated yet
Give money without making it a loan
A loan between friends creates a debt that outlasts the need. A gift, clearly stated, does not.
5 minutesMore than $10A friend
Not rated yet
Buy two and leave one
Suspended coffees, paid-forward meals and school-fund top-ups exist. Most people have never noticed the option.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Wait for someone who stammers
Finishing the sentence of someone who stammers is meant to help and does the opposite every time.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Find the subscriptions someone forgot about
Most households pay for several things nobody uses. Finding them is an hour's work and a permanent saving.
An afternoonFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Buy from the list rather than guessing
Food banks and shelters publish exactly what they are short of. Donations that ignore it create sorting work.
Half an hourUnder $10An organization
Not rated yet
Give the good version away, not the worn-out one
Charity shops and refuges throw away an enormous amount of what is donated because it was not really a gift.
Half an hourFreeAn organization
Not rated yet
Notice who eats lunch at their desk every day
It is sometimes a preference and often the visible end of being outside every group in the building.
Half an hourFreeA stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Ask something other than where they are from
For anyone who looks or sounds different, it is the first question of every conversation, forever.
5 minutesFreeA stranger1 person did this
Not rated yet
Tip in cash where the card tip may not reach them
Card tips are sometimes pooled, taxed through payroll or partly retained. Cash usually goes to the person.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Ask what they did before they came here
A great many people doing low-paid work were engineers, doctors or teachers somewhere their qualifications do not count.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Buy the thing they would never buy themselves
People under financial pressure cut the small pleasures first, and those are the ones that hold a life together.
5 minutesMore than $10A friend
Not rated yet
Tell a freelancer what the going rate is
People new to freelancing price from fear. One honest number from someone established resets it permanently.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Go to the celebration that is not yours
Turning up to somebody else's festival, service or national day is a bigger gesture than it costs you.
An afternoonFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Caption the video you posted
Captions serve deaf viewers, people in loud places, and anyone watching with the sound off — which is most people.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Pay the small invoice the day it arrives
Late payment is the main reason small suppliers fail. Paying on receipt costs you nothing and can matter enormously.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Never park across a dropped curb
A car over a dropped curb can strand a wheelchair user on the wrong side of a road with no other crossing.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Stay in touch with the person who left
People who leave a workplace, a church or a town are dropped quickly, and it is rarely a decision anyone made.
OngoingFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Know when their important days are
Everyone knows when Christmas is. Far fewer know when Eid, Diwali or Rosh Hashanah fall, or acknowledge them.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Check whether someone is on a social tariff
Discounted broadband, water and energy tariffs exist for low-income households and take-up is tiny.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Explain the rule nobody writes down
Every workplace, school and country runs on conventions that insiders cannot see and newcomers cannot guess.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Ignore the assistance dog
A working dog that gets distracted can miss a seizure warning or walk its handler into traffic.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Offer to put it in writing
Spoken instructions vanish. For anyone with hearing loss, dyslexia or brain fog they may not have landed at all.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet