Penguin in my Bonnet

So it's not enough that I'm vegetarian. Every now and then I get on this random mission to save some sort of animal. At the moment, the animal of choice is the penguin. I think I can blame this choice on the whole BP oil leakage in the Gulf of Mexico (which currently could be worsened by a tropical storm in the area). It made me want to drop everything, hop on a plane, and go and save the sealife from the horrid fate inflicted on them by a greedy oil company (yes I know we need oil, we need petrol, blah blah blah... call me a hypocrit but back to the penguin).

I heard today that penguins are starving to death in Brazil because of over-fishing; there's just no food left for them (and yes I guess warming ocean currents also have a part to play). But again, in my eyes, humans are to blame, myself included [Insert subliminal message here about not eating fish!]. And lastly, if you really need any more convincing to support the penguin just head on over to your video store and rent March of the Penguin. All of the above sent me on the quest to find out how I can help one of the most awesome animals on this planet.

Something I've always wanted to do is to volunteer at SANCCOB, and I will. Soon. But for now I stumbled across a great initiative called MyPlanet. It's run by the same group as MySchool which most people will be more familiar with. But instead of selecting a "human" charity, you can choose a "planet" to donate to (call me selfish but I prefer to save the animals). I chose SANCCOB, naturally. But there are other worthwhile animal causes i.e. the Guide Dog Association, SPCA...

You sign up on the web and they send you your free card which you can swipe at any of their partners (Woolworths being the most well-known I think). A percentage of your purchase will then go to the charity or cause you have chosen to support, and in my case, it costs SANCCOB R1o per day to feed one penguin, so this is a great way to sponsor them some much needed extra cash. Nifty, methinks.

Get your own card here. DOOOO IT!

I'm starting to remind myself of Molly Shannon in Year of the Dog. Weird movie.