Make a difference and surf!

This report by Scripps suggests that an average American adult spends 11 hours looking at electronic devices. This seems a fair assessment, given that many jobs require you to use a computer (so there is 8 hours+ just at work) and most people have smartphones that are checked regularly.It got me thinking, could I be doing some good while I use the screen. Here are some tools that I have found that enable you to help others whilst browsing online.Tab for a causeThis is a Google Extension that allows you to support charities each time you open a new tab. This is one I am trying out. If it is as simple as it sounds then I think it should be an excellent extension to my chrome browser. The only downside would be that adverts are  shown, as this is how they make the money that is donated to charity. Hopefully this will not be too annoying compared to the good I could be doing.FreeRiceThis site is run by the UN world food program. You play the game. When you get the question right grain is added to the UN world Food Program. This is an educational program and its aim is to educate people through games (the rice is an incentive to play the game).  So all the challenges are meant to improve English capability and can be used by children or adults. I think it is a really lovely idea and has many possibilities - maybe even an access point to lean some English.KivaKiva is a type of crowd funding system that enables us to support actual people with genuine needs - it makes for an  authentic funding experience. People/communities identify how they would use the money and the investor decides how much they wish to invest (from $25) and where they wish to invest. The aim is that the money is paid back, once the project has started, and the investor can reinvest in another project. I think this is a great CAS activity and one that I plan to do for myself.EcosiaThis is a search engine that plants trees when you complete and internet search using it. I thought this sounded too good to be true so I did some further digging. The revenue is gained by the searcher clicking on one of the sponsored links.So it is very simple. We ,the user, can benefit from using a different search engine (it is nice to diversify). If we then click on a sponsored link (or advert) then they donate money to enable the trees to be planted. That sounds like a winner to me!So now to try and use these. I have started with only a small number so that I can give them all a good test and see how they work. Maybe some of your would like to give them a go to!