Call for Change

Last year brought us the defining presidential election of our time. This year, I'm hoping all of the grassroots drive and energy behind President-elect Barack Obama's win can be channeled to achieve even more good. One admirable project aimed at doing just that is Ideas for Change in America, a collaboration between Change.org and about 50 other organizations, most notably MySpace.

How it works: During the last few weeks of 2008, Change.org accepted thousands of submissions and votes from the public on specific policy ideas to propose to the new president. Voting begins today through January 15th on the top rated ideas across categories like Sustainable Food and Fair Trade—from legalizing raw milk nationwide to, as Michael Pollan suggested, replacing the South Lawn of the White House with an organic garden. Then on January 16th, the 10 most popular ideas will be presented to the new administration at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.