Green Hands USA: America Volunteers

How many instant messages do you send every day? Ten? Twenty? One hundred? What if each time you sent an IM, you ended up contributing money to fight global warming or protect the environment?

Microsoft's i'm Initiative can help you do just that. The program's name is short for "I'm making a difference," and yup, that's what it does. By using Windows Live Messenger as your IM client, and by adding a special code to your screen name, you end up contributing to one of ten charities every time you start an IM conversation.

The money comes from advertising revenue (the ads appear on Live Messenger, just like with any other IM client). Since Microsoft launched the program in March 2007, it has generated more than 2.4 million dollars for the supported causes.

You can choose from three different conservation organizations -- StopGlobalWarming.org, the Sierra Club, or the Humane Society of the United State -- as well as other worthy causes like the Susan G. Komen Foundation or the American Red Cross.

I like this system because it takes something people are already doing and turns it into an instant act of activism. So if you're already IMing, why not use it to do some good?