In my experience, people often think about donating money or time to public services as something to set aside focused energy for, contributing occasionally or on a schedule. In truth, every aspect of our daily lives can have an impact - from the clothing we wear to the food we eat - the way we choose to spend our time and money can directly affect policies and programs that influence change in our world.

There are several very, high profile programs like PRODUCT (RED) that, through the power of spending, can affect the world in which we live. Other examples that you may not be that familiar with:

Tonic Generation sells limited edition t-shirts in support of several global causes, with the direct effect of your purchase printed on the back of the shirt. One cause currently supported by Tonic is providing water to communities in Asia and Central America. It is estimated that over 5 million people die each year from poor sanitation or the availability of clean drinking water, making it one of the biggest health crises in the developing world. Each "Tonic Water" t-shirt purchased provides clean water for one person in these affected areas as well as funding local sanitation education.

Tonic's other causes include supplying mosquito nets in sub-Saharan Africa, providing education to children in India, or planting sapling trees across North America.

Closer to home, the issue of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is only beginning to break through to common consciousness. Since late 2006, beekeepers across America began reporting massive losses of bees - from 30 to 90 percent of the hives' populations. Inexplicably, colonies are being left with a queen and immature bees, while workers and drones are disappearing at alarming rates. Research on this phenomenon is ongoing, as a definitive reason for this disappearance has yet to be found.

The potential impact could be enormous: With approximately 1/3 of crop species pollinated directly by honeybees, the global food supply is dependent on these tiny workforces. CCD is now being felt in Europe, across Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

Individuals can take action by planting bee-friendly flowers and gardens, or hosting native hives to help bees find natural habitats.

One simple thing people can do (especially garden-less apartment dwellers such as myself) is to purchase specially-marked Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Given that many of the company's own ingredients rely on colonies of healthy bees, Haagen-Dazs has started a public education campaign to raise awareness of the issue of Colony Collapse Disorder. In addition to launching a new flavor - Vanilla Honey Bee - many other "bee-dependent" flavors, like Strawberry and Cherry Vanilla, have been marked with "HD", " HB" logos, indicating their reliance on honeybees. The purchase of these flavors helps fund a pledge of support to research programs at The University of California Davis and The State University of Pennsylvania, directly helping to identify factors that could be contributing to, or causing, CCD.

Two simple ways to be a conscious and informed consumer: use your purchasing power, no matter what the level, to promote social change and help address the big problems of our time.