You may not hold the secret to preventing global nuclear proliferation, but that doesn’t mean you can’t become a catalyst for positive change. Benevolence doesn’t require you to have the answer to all of the world’s ills, only that you be willing to take actions that lead to positive results in the lives of others.

If you want to change the world but you aren’t quite sure how to, here’s a list of five ways you can make a difference in the world, starting right in your local community.

Blood: everyone has some, and some people are in dire need of more. You could literally save a person’s life by making a deposit at your local blood bank, so there’s really no excuse not to donate blood. If you become squeamish at the sight of a hypodermic needle, close your eyes or direct your attention elsewhere while the phlebotomist draws your blood.

Underprivileged youth, senior citizens, and those suffering from limited mobility could always use a helping hand. You can make a big difference in the overall day-to-day quality of a person’s life by assisting him or her with a task they may not otherwise be physically able to do alone.

If you have an elderly neighbor that has trouble hauling their trash and recycling bins to and from the curb each week, take a few moments out of your day to help that person.

Many charitable organizations depend on the local community to provide hands-on assistance to achieve the organization’s goals. Churches, food banks, senior centers, and animal shelters always need an extra set of hands, so don’t be shy about reaching out to organizations in your neighborhood.

A community’s public parks, recreation areas, shorelines, and roadways always look much nicer when the residents band together to complete a beautification project. Gather a group of like-minded friends or family members to assist you in collecting trash, planting trees and flowers, or trimming overgrown vegetation so you can keep America looking beautiful.

Spending your hard-earned dollars with locally based businesses is a great way to make a difference in your local community. Locally based retailers depend on the community to keep their businesses alive. When you shop local, the money you spend strengthens the community because a portion of those dollars goes on to support other businesses owned and operated by people living in your area.

Choosing to eat at a restaurant owned by someone in your community strengthens your community’s tax base and the symbiotic nature of locally based businesses and the residents that support those business’s endeavors.

Unless you drink only from Sippy cups similar to the ones toddlers use, anyone that ever picked up a glass filled with liquid probably has spilled a drink on his or her carpet at some point or another.

If you spilled water on your carpet, no harm no foul. But if you spill soda pop, wine, dark liquor, or Kool-Aid, well, you may have a serious problem on your hands. So, what should you do if you spill a drink on your carpet?

Before we answer that question, let’s start with what you shouldn’t do if you spill a drink on your carpet. Most people’s first instinct when they spill a drink on their carpet is to grab the closest towel, rag, or t-shirt in the vicinity to try to soak up the liquid; this is a mistake.

The correct approach to cleaning a spilled drink on your carpet is to find a clean, white towel, or a roll of paper towel that doesn’t have any sort of design printed on the absorbent material. Place the towel directly over the spilled drink, and gently blot (don’t rub; rubbing is bad) the spill until all the liquid is absorbed. (Depending on the amount of liquid on your carpet, you may need to repeat the blotting process multiple times and use multiple clean towels.)

Another thing you shouldn’t do when attempting to clean a spilled drink from your carpet is to soak it with a cleaning agent. Some of the chemicals in carpet fibers may cause permanent damage to your carpet’s delicate yarns.

If blotting the spill doesn’t remove the stain out of the carpet, contact a professional carpet cleaner. If having your carpet professionally cleaned doesn’t do the trick, you could try to use an area rug, a piece of furniture, or a houseplant to hide the stain from view.

In some instances, placing something over the stain to obscure it from view may not be practical. When all else fails, you will need to have your carpet replaced by a professional flooring company.

Anyone who has renovated a home before can attest to the fact that making significant upgrades can turn into a very costly endeavor in no more time than it takes to blink your eyes. Many homeowners try to save money by going the do-it-yourself route only to realize that they bit off more than they could chew.

Some homeowners cut corners by purchasing entry-level materials that end up disappointing them when the product fails after six months. Consumers often ask if it is possible to buy cheap flooring that looks expensive. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is a definite no.

When you purchase new flooring, think of it as purchasing a new car; the good ones aren’t cheap, the cheap ones aren’t good, and you can’t buy a new Maserati for the same price as a used Mazda.

If you’re looking to make a quick aesthetic fix on a rental property or a flip house, it may not make sense to pour thousands of dollars into a home improvement project. But if you plan to stay in your current home for any length of time, you’re better off seeking financing options or saving your money until you can afford a reputable product and have it installed by a professional flooring company.

If you’re unsure of how to differentiate between a good flooring product and a cheap product, your best bet is to do your homework on the manufacturer and the warranties that company uses to back their materials.

Say you’re planning to change the flooring in your bathroom or your kitchen and you’d like a luxury vinyl product, but it isn’t in your budget right now. Cutting corners by installing a cheap peel-and-stick tile from your local big-box store isn’t going to give you the kind of results you’re looking for, and you could wind up with a big mess on your hand if the adhesive on those tiles begins to fail.

Another way to be sure you’re buying a good product is to explore options with a shop-at-home flooring retailer based in your community. One of the benefits of using a shop-at-home company’s services is that you’ll be able to look at flooring samples in the comfort of your own home, at a time that’s most convenient for you. Look for a company in good standing with the Better Business Bureau, and be sure that they back their work with a written lifetime installation warranty.

Every year on the last Monday in May, Americans gather together at parades, festivals, and family parties to honor our fallen military heroes who selflessly gave their lives in the line of duty.

The tradition of Memorial Day remembrance is one that is near and dear to our hearts and roots as a country, but we’re willing to bet that there are some interesting things you may not know about this special occasion.

In light of that, here are six cool Memorial Day facts you may not know.

Traditions of remembering fallen heroes date back to the days of ancient Greeks and Romans. Each year, graves of loved ones were adorned with flowers, and festivals were held to show honor to the dead. Similar events were also done in Athens with one of the first known celebrations held to honor Pericles, a strong Athenian general. The first Memorial Day in America began in the 19th century.

One of the earliest and documented ceremonies were held by over 1,000 freed slaves on May 1st, 1865. Groups of colored troops, such as the 54th Infantry, joined the newly freed men and sang hymns while distributing flowers among the tombstones in the cemetery. This event occurred near the end of the Civil War.

Before Memorial Day was actually called Memorial Day, General John A. Logan first issued a decree that today would be dubbed “Decoration Day”. Early American received this notion well, and ceremonies took place in more than 27 states within the first year.

Even though the term Memorial Day started gaining traction in 1880, it wasn’t until the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 finalized the new celebration date and name. There was a ton of controversy that surrounded the changes for quite a few years from many groups, but as we can see, that settled.

Believe it or not, there is a lot of rivalry surrounding the topic of who celebrated Memorial Day first:

Only one town has federal recognition to back up their birthplace claim, and that is Waterloo, New York. They have the official U.S. Government seal of approval for their 1966 celebration.

Although more and more people celebrate Memorial’s Day as an annual summer holiday, there are many traditions that have remained strong through time:

With Father’s Day approaching and in honor of all the father’s out there, we’re sharing a few facts about Father’s Day that you may not know about.

You read that right. Father’s Day originated on June 19th, 1910 by a lady named Sonora Smart Dodd.

One of six and raised by a single father, Dodd visited multiple organizations like the YMCA and local churches to gather support for her idea. As we can see over a hundred years later, she was successful.

The holiday continued to spread and received its official celebratory date on every third Sunday of June.

There were some men who believed the holiday was an excuse to try and domesticate manliness and a gimmick to increase marketing sales tactics.

In the 1920’s and 1930’s, people came together in an attempt to stop both Father’s Day and Mother’s Day altogether. Their preferred holiday would be known as Parent’s Day.

Unfortunately for them, the Great Depression derailed their efforts as struggling retailers desired to use Father’s Day as a sort of “second Christmas” for all the men. This was their best time to promote gentlemanly accessories such as hats, neckties, pipes, and tobacco.

Father’s Day became an official holiday by law with a signature from President Nixon. The officiation took place in 1972.

According to a few statistics, necktie’s are still the most popular gift to give your pops. Plus, what gentleman doesn’t want a nice tie to complete his business look?

More than a whopping 87 million cards are given each year to fathers around the world. That number of cards makes Father’s Day the fourth-largest card giving holiday of the year.

Dads, keep up the great work. You’re an integral part of the family, and your role as a father is important.