With the Gulf of Mexico oil spill growing larger and more unwieldy by the minute, it can be easy to feel powerless in impacting any sort of meaningful change. That's why the Huffington Post has partnered with Meetup Everywhere, an application that allows you find others who also want to get involved and provides a forum for you to work together to help out with the oil spill.
On Tuesday, June 8th, which is World Ocean Day, we'd like to invite you to meet up with other HuffPost Green readers to brainstorm and take action for helping with the oil spill.
To get you started, here are some organizations that will help you get involved:
• The Sierra Club is gathering volunteers to help with the cleanup efforts on the Gulf Coast. Sign up online to volunteer and the Sierra Club will help you find the right opportunities for you.
• The Oiled Wildlife Care Network provides information on how to volunteer with wildlife rehabilitation efforts.
• Global Green plans to spend the coming months working to protect injured wildlife and to lobby Congress to enforce tougher regulations on the oil and coal industries. Learn how to volunteer with Global Green..
• Sign up with The National Audubon Society to get trained and volunteer to help local birds.
• The Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana is also helping coordinate volunteers. You can register online to volunteer.
Check out HuffPost Impact's full list for more ideas.
Additionally, here are some general ideas on how to address both the oil spill as well as our addiction to oil, which you can discuss further with your group:
• Discuss options on how to set up alternative energy within your community.
• Evaluate feasible ways in which you could stop buying plastics.
• Discuss ways you can cut driving out of your life.
• Find ways to donate human hair and other materials, which are being used to soak up oil. Matter of Trust is a good organization to look in to.
• Find out who is organizing protests in your area, or work with people in your area to organize a protest if a group doesn't already exist.
We'd love to hear what you come up with at your Meetup. Send us a picture of your group and what you come up with so we can share it with the whole HuffPost community.