Londoners might not feel the full heat of the summer at the present time, but we already had our own little heat wave earlier this season. Posters all over the tube stations and in public transit systems all over the world caution you to stay hydrated, and for good reason. Doctors recommend we consume eight 250ml servings of liquid every day during the summer.

During this high tourist season, its easy to reach for bottled water at your local Tesco Express rather than buying an aluminum refillable bottle. This decision puts a non-biodegradable bottle into the environment for centuries; that's a costly long-term commitment to environmental damage for a few ml of water. Fortunately, aluminum bottles are becoming very eco-chic and are available almost everywhere. Even if you don't own one, pick one up at your next tourist destination. Not only will you get a cool souvenir, you'll be helping out the environment too. This is especially important if you are visiting the United States, Europe, Australia, and other highly developed countries, because you'll be able to fill your new aluminum bottle with clean, well-regulated tap water. If you are traveling elsewhere, ask your lodgings where to find environmentally sustainable, clean water. Unfortunately, some countries do not have access to clean tap water; in that case, make sure you recycle your plastic bottles rather than throwing them away. No matter where you visit, simple decisions regarding your intake of water can have huge environmental impacts, so think carefully before you purchase that Evian!

Most of us are completely unaware of the local governance required to run a township, borough or city. Most of us don't participate in town hall meetings or care to be bothered by what the local council does with our taxes. Most of us, however, do not live in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

The borough recently held a town meeting, which a member of Worldeka staff attended, and it was certainly far from civil. Local charities pleaded with the town council to prevent them from closing down a community center that many charities would not be able to function without. They were also asking for a reconsideration of a withdrawal of funds. After the pleas were heard, the head of the council moved straight into voting procedure for the board without having a community-wide discussion about the pleas. Public outcry at this bold move led many to stand up and shout obscenities, and even walk out of the meeting before it was adjourned. This battle is far from over, and we may start seeing similar battles going on in other town meetings. With serious budget cuts going on, community centers are some of the first things to lose funding or get sold off, so be sure to check with your local councilmen and charities to ensure community centers remain open.

If your town or borough is affected in a similar way to Hammersmith and Fulham, please get involved and save the buildings that house vital community-serving charities. Your city council should have more information on their websites about potential closures and town hall meetings.

As the world watches BP tear itself apart in arguably one of the greatest PR blunders regarding natural disasters ever, more people have been killed and more oil is being spilled at a faster rate in the Niger Delta. The accident leading to two major spills occurred in early May of this year; a 40-year-old pipeline gave way, sending a million barrels over seven days into the delta, and another pipeline was attacked by rebels a few weeks later.

The inherent problem with this is that more spills occur in Nigeria, and yet the media pays little attention to them. Regardless of whose fault it is, no one is attending to the needs of the people whose life expectancies are cut short due to the meddling of western oil companies. We become so fixated on the 11 lives lost in the BP rig explosion, yet we take no notice of the one hundred lost in a 2008 rig explosion in the Niger Delta. What most don't realize is that the lives of these people before the companies came in were sustainable and relatively happy given the circumstances of civil war and disease. The presence of the oil companies over the past fifty years has ruined the environment upon which they depended for their livelihood.

So you're probably wondering: what can I do? Well, various environmental organizations, individuals and educational institutions around the world have sent petitions and letters to the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, begging for an overhaul of Nigeria's regulatory system for oil companies. However, the corrupt nature of the government makes bureaucracy even slower, so grassroots movements to help the people of the delta might make a bigger difference faster. If you do a little research, there are many organizations calling for a change in policy, but very few are devoted solely to getting cleanup efforts under way. This is an opportunity for someone to step up and take the lead in creating an organized non-profit cleanup effort; hopefully someone will step in soon. If you're interested in taking action, visit the "Project" section of Worldeka to team up with individuals and charities and make a difference.