What is a Willenge?

A Willenge™ is an idea that has a proven, positive effect on something. We wish we could give you a more specific definition but as we don't want to put any limits on your/our creativity, it's better to leave it quite open. By achieving a particular Willenge, you are doing someone something good - whether it's yourself (lose weight), your neighbours (help out an old lady by mowing her lawn) or the environment (buy chlorine-free bleach) it doesn't matter - what's important is that you had a positive impact on yourself or/and your surroundings.

What can I do?

First you should get familiar with the site and find the Willenges that you think are for you. If you like the ideas you should register to keep track of them and then commit to them. If you have an idea for a great new Willenge, please send it to us. Under each Willenge there's a link you can use to send it to your firends.

How can I submit a new Willenge?

Send it to us and after we've searched for duplicates and deemed it suitable, we'll post it in the Willenge directory. You can also post it in our forum.

Are there any guidelines on how to write a Willenge?

When proposing a new Willenge, try to write it as something that you WILL do, not as something you WON'T do. For example, you should propose improving ones eating habits as "We should add more vegetables, fiber and/or fruit to our diet" and not as "We should not eat in fast food restaurants". It would be really helpful if you could also provide a link to a page that has more information on the topic as we try to keep the Willenges as fact-based as possible. Try to avoid mentioning brands or company names. For instance, when proposing "We should start using Philips energy-saving light bulbs.", just drop "Philips" from the sentence. Try also not to make it too generic - "Lose weight" is probably not specific enough. "Lose weight by walking to work every day" would be better.

Don't worry about formatting or details, though. We're here to edit, spell check, find background information, etc. so just send us your ideas, whatever they may be and we'll sort them out for you.

Please do not get offended if you see a Willenge you disagree with. You can always provide comments to the associated forum thread in the forums but often the best thing to do is to just ignore the ideas you don't like and concentrate on the ones you do.

None of the Willenges are set in stone so provided that you make a compelling case we are always willing to edit or even remove Willenges. If you think a Willenge should be edited or deleted send us your reason(s) or, better yet, post it in the corresponding Willenge thread in the forum.

What's in it for me?

Willenge.com is based on the honor system - only you know whether you're actually living up to your Willenges. Because of this, you shouldn't consider our statistics on what people are doing to be very accurate. This is also the reason why we cannot reward people for signing up to huge amount of Willenges or doing very well with them. The true reward is the good feeling you get for making a difference by taking on a Willenge and achieving it. You'll probably end up with plenty of karma in our forums, though. We don't rank or compare the Willenges or say which ones are "more important" - they are all important. The rating system is there just so you can see what other people think.

What's the catch?

There is no catch. All we ask is that you try to do your best to achieve the Willenges you've chosen to participate in and propose new Willenges when you come up with them. It's all about making the world a better place. If you'd like to support our cause, please click on the donations link on the right.

Now that you have an idea what Willenge.com is all about, please check out existing Willenges or submit a new one.