Whether you spent the summer here in New Orleans or not, you undoubtedly have heard non-stop coverage all summer long on the clean up efforts in the gulf. As a student here in New Orleans, it seems logical to ask, what can I do?

The magnitude of this disaster surely means that there is a huge amount of work to be done. However, if you have tried to help out, you know that the work is not easily found.

Before you dive into your college routine, check out the following ways to help out in the gulf.

Visit www.volunteerlouisiana.gov and click the link on the right-hand side that says “oil spill response”. This sign up process attempts to match your desire to help with local organizations that are currently involved in aiding with the clean up. The sites www.audubonaction.org and www.nwf.org/Oil-Spill.aspx are available for you to sign up and be a part of the clean up effort. Both the Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation allow you to physically and fiscally help out in restoring the gulf.

In shopping for dorm survival gear, keep in mind that Dawn has pledged $1 towards animal rehabilitation for each bottle of dishwashing detergent sold. However, you must register the bottle online. The donation is not automatic with the purchase. If you are wondering, “Why dishwashing detergent?” the answer is dishwashing detergent is the preferred method for cleaning oil off of affected wildlife.

IPhone users can download the Project Noah application. The app collects photographs and other data from affected areas to help provide researchers with sufficient data for the clean up efforts. Beyond the spill, Project Noah is an effort to create citizen scientists bound together by cell phones and the sheer act of being outside. For those of you without iPhones, Project Noah will be releasing an Android app in October, and also supports uploading via their website.

You can also use your phone to act as the eyes and ears of the clean up effort. If you come across animals that have been injured or killed by the oil spill, you should call 1-866-557-1401 and leave a message including the animal’s exact location. If you come across oiled shoreline call 1-866-448-5816 to report it.

Pepsi is in the midst of one of its, “refresh everything” projects. In seventeenth place for the $250,000 grant is the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. The project is designed to restore and replant the marsh grasses that were and are currently being damaged by exposure to the oil. Visit gulf.refresheverything.com/restorethewetlands to vote.

It is an understandable knee-jerk reaction to want to boycott British Petroleum, but in reality, the victims of such a boycott are the individual station owners. Each station owner had just as much to do with this as any other station owner on any other brand. Using less oil is a reasonable response, singling out BP is not.

The oil spill is an incredible disaster and should not be ignored. Whether you want to help out is up to you, but you at least owe it to the gulf community to keep the subject in the forefront of your mind.

This editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board.