In Spanish, we have an idiom: "poner el hombro". The literal translation is "Put the shoulder".
You use that idiom when you are asking for help AND commitment from other people. You are, figuratively, asking them to help you push something in one direction putting their shoulders, with the aim of reaching some goal. You can figure out a group of people pushing with their shoulders something like a big cube, everyone in the same direction.
An example:
Come on people! We all need to make this recycling project work.
It is necessary to [put the shoulder?] if we want to make of this world,
a better world
What would be a good idiom with that meaning?
PS. I will appreciate your corrections because of my mistakes in this post. Thanks,
Best Answer
Put your shoulder to the wheel calls on you to make an effort: to figuratively push on a mired cartwheel to get the cart out of the mud and moving. It does not necessarily call on more than one person to undertake this effort, but it may, and often does: