Change The World Wednesday

Welcome!

Before we unveil this week's challenge, I'd like to share some information with you. On one of our recent challenges to reduce paper, our bloggy friend Ann told us that, in her area, postal patrons simply put a "No circulars or addressed mail only" sticker on their box and ... simple as that ... no fliers or mailers are delivered. So, I decided to do a little investigating as to whether the U.S. Postal Service would offer those of us in the U.S. that option. I went to their site, found a contact page and wrote them a polite email suggesting that they offer us an "opt out".

They don't currently offer that option but they wrote back to me with their suggestions for reducing junk mail. Unfortunately, we're way ahead of them and have already talked about those methods. So, I was thinking ... if a lot of us write to them and politely suggest that we be given the option to refuse advertisements, fliers, etc., perhaps they'll eventually listen. If you'd like to contact them, here's the link:

U.S. Postal Service Customer Support

Are you ready for a new challenge? This week we're going to "fine-tune" our water use. While browsing Trying for Green, a new blog by Kira (one of Honor Society members), I came across an excellent article about water ... and this week's challenge was born. Here it is:

This week, when using the faucet, turn it on at a trickle instead of full blast. Simple, right?

Or ...

If you are barely letting water run, please investigate other ways to save water and ... yep ... write about it.

By the way ... if you haven't already checked out Kira's new blog ... I encourage you to do so. It promises to be a wonderful resource for green living.

Let's check in with our Honor Society. Last week's challenge asked us to consider an antique store for our purchases ... or a second hand store. This was a fun challenge!

Kate and her husband treat themselves to one antique a year. I loved her sentiment: "... I would much rather have something old, with a story ..." Me, too!

Marcy, who gave us this fun challenge, shared that antique dealers like to make deals ... so, antique stores don't have to be expensive. Great tip, Marcy!

Brian and his wife refurbished an antique sewing table with cast iron legs. They sanded and painted and ended up with a beautiful antique which Brian's wife uses as her desk. Brian said "Plus it was great working with her on a project." Okay, Brian ... you get the "Good Husband of the Day" award!

EcoGrrl gets all of her cast iron skillets at antique stores. She's now looking for a rocker for her new front deck.

Kira, who inspired this week's challenge, wrote a wonderful article about buying used which you can read HERE. She brings up an important point in her post ... it's important to not only buy used, but donate items which are no longer wanted. It's part of the way she simplifies her life.

Argentum Vulgaris has been shopping in "Op Shops" for years. In his post (which you can read HERE), he talks about something even more interesting than second hand stores and antique shops ... Sunday street markets in Brazil. Wow ... the pictures made me drool!

Maurie Kirschner has "antiquing" in her blood. In her post (which you can read HERE) she shares that her mom is great at searching out antique treasures. Maurie also shares pictures of her most prized antique ... an Art Deco Secretary that her husband gave her for a wedding anniversary. Okay, it looks like we have two husbands who get the "Good Husband of the Day" award!

Ange' shared that in France, 'attic sales' are everywhere between April and October ... and people "make it a day" visiting with friends and taking wine. But I'm betting that not everyone has the creative, artistic eye that Ange' has. Read this POST and see what she has transformed from something old to something fabulous! And this POST offers some more of Ange's wonderful transformations.

Aine Butler-Smith expands the "buy used" idea to include used cars. Brilliant! By the way ... Congratulations Aine on the birth of your newest grandson! Best wishes & happiness to all of you!

I knew that Le-Chat would love this challenge ... her entire blog is dedicated to reusing things which others toss out. Read about some wooden toys she rescued HERE. I agree, Le-Chat ... I'll bet there is one happy little guy playing with these treasures as we speak.

Harri Pao shared that he doesn't have antique stores near his home in Indonesia. But in a very interesting article (which you can read HERE), he talks about "Onthel" bikes ... unique and antique bikes that are sought after by collectors and used for pleasure cycling.

Rewinn shops thrift stores rather than antique shops. In Three Reasons for Thrift Stores, he offers great reasons for doing so, including the thrill of the hunt.

Remember our challenge on book swaps? Well, Brian from Eazy Cheezy wrote a piece on the various on-line swap sites. You can read that post HERE. As always, Brian does a great job of investigating sites and shares the best of them with us. Thanks, Brian!

Great job everyone ... this was a fun challenge.

I've Stumbled and Tweeted your articles.

Ready? All together now ...

WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD, ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!