Change The World Wednesday

Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW). If you're new here, please click on the tab at the top of the page for more info.

Last week's challenge was great (thank you, Rachelle) ... we reached out to those around us and encouraged them to recycle. One of the things which I chose to do was to reach out to our apartment's management and ask them to begin a recycling program in our complex. They were polite and thanked me for the suggestion. But here's the thing, planting a seed is important. Maybe it won't take root today ... but maybe, in a few months, it'll take root and bloom.

Let's see how the Honor Society made out:

EcoGrrl lives in Portland, OR (lucky girl). As she said, recycling is a way of life in Portland. So, to meet this challenge, she shared links to local recycling locations on the community page. Nice, EcoGrrl - sometimes people want to recycle but don't know where to take their stuff!

Aleksandra, The Busy Working Mama, joined us. Her comment is so encouraging ... she said that her neighborhood has a wonderful recycling program in place and all of her neighbors participate. How wonderful is that! She further shared that a recycling program has been implemented at work! Fabulous (and now she doesn't have to haul recyclables home).

Regina McDonald (aka @chrysalisdesign on twitter) surprised me by putting our challenge in The Artists Daily. Wow ... I feel like I've made the big time! Thanks, Regina!

Argentum Vulgaris was a step ahead of us ... the weekend before this challenge he discussed recycling and reusing with his neighbor. You can read his experience HERE. AV also shared our challenge in The Argentum Vulgaris Daily. But wait ... that's not all ... he created a brand new blog dedicated to green living and posted there, as well (read it HERE). Thanks, AV - you did us proud!

Noteasytobegreen and I had some great conversations during the week about spreading the word. Part of the problem in her area is that, while the complex has recycling containers available, they are painted white while the trash bins are painted green. Very confusing for residents!

I'd like to welcome Katie to our challenge. She found us through one of the green blog hops listed in the side bar. Katie also lives in an area where a recycling program is up and running and her neighbors participate. Yay ... I'm feeling good about our world!

Here's a riddle ... how are bags of leaves and delivering newspapers related and how do they meet our challenge? For the creative answer, visit my friend Inge' and her post entitled "The Reluctant Recycler". It totally surprised me! And stay tuned because our new challenge was suggested by Inge' ... it promises to be a good one!

Mrs. Green writes several blogs about the various aspects of living in an Eco-friendly way. But in this POST, she talks about an experience she had, earlier in the year, taking the recycle message to the classroom. If you're thinking about chalk boards and lectures, think again ... Mrs. Green was a totally creative teacher and I'm betting that the lucky children, in class that day, will remember her message for a lifetime!

Our friend, Kris, wrote (in this POST) that she had failed this challenge. I don't agree at all. Kris helped others recycle by doing it for them when they either refused (you know who you are) or didn't realize what was and wasn't recyclable. She has, for some time, been looking for opportunities to spread the word and has even gotten her Grandmother to proudly display items she's recycling rather than tossing. Great job, Kris!

We had some twitter friends who took to the Internet and talked about our challenge using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're on twitter, be sure to follow these great friends:

@waylandcook
@dpixel
@whopaysthepiper
@givetreegifts
@chrysalisdesign

Thanks to everyone who participated in this challenge ... hopefully there are more people recycling because of your efforts.

For those who wrote articles, I've Stumbled, Tweeted and posted on Facebook.

Alright ... this week's challenge, as I mentioned earlier, was suggested by Inge' of Dementia for 2. It addresses both reuse and recycling ... and kicks it up a notch. Here you go:

This week take one item from your home/office and come up with new uses for it. For example, rather than toss a vegetable can, consider all the ways it could be used (pencil holder, planter, etc.). The idea, here, is to focus on one item and list as many (re)uses as possible.

Or ...

Write about 3-5 items which are recyclable but which many people toss out. For example, the plastic safety wrap around the neck of a mouthwash bottle is recyclable but often overlooked and tossed.

Or ...

Investigate the various types of recycling in your area and try them out. For example, our area has a metal recycling center. Let us know what you found out and whether it changes your recycling habits.

Thanks, Inge' ... this one is sure to teach us a lot!

That's it for this week. Are you ready? All together now:

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