Change The World Wednesday

Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW) ... our effort to positively impact the environment through small actions.

Last week, Aunt Sugar asked us to gift from our closets. Did you figure out whose aunt she is? Her nephew-in-law is none other than our own Rewinn, a "regular" here on CTWW. I loved this challenge! Several years ago, I decided to start collecting gifts throughout the year so that when the holidays arrived, my shopping would be done. I picked up items here and there and put them away ... in a spot which wouldn't be seen by others and which, I was sure, would be easy to remember. Well ... Christmas came and ... I couldn't remember where I had hid them. Several years after that, we moved and guess what I found? Yep ... all those stashed away gifts. So browsing closets is a great idea ... one never knows what they'll find.

Let's see what our Honor Society had to say about this challenge:

Little Bambino Children's Wear stopped in. She and her family are packing up clothes and toys to donate. That brings up a good point ... when searching closets for gifts, remember to "gift" items to local charities in addition to friends and family. Thanks, LBCW!

Our friend, EcoGrrl, joined the challenge all the way from London. Wow! She doesn't give gifts at the holidays but rather, invites all of her friends over for a winter solstice party where she gives them the gift of her hospitality and cooking. Wouldn't we all love to be included in her circle of friends. By the way, EcoGrrl has posted about her trip to Scotland ... she includes great photos and beautiful words. Be sure to pop over and take a look ... it sounds like she had a wonderful trip!

In searching her closets, Cinella found something special from her childhood which she plans to give to her daughter. I can't wait to hear about it. And in this POST, she gives us an update on the previous week's challenge and shares how she spent some very special time with loved ones.

Brian and his family stay true to the real reason for Christmas ... and it is reflected in their gift giving throughout the year. One of the activities they participate in is donating coats to a local coat drive. As Brian says "It is amazing what a warm coat can do for someone that didn't have one before you gave it." Thanks, Brian!

Mrs. Green is in the habit of sorting through her closets for "UnBirthday" gifts. Here's a hint about them ... a friend has admired one, another friend wants to read, and some decorate a local nursing home. Intrigued? Go HERE to read all about it.

The Accessory Lady took the challenge. She says "Often there are new items that are just sitting and perhaps they would make the perfect gift for someone." If some of those new items include her fabulous creations, then I'm guessing that we'd all love to be on her gift list. Thanks, AL!

Smiling Green Mom calls gifts from the closet "little treasures from someones life". If you're wondering how a recipient of a "closet" gift feels about getting it, well .. SGM received candle sticks with candles last year and says they are wonderful. By the way ... SGM is hosting a whole bunch of "green" giveaways on her site so ... head on over and maybe you'll win some Eco-friendly products.

The Coffee Table Poet (@coffeetablepoet) talked about our challenge in her paper, Coffee Table Poetry Musings. WhooHoo - thanks, CTP!

Argentum Vulgaris (@whopaysthepiper) also wrote about us in The Argentum Vulgaris Daily. Yay - thanks, AV!

In this POST, Kris talks about something which goes hand-in-hand with gifts from the closet. Here's a riddle - what is outwardly flamboyant and is involved in secrecy and deception? Oh you know I'm not giving away the answer ... but read Kris' article and I'll bet you'll find it.

Shopping Charity (@ShoppingCharity) included our challenge in The Shopping charity paper. Thanks so much, SC!

Our friend Ann mentioned our challenge in this ARTICLE. She also shares an initiative, in her area, to clean up the beaches ... it's a great idea and something we could all do in our own neighborhoods. Thanks, Ann!

Aunt Sugar's nephew wrote this POST. Thanks, Rewinn, for passing along this challenge and getting us digging deep into our closets.

We have a new participant this week. Mr. Kate joined the challenge and created this VIDEO. All I can say is ... WOW! It is a do-it-yourself type video and gave me a ton of great ideas. Thanks, so much, Mr. Kate ... glad to have you with us!

In addition to blog posts, papers and videos, we also had a bunch of people talking about our challenge on Twitter using the hashtag #CTWW. We lovingly refer to them as our #CTWW Gang. If you're on twitter, you couldn't find a better group of people to follow:

@coffeetablepoet
@recyclecraft
@waylandcook
@accessorygal
@gingerlyspice
@dpixel
@shoppingcharity
@cjrthemommyblog
@rewinn
@myzerowaste

Great job, everyone! As always, if you wrote a post (or a paper or a video), I've Stumbled, Tweeted and posted to my Facebook wall.

Ready to switch gears? Our bloggy friend, Kris, suggested this week's challenge. It focuses on composting, which is a great activity in the winter months (think ... gardens not in use so make them work through composting). Here's the challenge:

If you compost, we'd like to know all about it ... in detail. Please give us directions on how to build a bin (if you did so), how to set up a bin and any tips/advice you may have for beginners. We're looking for "how to" information on this challenge.

Or ...

If you don't compost, please do some research about composting in your particular situation (apartment, farm, city neighborhood, etc.). Share what you learn and let us know if the information encourages you and, if so, when you might try it out. Of course, we'd also love it if you would actually start composting this week.

Great suggestion, Kris ... hopefully we'll all learn a lot this week!

Are you ready? Altogether now ...

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