Change The World Wednesday

Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW) ... our effort to walk a little gentler on the earth. Information about this weekly event can be found HERE or just click on the tab at the top of this blog.

As a reminder ... we have a month long challenge in play. Here it is:

February Challenge - February is being chosen by snack food manufacturers as "National Snack Food Month". That means that unhealthy snacks will be unusually promoted and consumers will be encouraged to buy them. Processed foods, especially snacks, are bad for us and bad for the planet. So, let's reclaim February for the good food cause. First, visit #28ate to get the facts and then, participate by taking at least one of the actions they suggest. Come back here and tell us what actions you're taking to support healthy food.

I also want to give you a "heads up" about something fun we're going to do next month, beginning on March 9th. It's going to involve daily challenges ... so stay tuned, more details to come.

Okay ... last week we challenged ourselves to opt for reusable products instead of disposable ones. "Reuse" is the second action in the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" directive. It's no accident that the words fall in that particular order ... reducing is first and foremost because the less stuff created, the less stuff in a landfill. Reuse comes next because we do need a certain amount of stuff in our lives and this directive encourages us to look beyond the initial use of an item and make our choices based on the ability to reuse it. For example ... we often have a choice between a paper product or a cloth version. The cloth version can be washed and reused. Another example is product packaging ... some containers, like plastic wrap, can't be reused ... others, like glass jars, can. That is exactly what our challenge was about ... avoiding disposables and, instead, opting for reusable items. Let's see how our Honor Society handled this challenge:

Chapstick Fanatic says that her blog is not "green" but she linked up to our challenge in this POST. Passing the green word ... that makes La Chapstick Fanatique a green blog in my book. Thanks, CF!

Cinella typically writes about our challenge in her blog but ... not this week. Has she abandoned her "green" beliefs?? Has she turned away from CTWW??? Not at all! In this POST, she is taking this challenge to new heights and sending reusable items to our troops overseas. She's part of We Use Coupons/Operation Troop Aid event ... and, not only is she participating, her post includes all kinds of ways that we all can participate. So head on over to "her place".

Kristen shared that by switching to cloth napkins instead of paper, she reduced her trash considerably. Once again we see that making one small change can make a huge difference. Kristen also shares that cloth napkins are much softer on our skin ... just an added bonus!

Noteasytobegreen has made the switch from disposable to reusable on many items ... napkins, water bottles, bags and even personal hygiene products (reusable cloth pads). She shares that she's having trouble with toilet paper and cotton balls/swabs. Read on for a great suggestion on replacing cotton balls by Kris. As for toilet paper, one could consider a bidet or, in most cases, opt for toilet paper made out of recycled material (ie Seventh Generation). Be sure to check out this POST, which Noteasytobegreen wrote about taking back her food ... it nicely supports our month-long challenge.

Kris, who suggested this challenge, lists a whole bunch of ideas in this POST ... including what to use instead of cotton balls. She also shares a very clever idea for avoiding those little tags in the bulk food section which are used for identifying the bulk item by code. Those tags are not recyclable and she's found a way to eliminate them. Be sure to read through the comments of Kris's post ... she generated a great discussion where more ideas were shared! Thanks, Kris!!

While visiting Hidden Valley Simplicity this week, I read a post (which you can read HERE) about making baby wipes & spray. If fit in so nicely with this challenge that I asked the author, M, if I could share it here and ... she agreed. By the way ... Congratulations to the Hidden Valley family on their new addition, Lil Man!!

Pam stopped in ... thanks for your kind comments, Pam. Hope to "see" you here again!

The Shopping Charity Daily gave our challenge a nice mention. That edition of this fine publication also included a piece on bone marrow transplants and Club P.I.G., lung cancer and a new diet plan called Healthy Living with Ellie Krieger. So be sure to check it out ... lots of interesting reading!

Mountain Mama is excited about this week's challenge (I love her enthusiasm). She offers this POST in support of the month-long snack challenge. Wow ... if you love cheese puffs and thought you could only get them in a package, think again. Mountain Mama shares the recipe. Thanks, MM!

Nicki Woo, The Home Guru, stopped in. If you have never been to Nicki's blog, you're missing out. I've only recently discovered her blog and immediately fell in love with her writing ... she is clever, funny and always entertaining. Check it out! And thanks, Nicki, for your kind comments ... look forward to "seeing" you here again and again!

Our friend, Ann, wrote a post (HERE) which talks about coexisting and sharing resources. She also included our banner. Thanks, Anne!

Toes That Twinkle stopped in. She found us through one of the blog hops which are listed in the side bar.

Denise Nicole accepted the challenge and wrote this POST in answer. She lives in the Philippines and shares that people, there, typically don't use toilet paper. Can you guess what they use instead? Oh you know I won't tell ... you'll just have to go and read it for yourself. But here's a hint ... her post also addresses the concerns of Noteasytobegreen.

Mrs. Green gave us 15 great suggestions ... all of which meet this challenge. You can read them HERE. She had a couple of ideas that I had never thought about ... check out #4 and #8 ... brilliant! By the way, there's a great picture of Mr. & Mrs. Green on this post ... what a handsome couple!

What happens to old sheets? Truthfully, I've never thought about that. But Rewinn has. In this POST he offers us a very creative reuse for sheets, as well as old sweaters and denim jeans. Thanks, Rewinn!

Linda has found that reusing is a great way to stretch a limited budget. Her comment was just full of ideas: using an old blanket as padding to recover kitchen chairs, using plastic grocery bags to make plarn (plastic yarn) and then crocheting bags and rugs, and using old hand towels and washcloths in the kitchen as dish towels and dish cloths. In this POST, she shares such a simple reuse ... but one which is clever, functional and keeps a common item out of the landfill. Thanks, Linda!

Great posts, everyone ... I've Stumbled, Tweeted and Facebooked them.

We have a very kind group of tweeters out there ... we call them the #CTWW Gang. Each week they pass the word about our challenges using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're on twitter, be sure to follow these great folks:

@cjrthemommyblog
@noteasy2begreen
@ShoppingCharity

As a reminder, if you have an idea for a challenge, please send it to me HERE.

Let's hit the road ... here's this week's challenge:

This week, if you drive, reduce your speed. Reducing your driving speed reduces the amount of fuel you burn ... and that is very Eco-friendly. So ... this week ... slow down!

Or ...

If you don't use a car for transportation, please share your alternate choice and give us practical ideas for making it work. For example, if you ride a bike or walk, please share how you manage inclement weather, shopping and getting to the other side of the city/state. Tell us about the ways in which you stay safe while riding a bike in heavy traffic or walking when there isn't a sidewalk. We'd like to know exactly how you make an Eco-friendly form of transportation work in today's world.

That's it for this week ... thanks Everyone!

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