Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)

Welcome to another episode of Change The World Wednesday ... our effort to positively impact the world through Eco-friendly activities done "en masse". If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far.

Last week our challenge was a bit different from our usual ... we asked that everyone reflect on their world and develop gratitude. The idea is that when we have a positive connection to something, we are apt to protect it ... and developing gratitude helps us to realize that connection. If you missed my post on the subject and would like to read it, just click HERE.

Let's check in with the Honor Society to see how they handled this challenge:

While reading Jessica's beautiful Homage to Mother Nature, I realized that gratitude can be shown by how we live our lives. Some of us learn to appreciate the natural world as children ... and then we have the fabulous opportunity to pass those gifts on. As she says, "I like to think that being green is more of a way of life than of a movement ..." Her post is definitely a "must read".

Petunia GreenBeans is grateful for many things. She offers us several posts that express her appreciation for Eco-friendly people and innovations. In this ARTICLE, she shares information about 11th grader Daniel Burd and his plastic chomping experiments. Very cool! Have you ever heard of Greenopolis? Pentunia says it's the best thing to happen to recycling. And, in this POST you'll learn all about "Eggs".

There are so many ways to develop gratitude. In this PIECE, K.C.Woolf shares another way to do so ... one which encourages conservation. Can you guess what it is? I'll never tell ... but you you'll find out by reading her post.

Does Argentum Vulgaris believe in God? Who is Pachamama? Which country has special ways of getting rid of toilet odors? And what do these questions have to do with our challenge? AV says that this was a difficult activity (he had to think too hard) ... ahh, but he's a great thinker as you'll find out HERE.

In Reflecting on life and the environment, Mrs. Green talks about loneliness, separation, awareness, the rippling effect of gratitude and mindful eating. It's a beautiful post. Thanks, Mrs. Green!

The Shopping Charity Daily mentioned our challenge and one of your posts ... was it yours? You'll also find pieces on "Educating the Shan: Refugees Without a Camp", the Paunglaung Dam project and the 8,000 people who will be forcibly relocated and a piece entitled "Til Death Do Us Unfriend".

Our friend, Rewinn, after some unseasonably cool weather was finally able to plant this week ... and he's feeling gratitude for all the people, animals and conditions that came together to enable his garden. You might be surprised at everyone and everything involved. Check out this POST where he talks about it. Nice to have you back, Rewinn ... we've missed you!

In this POST, our friend Ann displays our older CTWW banner, thereby spreading the word. Thanks, Ann! You also find a wonderful article about birds and bird-nest soup.

Our bloggy friend, Rob Cayman, has dedicated a facebook page to creating sustainability and changing the world. You'll find it HERE. I'm hoping (hint, hint) that Rob will include a link to CTWW as part of the effort.

As always I have Stumbled, Tweeted and Facebooked your articles ... and I would sure appreciate your using social networks to pass the word about Change The World Wednesdays. :-)

Our Honor Society also offered us some wonderful comments:

EcoGrrl shared a fabulous Cree Indian Proverb, "Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money."

Ange dropped in. She shares that gratitude is something she and her family work on regularly in their home. The philosophy of "shared energy" is something she believes in and reminds herself to "Recognise that 'the other' is you". Brilliant! Nice to have you back, Ange!

Miss T of Prairie Eco-Thrifter dropped in to thank Rob Cayman for mentioning her post last week. She has a great blog ... if you have a moment, I highly recommend it.

İlhami Uyar came by and had such lovely words for us. He said "I beleive that you can solve all problems". By the way, Mr. Uyar's blog, in my opinion, is a celebration of the natural world as well as life in Turkey. He speaks, often, about bee-keeping and growing food. A recent post talked about "Ottoman" meals ... a traditional celebration of food and music for workers. His blog is in both Turkish and English ... and is one of my favorites!

The #CTWW Gang is growing! These wonderful people hit the twitter "airwaves" this week and talked about our challenge using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're on twitter, these are great folks to follow:

@apolloenergies
@peopletowels
@waxelene
@littlegreenblog
@thenewauthor
@skipbang
@envirobooty
@clothmamajess
@robcayman
@greenplate
@gogreenbeans
@waylandcook
@kimberlykaye
@robineaston
@smallbits
@whopaysthepiper
@dazediva
@crissymohrscrea
@ShoppingCharity
@cjrthemamiblog
@givetreegifts
@dpixel
@rewinn

Okay ... are you ready for more? Let's go ...

This week, lets reduce the amount of paper we use. Please choose at least one of the following actions and accomplish it (take on all of them to be a true Eco-superstar).

• Use no more than 6 squares of toilet paper per bathroom trip.

• If given the option, choose not to have receipts printed out.

• If you must print things out, print on both sides of the paper (try to avoid printing by saving a file electronically instead).

• Visit Catalog Choice, Do Not Mail (US), Red Dot Campaign (Canada), Stop Junk Mail (UK), or a similar service to remove your name from mailers, advertisements, catalogs, junk mail, etc.

• Read the newspaper online rather than buy a paper copy.

• Use cloth napkins and towels rather than the paper varieties.

• Opt for reusable plates rather than paper plates.

Or ...

If you're already doing the above, please come up with at least one other way to save paper and share it with us.


UP THE ANTE (a new feature)

• Jessica takes on this challenge, especially the toilet paper part, and raises us one (or in this case, decreases us one) ... she's going to use only 5 squares per trip. Who's up for Jessica's challenge?
  

I'm looking forward to reading everyone's ideas. Until then ...

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