There's a lot of great information in this post and I encourage you to read through it ... however, if you don't have the time right now, you might find the following quick links helpful:
Our last challenge was a long one but we definitely needed the time to consider it ... we were asked to find ways in which we could achieve zero impact. Wow ... tough, right? What I found interesting about this challenge is that it forced us to think differently ... not to merely consider ways to reduce our impact but to really dig deep and think about having no impact at all. It's a subtle shift in mindset. As living beings on our planet, we'll always have an impact. But that doesn't mean that there aren't some areas of our lives where we can eliminate it. The beauty of this new mindset is that it will allow us to see opportunities and take our "greeness" to the next level.
The Honor Society are those people who help us spread the "green" word by writing an article about our challenges and/or leaving pertinent comments. Here's what they had to say:
Earthy Urban started us off with a little motivation ... it's fabulous. Click HERE to be inspired.
Argentum Vulgaris says that his impact is about as low as it can get because, in his words, "I am old, I have few needs, I don’t have family and I live alone." Check out Change the World Wednesday – 10th Oct to read his thoughts on the subject.
In Zero Impact. Leave No Trace Scott talks about whether or not we can achieve "no impact" and offers us a list of actions to take. He includes things like composting toilets, geothermal heat and rain barrels.
Ann included our banner in this interesting post about LITTER. Here's a question ... if we don't litter, are we achieving zero impact?
Mrs. Green started this POST by saying "Honestly, I can’t remember a Change the World Wednesday challenge that had me so worked up!" Uh-Oh! Did we lose her with this one or did she find a way to meet the challenge?
Lois of LivingSimplyFree shared this: "Having a zero impact is my ultimate goal. So far I have eliminated all chemicals from my home. I routinely save things from ending up in dumpsters around my town and refurbish them with found items (for example people give me leftover paint I then use on these items) and find them new homes. I haven't bought paper towels in years and the only paper product I use is toilet tissue. I don't have a printer as that would use paper needlessly, and this summer I gave up my car, a first since I learned to drive over 30 years ago." By the way, if you've never visited LivingSimplyFree, head on over ... it's a terrific blog!
Janet Botes offered us these thoughtful comments: "Being busy most of the time means that I sometimes run out of time to prepare us some food. I reduce my impact by growing some of our own veggies. Now I will aim for never getting takeaways, thus managing my time better to leave enough time for preparing organic and healthy food, and also learning new, quick recipes. I've just started getting a new organic box and instead of getting it delivered, I'm walking to fetch it. There's still the impact of the transport from the farms, but at least I'm aiming for zero impact on my side. I have eliminated chemicals from my home and art studio, and try to reuse all packaging into functional objects that I use, or artworks that I aim to sell to pay rent. I know that I am far from zero impact overall, but I also know that each change that I make has a positive impact somehow - for the planet, for myself and for the people around me. Walking to my studio, gardening, organic food and upcycling makes me happy, healthy and good to the people I love! Maybe not zero impact, but definitely not negative impact overall... :-) "
CelloMom accepted the challenge and had this to say: "Actually, some of us have positive impact: thanks Small Footprints for lobbing us these challenges every week! (hope you had a great holiday). Zero impact is impossible, of course: We in the West will find it hard enough to get to the average energy use of the planet, 2000 Watts. In the USA, we use on average 12,000 Watts of energy. The good news is that it's relatively easy to reduce that. Buy less, set the thermostat closer to the temperature outside, and drive less. Those are the biggest-tickets household energy items (in increasing order). I'm knitting neck warmers. Will help keep us warm in the house, and keep us on our bikes as it gets colder. I'm buying wool sweaters / hoodies for the children who have outgrown last year's - but I consider that a good investment." Thanks, CelloMom ... and yes, I had a terrific holiday!
Alicia shared her thoughts: " Wow this is really a great challenge! The key word here is challenge because it has been a real challenge to see if we can go zero impact in very many areas. Well it seems there is only a few. We haven't used paper towels in the house for several years. I have had to buy a few rolls recently for my husband to use in the shop. Thankfully there are some recycled ones to choose from. By using the cloth produce bags one can easily eliminate having to get those plastic ones at the store. I have found that it has been quite easy with my reusable bags to eliminate having to use the paper or plastic bags from the grocery. We have been able to eliminate harmful chemical cleaning products and health and beauty products. We worked on doing that for several years and made it a reality two years ago!! We try so hard to work at reducing wherever we can but zero impact is a little harder for us in several areas. I so admire living simply free she has really made some awesome strides in this area. I think zero impact is what we should strive for but it sounds like we are all working hard at reducing our impact and that is wonderful!"
Fiona stopped by and shared this " Tricky challenge! I set myself a challenge each month and this month I've been cutting down my packaging waste. I've been on focusing on finding ways to avoid packaging altogether - we need to eat and it's pretty hard to get our food without any impact (although obviously there are lots of ways to reduce it's impact) but we don't eat the packaging!
Read about my challenges here: http://bikelightsinthefruitbowl.typepad.com/blog/this-month/
I've done particularly well at achieving zero impact wine bottles thanks to local refills! One refill was local, organic wine - even better. I also love buying second hand stuff. Aside from postage if you're buying online the impact of this is pretty minimal. And if you use charity shops you can treat yourself knowing you've had pretty much zero environmental impact and a positive social impact to boot! Guilt free treats are all good in my book :-) " Wow, Fiona ... I love your personal, monthly challenges! Well done!
Jacqueline accepted the challenge and wrote #CTWW Zero Impact:: The Whole Coconut. She targeted groceries to see if she could eliminate her impact and while it was difficult, she did it with coconuts. Intriguing, right? And what did she learn? Well, you'll have to read the post to find out.
From our previous challenge on mindful eating:
Clare shared this fabulous recipe for Red Lentil Curry. Mmm ... doesn't that sound yummy!
EcoGrrl shared this: " I am blown away that people can't eat ONE vegan meal. Boys and girls, eat a salad. Lettuce, veggies, vinaigrette. Bam. Why is that so hard? Perhaps some examples of simple vegan meals may help?? This week - I'm getting ready for a longggg vacation so I'll have to get back to this in a few weeks :) "
And finally, Katie has set herself a good challenge. It's similar to one we've done previously. You can read more HERE and HERE.
There was an interesting discussion which took place on twitter. Check it out:
From @afewbugs
- this sounds silly but it's something I've often wondered: when I cycle to work I'm starving and eat much more lunch than if
- if I take public transport, so is it actually lower impact given the energy involved in producing & transporting extra food?
Reply from @ecowarriorme
- It depends what you eat! Air freighted asparagus from afar would be worse than driving a Hummer but bananas are OK.
- @ecowarriorme
Reply from @afewbugs
- heheheh I actually hate bananas! It's usually home made food. Thanks for the rec, will check the book out
Reply from @ecowarriorme
- most fruit, veg & cereals have low impact unless air freighted or grown in heated environment.
Other Twitter friends had some great contributions as well:
From @givetreegifts
- Easy Vegetarian Slow Cooker or Crockpot Recipes: http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/slow-cooker-recipes.php
- 25 Tasty Vegetarian Crock Pot Recipes: http://www.wisebread.com/25-tasty-vegetarian-crock-pot-recipes
- Vegetarian Crock Pot Recipes: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetariancrockpotrecipe/Vegetarian_Crock_Pot_Recipes.htm
- Vegan Crock Pot Recipes: http://www.food.com/recipes/vegan-crock-pot
- Healthy Vegetarian Crock Pot & Slow Cooker Recipes: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/healthy_vegetarian_crock_pot_recipes_and_healthy_vegetarian_slow_cooker_recipes
- Vegetarian Slow Cooker: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/vegetarian/slow-cooker/
- I love my crock pot- particularly this time of year. Always something simmering with yummy fall veggies :O)
From @earthyurban
- a 5min shower-Not 15min saves 40 gallons of water is living #Green- Not showering at all is Zero Impact-Not recommended
- Wearing 100% Organic Natural fabric cloths is #Green, Not wearing cloths at all is zero Impact-Also not recommended
From @live_esp
- working form home helps eliminate driving! #reusable hand towels, #reusable sandwich bags...so many ways to help minimize ur impact!
From @nathi_myeni
- yes I guess I am let's everyone of us can make a difference. Let's change our ways and heal the planet.
- if u refuse a plastic bag when you shopping, know that its one less plastic going to the sea. Reuse and recycle its up to u!
From @ecowarriorme
- If I cycle to work it's going #green but if I stay in bed all day it's #ZeroImpact.Do you think I'd get away with that?
The #CTWW Gang are those folks who share our challenges on twitter using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I highly recommend following them ... they have a lot of great things to say. Let's meet them:
My Final Thoughts:
I used to work for a quality control organization which counted and analyzed errors made in the manufacturing process. Management, believing that humans would always make mistakes, decided that a goal of zero errors was unrealistic so they placed the goal at no more than five errors in a month. Most shops achieved that goal but not one shop did better. After several months, the goal was set at three. Interestingly, most shops met that goal ... but again, never went beyond. The point is that people will typically meet expectations (theirs or others) but rarely will they see beyond the goal. So it makes me wonder ... if we change our expectation to one of zero impact rather than low impact, how much more could we achieve? It's worth considering, don't you think?
Thanks, everyone! If you wrote an article, I have Stumbled, Tweeted, Facebooked and posted it on Google +. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share feature at the bottom of this post.
This Week's Challenge:
This week's challenge was suggested by several people (Stephanie, Jen, Anita and Gaby). With the holidays just around the corner, I think it's perfect. Here it is ...
This week consider the upcoming holidays and suggest Eco-friendly, Waste-free gifts, gift wrap and decorations. These might include handmade gifts, recycled materials for gift wrap and natural decorations. The idea is to come up with a list of ideas to help everyone have a "green" holiday.
Or ...
If you don't celebrate the holidays or would simply prefer to do something different, then your challenge is to suggest ways in which we might help those around us. This might include giving the gift of food to someone who needs help or donating to an organization which provides meals to families in need. It could also include helping a neighbor with recycling, composting or starting a garden ... or giving your time to someone who could use a "listening ear". The idea here is to come up with a list which will help us give in an Eco-friendly, meaningful way.
If you don't celebrate the holidays or would simply prefer to do something different, then your challenge is to suggest ways in which we might help those around us. This might include giving the gift of food to someone who needs help or donating to an organization which provides meals to families in need. It could also include helping a neighbor with recycling, composting or starting a garden ... or giving your time to someone who could use a "listening ear". The idea here is to come up with a list which will help us give in an Eco-friendly, meaningful way.
So what do you think ... are you up for it? I know that you are!
Don't forget ... if you think that any of our challenges can be improved, you are welcome to "Up The Ante" by asking us to do better than the stated activity.
If you have a challenge idea, please send it to me HERE. I keep all ideas and will get to each and every one.
As always ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!
