Wondering how to live greener? You've come to the right place. Each week we challenge ourselves to try a new task ... or "amp up" something we're already doing. We raise our awareness, learn from each other and develop Eco-friendly skills which will improve our lives and protect our planet. Doing so together gives us power ... the power to Change The World!
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.
This post contains great information and I encourage you to read through it at your leisure ... however, if you are short on time, you might find the following quick links helpful:
I loved last week's Random Acts Of Green challenge. So many of you combined green living with a caring spirit which resulted in generous and kind actions. For example, some people shared local food with a neighbor, one person talked to maintenance staff and turned a wasteful situation into a job, and still another person's generous act saved a neighbor money while helping the planet. It felt good to look for opportunities to help both the planet and other people. It was a happy week.
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.
The Shopping Charity gave one of your CTWW posts a headline spot ... was it yours?
Alicia accepted the challenge and shares this: "Great challenge! I have been teaching our 4 year old grandson about recycling and for the past several months I have been making lots of Vegan treats and sharing them. I love how everyone thinks they are so delicious and asks for the recipes. They always are so surprised that the things I make are Vegan." She also wrote Are You Up For This Challenge? in support of a previous CTWW ... check it out ... she includes some photos of awesome meatless meals. I can't imagine that anyone could resist one of those dishes!
LaAlicia responded to Alicia's comment with this: "Isn't it funny how many people think that if it's healthy it will taste like cardboard!? :) *giggle* Thankfully, that's not usually the case." She also said, "This time of year with the bounty of shared gardens, I do some freezer cooking -- putting together meals to pop in the freezer that can be pulled out when it's cold and I'm tired to put in the oven to come out a short time later as a delightful dinner with minimal effort. I put together a couple extras to share with a couple friends who had shared their garden bounty. Needless to say -- they were happy! :) Made me happy too know that I could help them with dinner on the evening of their choice."
A great opportunity fell into EcoGrrl's lap. Here's what happened: "Timing is good for this! Sunday I was walking home and a neighbor down the street was raking up massive amounts of leaves and each extra bag on the curb is a couple bucks added to the bill so I volunteered my empty yard waste bin to help clean up. But I don't want to use that as the only good-green-deed, so I've also opened up my side yard garden with tons of chard and kale and carrots in them to my neighbors to take what they need while I'm on holiday. What fun is gardening if you can't share the harvest?"
The Nurtured Beauty Daily gave CTWW a headline spot. There are a ton of other great articles including one entitled New Uses for Things You Have in Your Dorm Room.
Katie dropped in and left this comment: "Great challenge! I will be on the lookout this weekend." So how did she do? Find out in Random Acts of Green Kindness [#CTWW]. Here's a hint: it involves the neighbor's yard.
Argentum Vulgaris proves that random acts of green can be small actions which add up. In Change the World Wednesday – 30th Oct he talks about his area's new recycled-trash collection service and a simple practice which he's done for years.
This edition of McBride’s Organic Farm Daily includes an article about how the UK is considering an action to prevent supermarkets from displaying junk food beside checkouts. Wow! It also gave CTWW a headline spot!
Mrs. Green left a brilliant comment: "Oh I love this challenge; I so wanted to write a proper blog post but won't have time this week, so here are three opportunities that landed in my lap: I made DH a cup of coffee - how green, how RAOK you ask? Well usually I get up and boil the kettle for him; that's as far as it goes. He gets up later then has to reboil the kettle. I figured by making the coffee and taking it to him I'd put a smile on his face AND reduce the need to reboil the kettle. Second, we have a tree full of apples. Our friend Pete has just come out of hospital and has missed the harvest time. He's a man in his eighties who lives off the land. I knew I'd end up with windfalls, so I sent my avid eco princess to climb the tree and pick the apples. I then stewed them and took them round for Pete to freeze. He was delighted and I saved myself from wasting that fruit. Third, your post made me do something I'd been putting off for ages. I went out and bought a super sized, top of the range bird feeder. The hedge sparrows are becoming extinct in the UK, but we have lots of them in our hedge. So I figured I'd support them some more throughout the winter but I've usually bought cheap feeders that break in a while, so are bad economy. I've bough one that holds 4 times the amount of the previous one AND comes with a 10 year guarantee, so it's better made and will last longer. Happy me, happy mother nature, happy birds.... I loved this challenge so much SF - thanks for the inspiration! Oh and look; I just wrote a blog post in your comments section LOL!" Great job, Mrs. Green!!
The Sustainable Education Initiative mentioned CTWW in addition to posts about roses, food stamps, and fall bee keeping.
Lois is very creative, taking tossed items and turning them into treasures. When she noticed perfectly good furniture being destroyed, she took action ... with surprising results. Read Change the World Wednesday, Random Acts of Green to find out what happened ... and how it might just change her life.
Lady JC stopped in and shared this, "I'm not sure if this qualifies but we, as a household, collected about 5 large bags of fallen pine needles and offered them to friends who needed more dry material for their compost bins, which is comprised mostly of chicken poop and wet greens. We're hoping to share more so that it's a win win all around. None of it will end up in a dumpster. We collected the three inch carpet of needles in our backyard and they get a more balanced compost with higher level of acidity. The pines really let us have it this year because we had several stretches of very dry weather in late Summer and early Fall so although it was beautiful, smelled wonderful and created a whimsical natural carpeting. Some of it had to go otherwise we'd be buried. :) " Absolutely that qualifies, JC!
Tweets for Good includes CTWW. It also includes a post about polio in Syria and one about GMO labelling.
Sunflowers & Edibles gave CTWW a nice mention. There's also a petition asking Home Depot and Lowe’s to stop selling bee-killing garden plants.
Our Twitter friends joined the conversation and shared the following:
From @NicManuel
- Change the World Wednesday #CTWW Check out how to change yourself to change the world: How to love unconditionally ow.ly/qjW4I
From @VivEgan41
- It's Change the World Wednesday - #CTWW check out my blog, binoracle.com for thoughts on living a greener lifestyle.
From @CounselorHolley
- Random acts of Green - love this! Couldn't get better than doing kind things to help everyone be greener.
From @ConservationM
- Woohoo! Always excited to be a part of this group, and hopefully will change the world this Wednesday for the better. #CTWW
From @GiveTreeGifts
- Random Acts of Green | Facebook ow.ly/qkKmC
- Random Acts of Green â?? October Edition | Humber Students' Federation ow.ly/qkKub
- Unsung environmental heroes â?? random acts of green ow.ly/qkKCn
From @HerbGir1972
- #CTWW #Recycle it really does #MakeADifference fb.me/2yy1YnZly
The #CTWW Gang are those folks who tweet our challenges using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I recommend following them ... they share great things. Let's meet them:
My Final Thoughts:
As I read everyone's comments and posts this week, I felt a sense of joy in the words. Generosity seems to ignite something special in our hearts ... a desire to do good. When our giving involves the earth, we not only extend kindness to others, we pass the green torch in an amazing way. I congratulate each of you for your kind acts of green. I hope that the spark lit this week, will forever burn strong.
Thanks, everyone! If you wrote an article, I Stumbled, Tweeted, Facebooked and posted it on Google +. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share features located below this post.
This Week's Challenge:
I recently read an article which suggested that when someone close to us cares about something, we tend to care as well. The idea is fascinating! Here's your challenge:
This week invite someone to join you in a green activity. Need some ideas? Invite a friend to go for a walk ... and perhaps pick up litter as you go. Ask a family member to help you plan and cook a meatless meal. Swap clothes, tools, books, etc., with a neighbor. Start a "green club" with your friends and meet occasionally to share green tips and ideas. Host an Eco-friendly cleaning party at a friend's home. Do laundry together ... or join forces to rake up leaves. Be creative and have fun. The idea, here, is to share an experience so that a green activity which you care about will become important to someone else as well.
OR ...
If sharing an activity isn't really your thing, then please share your passion by writing a post about a favorite green activity.
If sharing an activity isn't really your thing, then please share your passion by writing a post about a favorite green activity.
Let's make this a social week. Are you up for the challenge? I know that you are!
Just add the banner below to your blog by
copying the code & pasting it into your site!
Until next time ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!