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:
Last week we took on a fun challenge ... a family cook day! Here's an interesting fact: Research shows that family meals promote healthier eating – more fruits, vegetables and fiber; less fried food; and often fewer calories. I have great memories of being in the kitchen ... watching my grandmother, mom, and aunts working together to make raviolis; sitting at a table with my parents, cleaning fish; making traditional South American Christmas food with my mother-in-law, husband, and parents. Those times were filled with smiles, laughter, and fun. I learned about nutrition and developed a respect for ingredients. Enjoying a meal, which everyone had a hand in preparing, was special ... somehow, the food always tasted better!
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.
Charlotte wrote a wonderful post on our plastic challenge. In Plastic pollution she discusses how the oceans got to be a problem and offers 4 ways that we can take immediate action. In support of last week's task, she wrote Family Dinner, an excellent post where she talks about balance and knowledge being key methods to good nutrition.
Kimberly dropped by and shared this: "Oh my…great post! Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for being part of our party. I hope to see you on tonight at 7. Lou Lou Girls"
Cooking with family is a long-held tradition for Alicia. Here's what she had to say: "Our children are grown now but when they were little I always included them in preparing a lot of things they ate. We home schooled them during the early years and when they were learning fractions I let them pick out recipes that had lots of measurements and this helped them in learning their fractions. Then they got to pick someone to give their finished product to and then they would grade them on the recipe. They loved doing this. Was lots of fun while learning at the same time. So our daughter and son both developed a love of cooking from an early age. Our daughter-in-law loves that our son is such a good cook and loves how he comes up with such delicious recipes! I now include our grandsons in the kitchen. We makes lots of wonderful nutritious snacks when they come to visit. They have such a good time doing this and always look forward to the fun things we are going to bake."
Morag accepted the challenge and shared this: "Nice challenges. I suspect I'll chat to my OH and see what nutritional changes we can make - there is always room for improvement! As for nutritional meals, ingredients, things to look out for on packaging or the best way to store food for max nutrition there are some ideas (in the form of quests) here: http://www.worldchanging.me/quest-tag/nutrition. Good luck everyone. Can't wait to hear what you get up to!"
Marla checked into our Plastic challenge and shared this: "Plastic is one of the worst contaminants to our environment plus it is filled with some much toxicity to the body. I loved your article and all the feedback from others. It's good to know that people are becoming more and more aware of the dangers of plastic. I have very few plastic containers in my house. Use glass jars to store leftovers in that are recycled from products I bought and when I make food I either use glass or stainless. It cleans up so much better too and doesn't get those ugly stains on. I am slowing getting my husband away from plastic too."
Our Twitter friends joined the conversation and shared the following:
From @laalicia
- Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress. -Seth Godin
By the way ... our survey, this month, is all about nutrition so, if you have a minute, click HERE and tell us how you amp up your nutrition.
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:
We've assumed, in this challenge, that cooking with family includes the preparation of nutritional food. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. I've heard people say that they can't afford wholesome foods such as fresh produce when, for a dollar or two, they can buy a box of "helper". I personally believe that we can cook healthy meals on any budget. It takes a bit of planning and creativity but it is worth the effort. Not only is the food healthier but it is better for our environment. And that's an important life lesson to share with our family.
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:
March's theme is: Nutrition
 |
| Any space can be transformed into a vegetable garden |
Even those who live in small spaces can grow food in containers placed on a windowsill.
It's also a fun family activity. And here's a plus ... picky eaters who typically refuse to eat their veggies have been known to love varieties which they had a hand in growing.
Here's your challenge ...
This week, start a garden. This can be on a large scale, turning a substantial piece of land into a vegetable garden, or something small like a single pot of herbs on a windowsill. The idea, this week, is to start growing food.
OR ...
If growing food is just not for you, then your challenge is to either visit a farmer's market or sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) ... click HERE to find a farm close to you.
If growing food is just not for you, then your challenge is to either visit a farmer's market or sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) ... click HERE to find a farm close to you.
UP THE ANTI: Our friend, Morag, has challenged us to do a bit better on this week's activity. Here's her challenge: What about for those of you that don't want to grow food - what about skipping straight to the harvesting with our foraging quests? http://www.worldchanging.me/quest-tag/forage Free nutritious food is just there for the taking - now that has to be worth a few moments research to see what edible things grow in the wild near you! Will you accept her challenge?
Are you ready to get your hands in the earth? I know that you are!
Until next time ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!