Sunday, September 23, 2007

Green as a Thistle: small changes, big impact

Today I would like to recommend on a great blog - Green as a Thistle.

This is a blog of Vanessa, a journalist at the National Post, based in Toronto. She decided to challenge her self and make a small eco-friendly change every day for one year (yep, 365 small changes). Her idea is to try and keep change her lifestyle, but not in a one big radical change, but in small simple steps that all together will make a big impact.

Vanessa explains it on the blog: "I decided to take on a bit of a challenge: Spend each day, for an entire calendar year, doing one thing that betters the environment. The idea is that everything I do, I keep doing (so if I switch brands, it's a permanent switch; if I turn down my thermostat, I keep it down), so that by day 365, I'll be living as green a lifestyle as it gets. I hope, in the end, this proves that being an environmentalist doesn't necessarily have to require massive change, compromise or Greenpeace levels of dedication — it can be simple, and inspiring."

So far Vanessa completed 207 days and she brings up great ideas. Let's check what she did just last week:

Monday, Sept. 17 - committing to use towels at least 5 times before throwing them to the laundry.

Tuesday, Sept. 18 - eating only sustainable fish using information taken from SeaChoice.

Wednesday, Sept. 19 - cutting off the end of the toothpaste tube for its maximum usage.

Thursday, Sept. 20 - putting 'Do Not Disturb' sign in a hotel room to avoid unnecessary everyday replacement of semi-used toiletteries in new ones.

Friday, Sept. 21 - forgo any plastic or aerosol cans and use incense or beeswax candles, instead.

Saturday, Sept. 22 - whenever she's at a workshop, a lecture or meeting, she's going to make a point of requesting they illustrate our points using a chalkboard and not a flip chart with papers.

Sunday, Sept. 23 - watering your plants in the evening, when the sun’s not out to evaporate the water before it gets down to the roots.I find it all very impressive.

Way to go Vanessa! Eco-Libris is totally supportive of your approach. We also believe small changes can be fairly simple and make together a big impact on one's life.

So, check out Green as a Thistle and get some inspiration and new ideas from Vanessa.

Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!