Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW) - Good News

Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)!

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:


Have you ever participated in an activity with a friend or loved one and it opened your eyes to new possibilities? Maybe their enthusiasm "rubbed off" on you or you had so much fun that you embraced the activity and continued it in your own life? That was the idea behind last week's challenge. We grabbed a friend and did something "green" ... and hopefully, we passed along our passion for protecting the earth.

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.

Several of your articles were picked up in this edition of McBride’s Organic Farm Daily. Was your post one of them?

James Paulson joined us and shares this, "I recently brought along my friend on our nature walk through the forest preserve. We normally ride bikes along the path, but I decided that it was about time already to walk slowly and enjoy the surroundings for a change!" Sounds wonderful, James!

Argentum Vulgaris wrote about his green passion in Change the World Wednesday – 6th Nov. Can you guess what it is? Need a hint? His "passion" loved the side of his neighbor's house. Click over to find out what it is!

Tweets for Good included CTWW and several of your posts. Click over to find out if your article was included.

This edition of Sunflowers & Edibles gave CTWW a nice mention. There are a bunch of other interesting articles and photos, including a brilliant shot, by our very own Lady JC, of a person dancing on the ceiling of a NYC subway train. Now that's entertainment!

Alicia accepted the challenge and said, "I love sharing green ideas and vegan recipes with other people, it is so much fun! Our son and daughter-in-law still eat meat and cheese so we really enjoy making Vegan meals when they come over. They always like the food and our daughter-in law almost always wants the recipes for what I made. She has even shared some of them on her Facebook page! Our four year old grandson loves everything we cook and tells his mom and dad when he is home that he wants "good food" like I make. I have shared how to make wool dryer balls with hundreds of people and love all of the e-mails telling me how it has made such a difference for them. I also share how you can make your own cleaners, laundry detergent, and furniture polish as well. I love how the excitement and passion of green living can be so contagious!" It's true, Alicia ... and your green living "bug" bites a lot of people!

CelloMom had this to say, "Okay, I have just sent Email to the PTA of CelloPlayer''s school, offering to give a talk on how to reduce our carbon footprint and how to talk to our children about climate change. Our school is actually quite far in the sustainability league, and the families already very "green", but as CTWW reminds us, there is always the next step to take." Wow, CelloMom ... you are a superstar! Way to go! I hope you'll write a post about your talk ... I'd love to know how it turns out!

In How To Green Your Husband [#CTWW], Katie shares some wonderful insights and talks about a recent conversation she had with her husband about green living. It's a wonderful post and shows that sometimes we simply have to ask. Nicely done, Katie!

Our Twitter friends joined the conversation and shared the following:

From @HerbGir1972
- Teach Children the 3 #Green r's #Reduce, #Reuse, #Recycle for a better world - #Reusable is the #OnTrend #Green action, so many things are reusable from Clothing, to glass, even plastics. #KeepItOutTheLandfills
- #CTWW take your children on a #FallWalk with a camera for each child. It's beautiful to see the same adventure thru their eyes. #TakeTime
- #CTWW Lemon/Citrus Oil + White Vinegar + Water Great Cleaning solution for loads of spaces in your home. #GreenCleaning
- #CTWW Go No Poo your hair will thank you for it :) #NoPoo #NoShampoo #HealthyHair #Green #SaveMoney
- #CTWW Grow Chard it's amazing #Healthy #delicious #beautiful

From @VioletsBuds
- didn't get to blog this week about #CTWW but we're always picking up trash on our walks & recycling it http://t.co/IOTzUctUjG
- there's been less lately. plus we take any of the cans & bottles we find to the recycling center!

From @OfficialCWerner
- I am down to printing one piece of paper per file! This is almost unheard of in my industry. I am now 99.9% paperless!!

From @VivEgan41
- For #CTWW, I've tackled the problem of what to do if you come into a lot of apples. Pivotal stuff on #BINORACLE. bit.ly/HJQL1z

From @laalicia
- RT @EcoFashionTalk: Lovely article from @ecosalon - importance of upcycling - great examples... ReFashioned ecofashiontalk.com/2013/11/eco-sa…
- <3 RT @Earth911: 8 things you'd never know were made from used skateboard decks. @iRideiRecycle #upcycle ht.ly/qtROr

From @NicManuel
- how to grow a sustainable economy http://t.co/m53e2gNufn
- Time for the #sharingeconomy to become the sharing society for a more sustainable future http://t.co/LBEXpcoMvq
- #TIMEMagazine 10 Ideas That Will Change the World http://t.co/VJ3HG7dBD3


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:

@_topstories_ @a_kiasi @adventuresof8
@allnaturalkatie @altcon @anitaadamsnc
@avlcomedy @beatepdx @biculturalmama
@biggreenpen @blogadinserts @bstoneblog
@cheryl_schwerd @cleansediva @collegegogreen
@conservationm @counselorholley @crazedkitchen
@crazedmom @dehelen @delaneyclare
@dusdifissette @ecoexpert1 @ecopassport
@ecothrifty @evelynmccpeters @ginavalley
@givetreegifts @gogreenbeans @grailville
@groovygreenlivi @guayaba @herbgir1972
@hismerecry @jadekerrion @jaemacjustsayin
@jbjourneys @julialittlebit @kayelleallen
@kriswetherbee @krmbalclothing @laalicia
@ladyjcmuses @mamapoolecooks @margaretmarywhi
@marjoriemcatee @mcbridesorganic @mike_printeco
@momfindsout @motherhoodlooms @natashalarry
@nebulousmooch @nestfullofnew @nicmanuel
@officialcwerner @ourfavadventure @pinkladyapril
@plus2point4 @populatione @rantravewrite
@rckweddings @realityarts @robbornstein
@rtrecipe @rulesofgreen @scatteredmusing
@shannongrissom @smallbits @soulfullab
@spafloating @squishablebaby @treesgroup
@turningclockbac @useventphotos @violetsbuds
@vivegan41 @wencdj @whopaysthepiper
@whywelovegreen @withinyourhands @yfnjman
@zenfarmz

My Final Thoughts:

Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as saying, "You can never really live anyone else's life, not even your child's. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you've become yourself." As we travel our green journey and invite others to experience our passion, we often influence their decision to adopt an Eco-friendly lifestyle. It happens naturally, without effort, and may very well be the best way to elicit change.

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:

CelloMom wrote a brilliant post entitled We Need Good News on Climate Change. In it, she talks about the power of sharing green efforts, success stories, and environmental solutions. It's the basis of this week's challenge:

This week find and share environmental good news. This can be successful efforts by other people ... government or corporate solutions ... school projects ... or even small efforts which you've witnessed. The idea, here, is to share the positive, to focus on successful actions which give us hope and let us know that our efforts can make a difference.

Want more? Here you go ...

Let's help create some good news. Sign this PETITION to abolish climate changing subsidies.

Are you ready to share the good news? I know that you are!

Until next time ...

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