The last few years have been filled with doom and gloom as we endured the largest economic recession since the Great Depression.  The recession has impacted my family in many ways as it has for most of us.  This week, I decided that it was time to look on the bright side – how has my life improved since the Recession started?

1.  Choosing Fun Over Consumption – Before the Recession, there were definitely more shopping trips for “things we needed” for our house.  Now…

To mark the 10th week of this challenge, we ask you to take 5 minutes and make a list of all of the positive changes you have made in your lifestyle to live more sustainably and healthy.  How many of our challenges have you participated in?  Have you continued any of the challenges beyond one week?  Leave a comment on our website…

Did you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment from volunteering or donating something to a cause this week?  Although our family donated funds to the American Red Cross to help the flood victims in my home state, I wish I could do more to help them with recovery.  I also volunteer each week at my sons' school.  The one-on-one communication with the children at the school is priceless.  Volunteering at the school has been a wonderful way to…

This week's challenge was inspired after seeing the damage done to my home state - Vermont.  So many roads were washed away, bridges destroyed, small businesses in small downtown communities were inundated with water...  This week's challenge is to volunteer, donate money to storm recovery efforts or to a local cause in your community or help out a neighbor.  The best way to help storm victims is likely to donate funds to…

How many of you survived at one degree warmer this week?  We keep ours at 81 during the day and 80 in the evenings/nighttime when it gets a bit hot for sleeping.  If you made it through even a day with warmer temperatures, pat yourself on the back!  If it felt too warm to do this all of the time, try raising it each time you leave the house, or commit to one day a week where you can handle one degree warmer.…

This week, we challenge you to look at your produce labels and find out where your fruits and veggies come from.  If you shop at a fruit stand, ask them which items are grown locally in your home state.  With globalization, most of us can get almost any kind of fruit or vegetable at any time of year.  It is difficult to know which fruits and veggies are grown in our home states or even which items are in season locally.  For example, in Florida, our strawberry season is January/February.  We…

This week's challenge is to write to one of your elected officials - either at the local, state or federal level.  Topic?  You pick!  Most local governments are in the process of finalizing budgets for next year -tell them what programs you want preserved or share your ideas for cuts.  At the State and Federal level, maybe you have strong feelings about the budget priorities, ideas to save money or want to encourage them to vote/not for a certain Bill.  We challenge you to take this small…

We keep getting more feedback and interest in the challenge!  It is exciting to see it grow!  This challenge asked everyone to check each outlet in their home and find things that they rarely use and unplug them.  My family found 6 items and it was a fun "hunt" for the kids!  Just unplugging our VCR that we haven't used in about 5 years will save us about a $1.05/month in electricity and reduces our household carbon footprint by 10.75 lbs of CO2! …

Our One Small Step Challenge provides easy "small steps" that anyone can do to live more sustainably and be more involved in their local community. 

Week 3 Challenge:  Take a few minutes this week to check each outlet in your house - unplug the unnecessary items.  For instance, I found a VCR still plugged in that I never use!  Save money by reducing your energy use when you unplug these items.  Answer the survey question on our website to let us know that…