One Small Change: Plants

My focus lately has been on health and home, so my One Small Change for March is filling my home with plants. By the end of the month I plan to have at least as many plants as rooms.

Although this change may sound more like a plan to spiff up my house, there are plenty of other benefits. Most importantly, plants help clean the air we breathe by absorbing toxins and providing oxygen - so important with all the pollutants in our environment (duh). Plants have also been proven to reduce stress, which is exactly what I need right now.

Plus, I really just miss the energy of having plants around. I used to have a home filled with plants and I slowly let them go when my kids were babies because I was worried about them eating them and such. Now I feel like I robbed my poor kids by removing the plants!

While I create my botanical household, I will also continue with my changes from January and February - conserving water and reducing disposables. It has been pleasing to see how quickly these changes have become habit, which motivates me to continue making positive changes long after the "official" One Small Change movement has closed.

One Small Change: Disposable Utencils

It is time to return to The One Small Change project for month number two. First, my follow up on my January change - turning off the water when I brush my teeth. This was no problem at all. To my delight (and personal horror) I discovered that I was the only person with this bad practice in my family. Hey, at least I taught my kids right! But, I think I can comfortably say that I have easily turned this change into a habit for myself as well.

Teeth brushing aside, the first month of One Small Change was very eye opening for me. Through reading the posts of other bloggers I realized just how much room for improvement my family still has. It has also made be sadly aware of how many others seem to not be concerned at all.

One of the areas where I am most bothered is at the office. The wasted paper and use of disposables is beyond the point of crazy. It seems to be the way of downtown and it is sickening.

I've been trying to do my part long before One Small Change by always using glass coffee mugs, my water bottle and a glass plate for my food and drink. But I somehow was blind to the fact that I was still using plastic utencils.

A little rough math revealed that I have used about 3,000 plastic forks in my career. Yikes!!

So, there's my change for February. I brought in my set of silverware which I will use going forward.

This will be simple when I bring my food from home, which I am trying to do more often. The harder part will be remembering to tell the restaurants that I don't need a fork when I get take-out. I think I'll have to keep it out on my desk for a while so I think of it before I head out to grab lunch.

I will keep you posted on change number two.

What will your change be this month? I'd love to hear...

One Small Change: Water

Finding a great blog is like making a new friend – as I read each post and discover all of the fresh thoughts and ideas, my mind and soul are filled up in such a delightful way. This week I was introduced to http://www.yogurtandgranola.blogspot.com/, which is authored by a childhood friend of mine named Catherine (Katie, in my mind). I was particularly excited about her post, One Small Change.

The One Small Change project is the brainchild of Hip Mountain Mama (another blog I am thrilled to have just found). In Hip Mountain Mama's words:

"We want to challenge each of you to make one change each month leading up to Earth Day (April 22, 2010). It can be small or it can be huge, but all we ask is that you decide on something you will do to make a positive green impact and follow through with it. If everyone makes four changes between January and April, this can have a huge effect."

I am proud to join Catherine and the hundreds of others who have taken on this challenge. What a perfect fit for my commitment to “be change” this year.

Last night I spent some time thinking about what my first “small change” should be. There wasn't an obvious area of improvement that struck me - we are far from perfect, but we do a pretty good job with environmental conservation in our house. Then it came to me while I was brushing my teeth – with the water running (I shamefully admit).

My one small change for January is turning off the water while I brush my teeth.

I am very embarrassed about this. I’m quite aware that turning off the water while brushing falls into the water conservation 101 category. But, I guess I have been slacking, so now is the time to make this change for good.

Water conservation is an area where we are running out of room for error. I think this concept is sometimes hard for people to grasp because it seems there is water everywhere. But although roughly 70% of the earth is covered with water, only 2.5% of that is fresh, and much of the fresh water is frozen. That leaves just 0.5% of the world’s water as accessible fresh water. And that is depleting by the minute.

The World Bank forecasts that by 2035, more than one-third of the world’s population will be at risk of living in severely water-stressed areas. What does that mean for our children?

I really need to turn off the water when I brush my teeth.

We all need to do that and a whole lot more.

It is encouraging for me to see that some large corporations are dedicated to being part of the solution. I am happy to report that RBC, the parent of the company I work for, has committed $50 million over 10 years for endeavors dedicated to water conservation, watershed protection, access to clean drinking water and other water-related issues.

Locally, I was excited to learn that Minnesota-based Pentair Inc. is building and donating a system to collect, filter, and re-use rain water at Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins. Target Field will require half the water it would have used without this system. It will be the first of its kind in a Major League Baseball stadium – way to set an example, Minnesota!

They are doing their part and I will do mine.

What will your one small change be?