Semantics and self-training

Hey friends :) We'll be talking about bogs next week. This week, I want us to talk about us hitting the ground and getting things done together! We've just entered a new year on the Gregorian calendar. Before that, humans mostly used the Julian calendar to sort out our time. Some religions and cultures still abide by that calendar for their spiritual organization - so you may hear some folk wishing each other a Happy New Year on Tuesday, January 14th! That is the OLD NEW YEAR so to speak. I bring this up to start a wee conversation about TIME and RELEVANCE. ..... As we can see by this singular measure, even the way in which we structure time has changed. I do so like to imagine the years during which the Gregorian calendar had JUST been adopted and people were living and abiding simultaneously by both calendars on a daily basis (rather than more for religious and spiritual applications). HOW CONFUSING! and interesting :) Anyhow, just as we can change how we organize time on this gross level, let's change how we organize our own time and actions in our daily lives - on a personal level. The reward for this is self-evident - - - - -no medals or money or prizes that lie outside of the outcome (we must train ourselves so that that is enough - - - ideally so that that feels GREAT!).

So, I'd love us to work on the Call to Actions on the Call to Action tab..... and I'd also love to look into some of the New Year Challenges put out there by REI this year!!!! :) Can we accomplish some of those together? I think we can.... Let's take a look at what they have put out there for us for January and have a quick chat about making this challenge do-able for even the least doing types of people........ We want to win, right?

Here's the link below to the January goals:

https://www.rei.com/blog/stewardship/the-opt-to-act-plan#January

We're coming to this after the goals have already begun, so we've got TWO goals to get on board with this week. First we are going to learn about WHAT'S UP with our recycling systems!!!!! Where do you live? Does your community recycle? If so, EXACTLY what do you recycle? Are you putting things into your recycling system that cannot be recycled? If so, do you know that that can pollute your recycling system and potentially cause much of what is recycled in your local system to simply get thrown out because of 'CONTAMINATION.?' This week, go online or make some calls. Find out exactly what your community recycles. If your neighborhood does not recycle (LIKE MINE) find out the closest places you can recycle and, if you are motivated - find out WHY recycling is not occurring. What can you do if recycling is absent?

-speak up: share your concerns with your local boards (you can email/call/go to town meetings)

-action-up: if being that vocal is a bit too much right now, take actions in your own time to do something about it: buy things in bulk so you have less recycling and (ideally) no trash.

OUR SECOND GOAL is actually quite associated with the first. Did you know that REI now accepts the foil wrappers that cover bars and chips etc (the things usually that historically are the bain of all recycling addicts)? So, this week, please set aside a box or a bag at your house and collect all of those wrappers to take to your local REI. Sprouts in the Tucson area also takes these wrappers, so you can take them there and if you live nowhere near either of these stores, do some research in your local community. Stores that offer unique recycling such as this are doing a great thing by taking these pesky pieces of material out of the trash and out of polluting recycling on the local level by adding non-recyclables.

SUMMARY FOR OUR WEEK:

-learn about your local recycling situation (share with everyone near you)

-collect those wrappers! No more adding them to the trash! (observe how much you are diverting from the trash!!!!)

HAVE A FUN AND ENGAGING WEEK AWESOME FRIENDS :) If you have more ideas/insight/inspiration - share it as always. Read up on Bogs and be inspired and remember the more you share with others, the more these concepts will become normalized in the ear of our public. If anyone rolls their eyes at you, smile and keep on keeping on - We're taking action to have a better relationship with Earth - we gotta keep it positive and KEEP WORKING EVERY DAY.

Have a great week :) I'm proud of you.

Sarah