365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge

I'm honored to be part of the UNECE Group of Experts on Energy Efficiency ( https://bit.ly/2RWBsNp )!  We're working on a paper about improving energy efficiency of buildings through digitalization.  It's great to combine my expertise in IT-security and sustainability!

If you look really well in the video #120, you can see that on my right hand, I’m wearing a pink glove.  This is a glove I can use many times.  I also have some one way gloves, but – surprise surprise – I chose the more sustainable version :).

Today's good deed: I saw a message from someone looking for a certain specialist with specific language skills. As I know someone with exactly these skills, I connected them. By doing that, I made two people happy. That feels so good! What did you do for someone else today?

Recently, I met one of my friends on my walk. He told me he just went to a farmer who sells milk directly to the customer. So, you can just bring your own bottle and open a tap with fresh milk. As I like to buy regional food, I gave it a try.  

If I would die tomorrow, what would I regret about today? It may sound obscure, but I ask myself this question every now and then. It helps me to test whether I live my life to the fullest. For today, the answer is "nothing", so I know I'm on the right track.

I don’t usually use makeup, but my mum does. So an obvious Christmas present for her was washable makeup remover pads, so that she doesn’t have to use the single use ones anymore.

I was shocked.  I went for a walk and saw these packing fillers everywhere on the ground. I thought: "I'll clean that up when I get back". But then I turned the corner and saw another street covered. That's why I went back and replaced today's walk with a cleanup.

Whenever I go for a walk, I only bring one key with me. To make sure I don‘t lose this key, I put my shoelace through the hole in the key. If I would lose my key, it would take resources to get a new one, including time, money and the material for the key.  

Would you like more joy and less frustration in your life? That's important to me too, so I decided to focus on and love what's wonderful during this spring, even though it's relatively cold. It felt great smelling these flowers. As Google stops sending daily emails with my posts in July, follow me on Twitter , Instagram or Facebook  for daily inspiration.

A lot of energy is put in producing and delivering soft drinks.  For example: the drinks have to be produced, put in a bottle and transported. So I decided to drink water.

In this video, I share with you a recipe for a #vegan meal that my partner and I absolutely love! We eat it almost every week.  It's very easy to make and you can be very flexible with the ingredients. Enjoy your meal! https://youtu.be/uSimmffiGCw

As I used an envelope which was previously sent to me, I had to cover my own address with the new address. I did this with another envelope that I found in my paper waste, so I only reused material.  

Do you want to adopt a new habit? The easiest way to do so is by "stacking a habit", meaning that you attach the new habit to an established habit. For example: I connected picking my teeth with brushing my teeth. To which established habit can you connect your new habit?

During cooking, I noticed that my knife got quite blunt. Instead of buying a new one, I decided to sharpen it. Now it works very well again.

Do you feel offended about a message on social media?  I sometimes do as well, which feels horrible.  But I found a way to in the end feel good about that same message.  Watch this video and you'll know how I do this, so that you can do it too:   https://youtu.be/870H-vzZGrs

I have two different peelers and noticed that one slices off „much“ thicker slices than the other one. Now I realize this, I prefer using the thin peeler for my potatoes, so that I can eat as much as possible and I‘m not wasting it. I admit that this is really a small difference but hey, every little bit helps.  

What are you grateful for today? For e.g. the cup of tea my partner made me the fresh green leaves swaying in the wind the being able to eat when I'm hungry being able to do a course that teaches the things I've wanted to learn over the last 6 months. being healthy

The date on food means – where I live – that this product is not allowed to be sold after that date. But that doesn’t mean that it has gone off. Often, the food is good for a lot longer. Like these wraps. So I first try them and then decide whether I have to spill it or not. I’m glad when I don’t.

Apart from biodiversity being very important for the health of our planet and our survival, I also wouldn't want to miss it.  Look at these lovely donkeys, they fill my heart with love! Happy Biodiversity Day 2021!

In one of my upcycling projects (I‘ll share the result when I‘m finished), I wanted to prime the wood. I remembered that I may had some primer left, so looked through my cupboards. And indeed, I still had leftovers. Although the color white is not optimal, I decided to nevertheless use it. And I‘m glad I did as the paint already turned quite thick, so I could only just use it.  Now it is used up :).  

Being present in the moment as opposed to hanging around in my head is important for my sustainability work. It allows me to hear what my body tells me about how I'm doing. For example, stiff shoulders tell me I need a break. This way, I stay healthy despite the intense work.  

I used to buy “animal slippers” as I call them.  But I have decided to buy higher quality ones as I could wear these animals for only one winter.  Then – as you can see – the sole is almost gone.  Now I won’t have to buy new ones for at least several years.

I went for a walk and did fishing on the way. This is my bait:

Yes, this is me on the donkey.  Back then, we collected many acorns and fed the donkey with them.  He loved it!  It probably tasted better than any artificially manufactured food and it‘s way more environmentally friendly.

I'm having some serious issues with my computer as it doesn't start anymore (apparently a broken superblock). Luckily I have backups as I coincidentally shared yesterday. That's why it now takes time to get my computer up an running again, but only lost about half an hour worth of work. Close call!

This year’s calendar has many beautiful pictures, so it is a shame to throw it away.  So I’m keeping it, as in 2030, this calendar will fit again.

The company I buy electricity from sent me a letter sharing with me that I've been supporting all kinds of climate and environmental initiatives.  How? By buying renewable energy.  I didn't realize, so I'm very happy to know now! One more way to make a positive difference!

As the hard drive I replaced (#501) is still working well and has a lot of space, I decided to buy a case, so that I can use is as an external hard drive for backups.  This way, I don‘t have to buy a new drive, which saves me lot of money.  And because it is an SSD hard drive, it is really fast as well :). (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )    

Close to where I live, a new Döner Kebab shop opened.  What is special is that they also have cheebab.  Cheebab is cheese, so allows a vegetarian version.  Interesting!

In the ladies toilet, I often find a sign not asking us to NOT throw sanitary towels in the toilet.  I always wonder why these notes are still needed.  Well, I now understand after watching a TED-talk about this. Apparently there are a lot of people still doing this.  Even though I never do this, I add this item as it is so important to keep using the bin for waste.

Yesterday, my partner urged me to put some feedback I received into practice. As I didn't feel like to do it but knew he was right, I made a deal with myself: work on it for only 5 minutes. And then magic happened: having made a start made it easy to continue: I worked on it all day. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

As the images and videos for my online courses ( https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/available-courses ) and the images for posts use a lot of disk space and is data I don‘t want to delete, my hard drive became too small.  Instead of buying a new computer, I bought a new hard drive and exchanged the old one. After that, I copied everything from the old disk to the new one (everything not just means files and folders, but also operating system etc).  The first time it didn‘t work, but the second time it worked perfectly, so my computer is up and running again.    

When I take a break, I love doing sports.  I also love knotting a rug.  It's a really brainless activity as the colors are printed on a paper grid.  But that's exactly why I love it and why it relaxes me.  And it's a sustainable hobby as I'll be able to use the rug when it's done.  

I have used this bag many, many times. But it got ripped on the side.  So, I left it in the cupboard for a while.  Finally, I decided to repair it so that I can use it again, instead of buying a new one. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

Did you ever go to bed feeling you'd like to celebrate more?  I do, so let's celebrate together, as today is a special day: I shared idea 500 of my 365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge and you are part of this journey!  When you love being on this journey with me, please invite others to join too, here or on Twitter , so that they can experience the same pleasure!

Two of my friends have little girls.  I‘m very happy that they are conscious about our environment and use washable diapers.  Only occasionally, for example when they can‘t stow away a dirty diaper, they use single-use plastic diapers.  I‘m so grateful! (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? >  https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )    

Today, I went for a run with a dear friend.  Apart from chatting a lot, we enjoyed the fresh greenness of spring.  I feel that nature is one huge wonder of the world!

When boiling water, I make sure that I boil the exact amount of water I need.  Often I can use the scale on the inside, sometimes I measure with a measuring cup.  This makes me use only the exact amount of energy I need, not more. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks ) 

Yesterday, I participated in another course. You may think I'm obsessed with learning. I am! But the good thing is that I learned in this event that the number 1 factor of success is being hungry to do more, learn more, give more, etc.  So, I'm happy with the way it is! (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

Due to the pandemic, I always have a face mask with me.  I noticed that it is very easy to loose it when it is in my pocket together with keys, gloves, etc.  To make sure that it doesn‘t fall out accidentally and then ends up in nature, I looked for a pocket on the inside of my jacket.  And how great, I found one!  Now it is safely stowed there. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )    

I'm currently doing a course about transformative listening.  I learned that before we can listen to others, we need to be able to listen to ourselves.  This way we can make sure that no thoughts, fears, prejudices etc are in the way when connecting to others with our heart. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

I noticed that I got into the habit of putting t-shirts into the wash after wearing them once. But often, they don’t smell at all, so there is no problem of wearing them again.  Now I check before I decide whether they need to be washed. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

Intention is really powerful and essential for anything we want to achieve. In this video I explain why: https://youtu.be/zQnnPjhID4k

Whenever I walk past this fence, I‘m impressed.  I love it how the animals are cut out of the wood at the top.  And I think it is clever how several leftover pieces of wood have been brought together to make a beautiful fence. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? >  https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks ) 

Lets consider: Can you think of something you could do today to make your life worse? I can. And can you think of something you could do today to make your life better? Amazing, I can too! So, what do you do? (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

I sometimes have to send a little package by post.  I noticed that I have different materials from previous packages that I kept: paper and plastic.  So obviously I decided to use the paper to fill the box instead of the bubble wrap. (Was this helpful or are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? Here are some suggestions on how you can do so: > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )  

When making a difference, it makes more sense to build one large tower by putting stones on top of each other nicely than to scatter them and believe they somehow pile up by themselves.  My Challenge is my first project in which I consistently put all stones in one, high tower.

In #454, I shared that I stabilized the shutter band so that it lasted longer.  When it got replaced after all, I noticed that there was a large part that is still in good shape.  I decided to keep it, because who knows what I can still use it for in the future.  And when I do, I don’t have to buy a new band. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )  

I guess you've heard of the placebo-effect.  I feel that the opposite, the nocebo-effect, occurs more often than we realize: merely believing that something can do harm causes the harm we fear.  That's why I repeat "I love you" silently when meeting someone I expect to dislike. (Are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

To get processed food to a shop, a lot of energy has to be put in preparing it.  Therefore, I prefer to eat unprocessed food.  And I think it is healthier, because this doesn’t contain all kinds of extra stuff such as MSG. (Was this helpful or are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? Here are some suggestions on how you can do so: > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )  

Over the last 1,5 years, I learned that living more sustainably doesn't have to cost money.  In fact, I save $ 695.80 a month by living more environmentally friendly.  And that is possible without expensive investments.  Here, I share how I do that: https://bit.ly/3vmHA0d

Recently, someone on Twitter wrote about her reusable napkins:  "We bought them in 2014 for our wedding. They were $1 each. Best purchase ever!"  That's when I realized that an advantage of long-lasting items is, apart from being more environmentally friendly, that the happy memory is also more sustainable!  Another great reason to stop buying single-use products! (Was this helpful or are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? Here are some suggestions on how you can do so: > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks )

When I started using a pen I haven‘t used for a while, it often happens that it doesn‘t write anymore. Probably because the ink dried out.  I don‘t know why this is, but often writing at the bottom of the sole of my shoe helps making it work again, so that I can use the pen until all ink is used up. Was this helpful or are you inspired and would you like to say "thank you"? Here are some suggestions on how you can do so: > https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/thanks