365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge

105 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  This week, I discovered loose plastic 'hairs' from my dish brush in the pan I was cleaning. As these hairs are tiny, I wonder whether they can be removed by the sewage treatment plant. If not and they end up in the ocean, that would mean the ocean starts in my sink! 😮

An old keyboard… what to do with it. After having taken the keys and screws out, I stared at it for a while. Then I saw it: a bookmark.  

Yesterday, I took part in a local clean-up event. The idea was to pick up as much waste as possible, but especially cigarette butts. Apparently, each cigarette butt poisons 40 liters of drinking water and takes 12 years to be completely gone. Enough reasons to throw them in the bin! I was shocked how easy it was to find 4000 - 5000 cigarette butts with around fifty people in less than two hours.  

104 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  Today, I've done the drawing for the 5 free copies of my 365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge book ( http://amzn.to/3iZ5tDJ ). The "lucky mushrooms" are:  @abujastreets (Twitter)  @Flash64725327 (Twitter)  @sailorgirl2017 (Twitter)  @MmeAudubon (Twitter)  @paoloigna1 (Twitter)

To keep my hair dry when I take a shower, I use a shower cap. As soon as I noticed that the elastic band was broken, I repaired it. Very easy and I’m sure that going to a shop, looking for a new one and taking it home would have cost me a lot more time.  

103 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  I feel this quote also applies to sustainability. We know many ways to make a difference towards a healthier planet, so what is missing to make a quantum leap? I know we need to focus on the psychology behind sustainable living more to make a difference faster.

I recently found this small plastic bottle in my cupboard. I had saved it for recycling but I had a much better idea: I painted it and now it is a small vase. Instead of having to put a lot of flowers in, I only need one or two to cheer up the room.  

102 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  Where I live, there are tiny green spaces between the road and the sidewalk. This one has been adopted by a lady. She is taking care of it. When I told her I love her efforts, she smiled broadly. Even a little bit of love can make someone's day. 

In the box with potatoes, unfortunately three had gone off. As I wasn’t sure whether I could still eat the fourth, I decided to put it in the earth. Hopefully it grows a new potato!  

101 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  Yesterday, I had a great meeting with Sustainable mPact and their ambassadors from all over the world. I love collaborating with like-minded people who also aim at making a huge, positive difference to our world by taking action.

Looking back: 234 days into my 365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge:  Even in the darkest of times, there is light. It just takes more effort to find it.  I hope you'll enjoy your Advent Season too!

I recently had a barbecue. During the preparation, the meat was taken out of the fridge by the host. I immediately noticed that some of the meat was in plastic bags, whereas other meat was still in the original wrapping. Well, even though both is plastic, using the original wrapping at least saves another bag.  

100 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  Today is #GivingTuesday. I give away five copies of the Sustainable Decisions Challenge book for free! Just go to Twitter and retweet today's tweet to show you'd appreciate a copy. I'll then randomly select five who get it.  Here you can find more information about the book: https://amzn.to/377KRa5. And feel free to join even when you already have the book as you could pass it on to someone who appreciates it too.

The air quality quickly drops when I see fireworks being set off. Also producing, transporting, wrapping, etc. fireworks is not helping the environment. That’s why I every year decide not to set off fireworks. I wouldn’t even mind if it is not allowed anymore.  

99 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  This is a fascinating house. It is a zero-energy house, which means that all the required energy is taken from the solar panels. And as you can see, they are not only placed on the roof, but also on the facade to that enough solar energy is available.

I am switching off my Bluetooth and WIFI as much as possible. When having them on, these services try to connect to other devices which of course uses energy. So by switching them off, I have to recharge less often and therefore save energy.  

98 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  Since 2016, German customers have to pay for plastic bags, which caused the number of bags to go down by 2 billion in a year! From 2022, plastic bags are not allowed in supermarkets anymore, so I'm glad that the number will go down further. 

It is good to see that there are more and more products that are multi-use, such as kitchen paper. As I seldom use it, I bought it for someone else who is using it frequently.  

97 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  Today, I gave my brain a break by coloring the coloring page I drew last week. Drawing (and coloring) makes me go into a flow and relaxes me. If your children also like to color this coloring page, you can download it here: https://shutr.bz/3o8Hd4T

Looking back: 233 days into my 365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge:  One of my professors gave me the advice to use my brain and follow my heart. To remind myself, I made this frame. It took me years and I went through my "never fail cycle" (Day 225) many times, but now I know and feel that I am on the right track with my Challenge.