Week beginning Sunday, March 7: Earth Education Week
This week we encourage you to explore new avenues for education, insight, and entertainment regarding planet Earth. Check out a book from the library, read earth science articles on the web, visit a local non-profit, or tune into KPCW and This Green Earth on Thursday mornings – this week’s challenge is about pursuing environmental information in ways you normally don’t consider and/or seek out.
For local and live access to environmental education, check out the ‘Wild & Scenic’ Film Festival hosted by the Summit Land Conservancy on March 11
th and 12
th – more information is available on the
Summit Land Conservancy website.
>Option B: Step it up a notch and encourage your friends to broaden their knowledge of the earth by sharing your Earth Education Week experiences with them.
>Option C: No new option here, just a reminder to share your experiences in the Park City Green discussion Forum.
Week beginning Sunday, March 14: Cold Water Week
Out with the old, in with the cold – that’s this week’s challenge! The average American household spends 4 to 6 hundred dollars annually to heat water for their home. All of this water heating can be a big deal when it comes to our energy use and personal carbon footprints.
Take, for instance, Proctor & Gamble which did a lifecycle assessment of their products and found that heating water for washing clothes was the
biggest single impact on the environment! So, this week, take a stand and implement at least three Cold Water Solutions – use cold water detergents, turn down the temperature on your water heater, wash dishes in a cool temp…all this cold H
2O will lead to
hot savings.
>Option B: Implement two Cold Water Solutions in your home this week
>Option C: Implement one Cold Water Solution in your home this week
Week beginning Sunday, March 21: Earth Hour – a.k.a. “Turn out the Lights Week”!
4,100 cities, 87 countries, and nearly one billion world citizens came together in 2009 to participate in
Earth Hour and demonstrate their collective concern for the issues facing our planet. This week, your challenge is to join them by turning off your lights for one hour on Saturday, March 27
th at 8:30 PM local time.
Use Earth Hour to contemplate the impacts that energy use is having on the global climate, local environment, and livelihood of future generations. Also, avoid the use of TVs, laptops, and other electronic devices during Earth Hour – avoiding these distractions can lead to some great conversations with friends and family!
If you’re up for a bigger challenge than just one day, turn off the lights [plus other electronic devices] for one hour every night this week.
Earth Hour reminds us that My Sustainable Year is also about protecting our collective interests as global citizens.
>Option B: Instead of having Earth Hour every night this week, try turning out the lights on just three separate nights.
>Option C: Participate in the one-hour Earth Hour event on only the official night of the event (Saturday, March 27th at 8:30 PM local time)
Week beginning Sunday, March 28: Reuse Week
In week one, My Sustainable Year challenged you to collect and measure all of your trash, compost, and recyclables for one week. Now it’s time to drop some serious pounds (of waste, that is) during Reuse Week.
This week’s challenge is to abandon your disposable consumer lifestyle and replace it with a “leave no trace” mentality. We’re talking no disposable cups, utensils, grocery bags, or other throw-away items – if you have to use a disposable item, then keep it and reuse it for the rest of the week. Who says these products have to be “one use”?
Reuse Week evolved out of an idea that Alison Godlewski posted to the discussions Forums on ParkCityGreen.org. Join Alison, and others, by logging on to the Forums (in the Community section at the top of this page) and sharing your suggestions for future weeks of My Sustainable Year.
>Option B: Pick two “disposable” items you would normally throw away and convert to reusable options all week.
>Option C: Pick just one “disposable” item (e.g., plastic grocery bags) you would normally throw away and convert to a reusable option all week.
And what does the rest of the year look like? Stay tuned! A few days before the first Sunday of the next month you can check out ParkCityGreen.org to find out what the next activities will be.
How can I find out more?
>ParkCityGreen.org Forum: You can check out the ParkCityGreen.org Forum to discuss each week's activity and contribute ideas of your own! Just look on the main navigation bar for Community and then select Forums on the secondary navigation bar at the top of the page.
>Commit to these challenges using the What If Calculator: Find Calculators on the main navigation bar and then select 'What If Calculator' from the secondary navigation bar at the top of the page. When you are in the What If calculator, select Qualitative Goals from the left-hand side of the page. At the top of the list you will see the My Sustainable Year Goals. Commit to the goals and you can track your success!