“Be the change you want to see in the world”

Mahatma Ghandi

I know, I know. This is the most overused trope of all time. But stay with me here.

I’ve been at this thing long enough now that friends, family and colleagues are starting to believe that I may be onto something, and now look to me for advice. Earlier this month, my long-awaited article on how families can “go green” was published in Minnesota Parent, a wonderful local magazine I started writing for this year, solidifying my expertise in this subject matter.

So this week, I am challenging myself to challenge others to start seeing things differently. The first place I am doing this is at my office holiday lunch. To be honest, I was feeling pretty bitter about it after my suggestions for eco-conscious caterers were ignored. But I am taking control of what I can and teaming up with a colleague to have at least some compostable items at the party.

I also decided to create a master list of local TerraCycle drop-off locations, which I am crowdsourcing from my local zero waste Facebook group, that can be shared and updated more widely.

What I’m realizing is that so much of this movement centers on education. Even if people know what they should or could do, they don’t always know how or have the resources to do it correctly. That is where people like me can take what we’ve learned and share it with others who are eager to make changes themselves, but don’t know where to start.

With “being the change” top of mind, I’m excited to see what other opportunities present themselves this week to encourage those around me to make changes themselves.