Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.4.13

Yesterday I set out on a pre-Christmas challenge — to post a tip a day we can collectively follow with the goal of making the world a better place. 

Since at least two researchers have learned that positive ideas have a greater effect on behavior than gloomy facts and figures, and that games work the best of all, I am starting off with a fun idea. 

Today’s suggestion: Repurpose Something. 

Perhaps you don’t really need a new table. Maybe all you need to do is to apply a coat of paint to the old one. 

Or, maybe you have several different items that you can put together to become something else. Check out this site for ideas. 

Or, suppose you have some vintage salvaged parts just crying out to be transformed into a unique gift.

Can you guess what these candlesticks once were?

Or, let’s say your bureau is stuffed with ugly Christmas sweaters and you don’t know what to do with them. I have the answer. Over Thanksgiving I learned about the latest craze among the under 30s — Swantsing. In the words of Swants creator Stephen West, “The time has come for Swants aka Sweater Pants! Your booty deserves to be just as warm as your torso.” Curious? Read more here or watch the video below.

Pictured below are my niece Sophie, a college sophomore, and her friend transforming a pair of wild and crazy sweaters into Swants. Don’t they look comfy?

Photo by Ted Randolph

If you are not daring enough to give Swantsing a try, empty your bureau anyway. Give your sweaters to a young person you know or donate them to the local thrift shop. They’ll be scooped up in no time. 

That’s it for today. “See you tomorrow.”

“All together now,” as the Beatles once sang. Let’s see how much good we can do over the next few weeks.

Counting Down to Earth Day 2013

On April 22 it will be 43 years since the very first Earth Day was observed.

Planet Earth has changed a great deal since 1970.

The world seems smaller thanks to the internet, cell phones, and jet planes.

• But the population of the world has grown from 3,706,618,163 in 1970 to 6,848,932,929 in 2010! 
• So has the number of cars, from 250 million in 1970 to one billion in 2010. 
• We buy bottled water, currently 167 plastic bottles per person in the US annually! 
• The amount of CO₂ in the earth’s atmosphere is currently at 392 parts per million. We need to be at 350 for the health of the planet.

On the plus side:

• We no longer use DDT. It was banned in the US on December 31, 1972. 
• The water is cleaner (in the US anyway). 
• And so is the air.

But there is still much work to do, at home, and all over the world.

My good friend Henry Dynia, the Director of Design and Construction at Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, recently posted a blog entry titled: Earth Day? Why Bother? Henry wrote, “Although the impact of our choices may be tiny in relation to the problems, it is important to take advantage of the choices that are available to us to reduce our personal impacts. One by one, those impacts and better choices will add up to make a difference…”

As we count down to Earth Day 2013, I invite each of you to take one step a day to make the world a better place 

TODAY'S TIP:

Repurpose something old instead of buying something new.

Can you guess what these elegant candlesticks once were? 

Come back tomorrow to learn their story.

Love Your Mother (Earth). Pass it on. Together we can make a difference. Yes, we can!