One Small Change

One of the best parts about blogging about our journey to simple, plastic free living has been the conversation it creates among our community, both here in Santa Fe and online, about living with more ecological consciousness. It’s like a great big web of mutual inspiration, with everyone’s passion and knowledge getting fed and activated and potentized by everyone else’s. What started out as a somewhat lonely, symbolic action has become one of the most positive, community building experiences of my life. Which feels much, much cozier.

And now there is a wonderful project in the works inviting folks like you and me to make one small change per month until Earth Day (April 22). Hip Mountain Mama had the idea, and you can learn more and see what participants are up to at her blog. What I love about One Small Change (the project’s official name) is the way it inspires each of us to tap into our personal genius and hearts for the small (or large!) change that we most want to implement in our lives. And frankly, it’s the healthy sort of peer pressure we could all use more of.

So far folks are doing all sorts of different things. Some are hanging clothes on the line to dry. Some are educating their children about frugality and conservation. Some are bringing cloth bags to the store, or joining a CSA. Some are switching to cloth diapers or taking the time to walk instead of drive on one errand per week. One Small Change challenges us to find the action that is personal, possible, and powerful, and to do it. It doesn’t matter what it is we do, just that we do something. That is, a little more than we already are.

So along with the big changes we’ve got brewing over here, I’ll be making just one more small (and quite delightful) change. More on that tomorrow. In case you are as susceptible to the collective momentum of this concept as I was, please do share your own small change. I love to see the way they all add up to a really big one.