Saturday, January 15, 2011

30 Day Challenges

Time to get down to business.

The point of this blog is to exhibit how average folks can live healthy, conscious lives by making small adjustments to their lifestyle.  It's feasible to be sustainable; not everyone has to go all No Impact Man about it.

So, I've decided to do a set of 30 day (roughly, we'll do it by calendar month) challenges to get us rolling.  This is partially inspired by Mipa over at Alien's Day Out. She gives herself lists of challenges/goals/resolutions for the year.  

We're halfway through January, so I'll use these weeks to gear up.  Here are the 11 challenges that I will commit to for the rest of the year.  Ian has also agreed to come along on the adventures.

February
No artificial ingredients.  No aspartame (or other chemical sweeteners), high-fructose corn syrup, chemical flavorings or colors, preservatives, or other processed nonsense.  This is something we're already working on, so it's a good first choice to get our asses in gear.

March
Chemical free household.  Spring cleaning will be a little different this year.  This also includes parabens in body products, as I don't want cancer.

April
Seasonal food only.  We're lucky because our position allows us to make use of both Washington and Oregon's growing seasons.  Time to take advantage of it.  This month will hold a whole lot of asparagus and pear inspired salads.

May
Focus locally.  Portland is awesome.  We'll use this 30 day period to support the local economy and stay away from chains.

June
80 miles/week.  Between the two of us, Ian and I will drive no more than 80 miles in a given week.  My commute to work is 18.6 miles.  It's going to be an interesting month.

July
Anti-consumerism.  30 days of no purchases other than fuel and whole foods (no prepared foods).  I hope our friends still like us after this one.  We'll end up buying flats of beer in the last week of June...

August
No refined sugar.  I have a feeling we're going to learn a lot about excess sugar showing up in foods you wouldn't expect.

September
Cut utility expenses by 25%.  Water/Electricity/Natural Gas/Food/Fuel/Etc.  Should be an easy month for this lofty goal.

October
DIY.  We'll eat food we've canned/prepared ourselves, use homemade soaps and products and solve all household issues with our own hands.

November
Waste management.  We take our garbage (nonrecycling) out twice a week.  For thirty days we'll manage our trash output by composting and using recyclable material.

December
Sustainable holidays.  Handmade gifts, ornaments and goodies.  No excess waste. Anything purchased will come from a local, sustainable source.

So, there it is.  Of course, a lot of the blog will be focused on these challenges.  I'll bring you updates (including any failure for the sake of honest reporting) and fill you in on anything rad that we've learned or discovered.  Not every post will be centered on this theme, however, because variety is the spice of life; is it not?

Stay tuned.

4 comments:

  1. Boo-Ya, there's the blog I've been missing. This will be exciting! Guess I will be coming to visit you in the month of June, or I will pick you up at the bus station. Great goals , can't wait to see the process

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  2. I think the train would be easy to catch, but the bus would probably be cheaper.

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  3. I love your goals! I want to do some of these too, especially the anti-consumerism. Not that we buy much now anyway, but still.

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  4. This will be an interesting year. I think I'll try to join you on some, but not all, of your challenges. Although they're all good ones, this dog is getting too old to learn a few of those tricks...or too lazy. You decide.

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