May Challenge Extravaganza!

Well, I may have bitten off more than I can chew this month, but we'll see how this goes. I've signed up for three challenges in May!

The first one I will enjoy immensely, and have no trouble completing. It's Green Bean Dream's Be a Bookworm in May challenge. She is asking people to read one environmentally relevant book this month, and then post a review of it at the end of the month. I've chosen two books, which you can read about in this post from last month when I first joined up.

The second challenge comes from Sharon at Casaubon's Book. Sharon is calling her challenge Independence Days. She is challenging us to become more food-independent, by doing one or more of the following things everyday, or every week:

1. Plant something.

2. Harvest something.

3. Preserve something.

4. Prep something.

5. Cook something.

6. Manage your reserves.

7. Work on local food systems.

I've been trying to do several of these things, but it's been sort of hit-and-miss, as my interest and motivation comes and goes. I've signed up to do these things once a week - my idea is to do one of the seven things each day, so that by the end of the week I will have done all of them at least once. This will help me work on doing more of the things I should (harvest, preserve, prep, manage) while still doing the things I like (plant, cook, local food systems). I may concoct a spreadsheet of some kind to keep me on track. I'll post a link to it if I do....

The third challenge might just do me in. Gord rolled his eyes when I told him about it. It is part of Crunchy's Extreme Eco Throwdown. There is no way I could do all the things in the Throwdown, so I've picked just one: generate no non-compostable garbage for a month. I'm starting to think I will fail within days, if not hours. We compost a lot of stuff, and we're trying to buy less-packaged things, but the garbage can eventually still gets filled with non-recyclable plastic bits, twist ties that have twisted their final twist, lids from juice containers that the recycle depot won't take. So this challenge will radically change my shopping habits and challenge my ability to think of alternative uses for things instead of throwing them away. So as not to induce a complete mental breakdown, I'm limiting this challenge to non-bathroom garbage only. (Interpretation: I already use the Diva Cup and Lunapads, but I'm not giving up toilet paper!)

Fraidy-face courtesy this blog