To celebrate Earth Day coming up on Wednesday, April 22nd, Ten Speed Drive is promoting their Earth Day Challenge entitled Do Something Different.
The premise is simple enough: Perform one action above and beyond your normal behavior that benefits the earth in some way. Take the Ten Speed Drive slogan to heart and make a step to “Kick the CO2 Habit.”
The challenge is an easy one to achieve but, says team spokesperson Joshua Liberles, is something that can make a real difference.
“True change can start with the simplest of actions. A great way to encourage people to consider the environment is to let them consider the impact of their decisions,” says Liberles. “We can offer suggestions and resources that show why something might be good or bad for the planet but, in the end it comes down to the individual making a choice. Our challenge is easily achievable and, we hope, will inspire folks to realize that small actions can add up to make a big difference.”
Earth Day is the perfect time to step back and reflect on the state of the world and your role in helping to sustain it. Start simply, by adding in one “green” action to your day. Consider what the world might look like if everyone on the planet would perform just one action to lessen their impact and, maybe, you’ll be inspired to modify your behavior throughout the year.
Please let us know what you decided to do to commemorate Earth Day by posting in the comments section of this post – we look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible!
A Few Suggested Actions for the TSD Do Something Different Challenge:
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As a cycling team, we’re partial to bikes. Celebrate the day by replacing one car commute or errand with a bike ride.
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Use public transit, carpool, or walk somewhere instead of driving.
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Don’t buy bottled water! New American Dream’s website lays out the reasons why bottled water is one of the nation’s most wasteful and least healthy habits. Fill a reusable bottle up from the tap instead. If you need a filter, try a standard home filter like a PUR or Brita or something like this from PureWater2Go to fill up on the run.
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Replace your bulbs with energy efficient CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs). They’ve come a long way, their full-spectrum light is great, and they more than pay for themselves over their lifetimes.
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Shop smart, vote with your dollars, and buy from companies with environmental track records. We work with companies like Clif Bar, BioGreen bottles, Sabertec Blade, Patagonia, and Voler for a reason. What do your dollars support?
- Skip the Big Mac and eat local, organic foods.
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Have other ideas? Submit them in the comments section!
Photo via flickr by aussiegal.
18 users commented in " TSD Earth Day Challenge: Do Something Different "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI enjoy using a stainless steel mug for my daily beverages, starting with coffee and moving on to water. Great way to not waste disposable cups.
Cheers,
Garrett
Plant a garden…even if you use containers on your appartment balcony. The planet, your body, and checkbook will thank you. So will your taste buds- there is nothing quite so delightful as a freshly picked piece of fruit or vegetable.
I only use half a square of toilet paper when I take a shit, and I seperate each ply – DOUBLE PLY IS A WASTE OF PAPER – then I bury it in my backyard and use it as fertilizer for my garden.
One I forgot is also one I practice regularly… I work from home. Saves me a commute everyday, even if it would mostly be by bike.
Stop using paper towels. Start using cloth rags made from Old t – shirts. That what they are good for. Also stop using plastic bags and make your own from – once again an old t -shirt.
Stop using paper towels. Start using cloth rags made from Old t – shirts. Thats what they are good for. Also stop using plastic bags and make your own from – once again an old t -shirt.
Eat less animal products, or none at all. Production of beef, pork, chicken, and farmed fish all severely strain ecosystems as well as our health. PCBs are concentrated in most animals, affecting humans; dead zones (covered yesterday in PBS’ Frontline) are decimating shore bodies of water, caused by excrement in water; animals are usually fed antibiotics and hormones that have other effects. All of this is important without even considering the cruelty of factory farming methods.
I do almost all my shopping by bike. Luckily, I live in a neighborhood where everything is close by. I’ll take my hiking backpack as this eliminates the need for bags (paper or plastic) for the stuff I buy. Sometimes, I’ll even integrate errands into my training rides, so I save time, as well as money and the environment.
Try bunching tasks to minimize miles needed to accomplish your tasks. Picture the area to be covered so that little or no doubling back is required to accomplish the day’s travel.
Here are 3 ideas we have do
To reduce water usage: If you do not have a low flow toilet put a brick or 2 in the tank. You will still have enough water pressure to do the job.
To save electric: remember to turn off the lights, TV when you leave the room.
Unplug electronic gadgets that have clocks or glowing lights, they still use electricity when off. Doing both will also save you some money in the long run.
It is important to consider what products you’re using, will they biodegrade, do they contain toxins, will the packaging break down? Go for minimal packaging with everything you buy and though I am biased opt for a bar of soap over a bottle of body wash. Body wash is mostly chemical detergents and water, opt for a concentrated castile soap like Dr. Bronner’s if you feel like you have to have a liquid.
Also, here in central AZ we have saved quite a lot of electricity by putting sun screens on our windows in the summer. There is a significant difference.
Having some friends that live in San Diego I have constantly been warned about my water consumption and the large difference little changes make. (San Diego has been facing a potential water shortage for several years now and has imposed several restrictions to household water uses) As a result, I actually turn the water off when brushing my teeth now when before I would let it run through the entire time. I probably wasted a gallon of water a week doing that. That’s a gallon of water someone could be drinking!
I would also say drink out of your own container instead of buying water from the store if you can!
There are two types of green, genuine earth awareness with little to no pollution and capitalism green. Capitalism green would be what corporations do to exploit the “green movement “, such as the CFL light bulbs being proposed as energy efficient. First and foremost these types of light bulbs are only made in China and there is no alternative to the consumer whatsoever, which in itself is not green considering that these bulbs have to travel such long distances. The claimed 75% saved energy over conventional bulbs would quickly be negated with a USA made conventional bulb. Secondly the CFL light bulbs contain high levels of toxic mercury and if one breaks in your home there is an extensive cleanup procedure so as not to be exposed to the mercury. These bulbs cannot be thrown in the trash because of their toxicity and must be discarded by your recycling center. Simply put, turn off your lights when the room is not being used, buy a lower watt bulb if you can and Always look for Made in USA.
When I was a kid I traveled to Jamaica, where they experience water shortages, and I heard a sane that has stuck with me ever since, “If its yellow, its mellow. If its brown, flush it down.”
Today’s my big-bike-refuse-reuse day. That’s right, time to go through all of my innertubes with punctures, get out some patches and glue, turn on some tunes, and get to work.
I have a collection of soon-to-be-spare tubes! Patching them saves me a bunch of cash, keeps them out of the trash, and saves the energy it would take to produce the new products.
you can drink your own urine too! full of antioxidants!
always use hemp instead of anything else, I have a hemp bag made of hemp that I carry hemp home from the hemp store! hemp condoms can be reused too…just use hemp for everything, hemp soap, hemp bike tubes, hemp hemp bags, etc…
when i bought a hemp bag for carrying hemp I paid for it in HEMP! thats right baby, hemp bartering is the only way to go in the current economic climate.
I only use half a square of toilet paper when I take a shit, and I seperate each ply – DOUBLE PLY IS A WASTE OF PAPER – then I bury it in my backyard and use it as fertilizer for my garden.
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