So I’ve a little story to tell. I decided to set a 30-day sustainability challenge for my students and I as a way to encourage us to reflect on whether changes to our own sustainability actions can have ripple effects and lead to transformative impacts on climate change or environmental sustainability.
From when I posted the challenge on our learning platform at DCU the BCES students have been brilliant, and have really taken on the spirit of CChallenge, pushing themselves outside of their comfort zone – exactly what the challenge is about!
– Your challenge and why you chose it?
During the summer I decided to get involved in cleaning up our housing estate by picking weeds around a small green space near the house. Within a few days, what seemed like a fairly small act had impacted the entire community. Everyone wanted to stop and talk to me as to what I was doing and offered me words of encouragement and tell stories about how the community did these things in the past. However, as people aged they weren’t able to continue with the upkeep of the estate. Within a day the news spread and several people in the community came out to help me. What turned out to be a relatively small act had transformed the entire neighbourhood and allowed me to get to know people I would otherwise never have met. This was the inspiration for my current challenge to pick rubbish around the neighbourhood for 30 days.
– What do you think will be difficult or easy about this experiment?
1. I think finding the time twice a week might be a challenge but I’m optimistic!
2. The novelty of the challenge might wear off after a few weeks.
3. I think it might be difficult to engage people to be involved or engage in a chat as the weather and daylight is not on my side!
– What qualities do you admire in others, and how can it help you the next 30 days?
I admire people who:
– are persistent
– are committed
– push past their boundaries / comfort zone
– are environmentally conscious
– don’t follow the status quo
– can talk to strangers
Looking forward to starting my journey and finding out more about sustainability and myself and the people around me!
Darren
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cCHANGE Team commented on Day 4: Day 1: the challenge begins 4 years agoHi Darren, Just wanted to connect quickly on the platform. It's great to read the story behind why you chose your challenge and amazing what the weeding achieved. Lovely. Also fantastic to hear the kind of qualities you admire in others. Those qualities you admire in others are in you. Imagine a world built around those qualities. We would probably have made more progress on sustainability than we have so far. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to hearing how the challenge goes as the winter draws nearer. Best, Leonie :) Respond
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