Report From The Field - Kicking Off A New Feature
January 7, 2008 | In Report From The Field |
This week, I want to introduce some new feature article series on the blog. The first is Report from the field. My intention for this feature is to report on practical steps I have taken on my journey as an activist. I may discuss the progress of large goals, such as my list of five things to Save The Bay that I previously mentioned in The Chesapeake Bay - My Vision.
Alternatively, I may report progress on a smaller goal, such as learning more about the options for recycling in my area. I also hope that this feature will be a way for me to report back on specific things I’ve tried, like a new green cleaner, or my first visit to a farmer’s market. I suspect this feature will evolve over time, but this blog is supposed to be a record of my journey, so I felt the need for this type of article to report on specific steps taken in addition to general discussion of my efforts.
The Past Week
This week, I don’t have a lot to report on, unfortunately. It is the new year, and I did my end of year review and looking forward to set new goals. I would be lying if I said I made any progress on those goals, however.
Well, that’s not entirely true either. On the one hand, I didn’t try anything new, but I didn’t give up on the old stuff either. I dropped off another load of recycle items (paper, glass, plastic, and cans.) My husband and I agreed not to eat out nearly as much, which led to more cooking in. Therefore, we saved the driving to and from the restaurants and we didn’t bring home any styrofoam containers that can’t be recycled. In addition, because we were preparing meals from scratch, we bought less prepackaged stuff which meant less trash.
I made progress on the five things to Save The Bay Project (which will probably get another name later, but that one’s good for now.) I read another book specifically about the Bay. Combined with the one I read previously, I now have a lot more understanding of what the issues are. I also plan to do a review of the books so that my readers can decide if they would like to read them as well. I started writing about the specific troubles of the Bay and am considering releasing my findings as a free e-book, rather than a series of posts so it’s all together as a whole.
On the personal side, I spoke with several recruiters this week about a new position, and carpooled to work this past week. I spoke to some folks about my blog and what I’m trying to do that weren’t aware of it previously. I also faced some fear about the future of this blog and my efforts to make a difference in the world. I planned a post discussing this for later in the week.
For Next Week
Finally, I read an article in Green Daily that made me pause. The article pointed out that a lot of recycling programs can’t accept the plastic that is sent to them and the items are then sent to the landfill. This has prompted me to look into the rules for recycling in my community to make sure I’m not inadvertently including items that make my whole batch need to be trashed instead of recycled.
So, that’s the report for this week. I’ll report back next with with my findings on recycling in my community as well as anything else that came up this week on the practical front.
Please let me know what you think of this new feature. Do you like the idea? Hate the idea? Want to see me cover a specific topic? Want to weigh in an e-book vs. a series of posts? Please leave me comments below.
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Links to related topics: Chesapeake Bay, Conservation, Recycling, Report From The Field, Self Expression, Vision
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I think this is a great idea.
Not directly relevant to those outside the US (or your local community I suppose). But it does help with the ‘acting local’ side of things.
Well, that’s not quite true. I realize that this week I was talking about local stuff. However, I am aware that my readers aren’t all from my area. So, I will do my best to be sure that my reports not only highlight local stuff, but also explain how I’m still plugging away, and whenever possible, how the local stuff applies globally as well.
So, thank you for the comment - it’s a good reminder that I need to be sure that I’m seeing my efforts in the broader context as well.