We all have more power than we think to make an impact on the world around us, as consumers, as citizens and as employees. The 100 Sustainable Days challenge is here to help you get started.
Like any habit you want to make stick (or unstick), doing a little everyday is the easiest way to begin.
Your challenge is completely up to you and can be as little or as big as you like. You can start off small, learning something new everyday, and then as the challenge continues start doing bigger things, making changes and having an impact.
Who knows where you will be 100 days from now! (One of my 100 day projects became a book! Click here to find out more).
Get in touch to order copies of the cards to keep track of your 100 days.
Need some inspiration?
Here are a handful of ideas on different ways to do the 100 Sustainability Days Challenge. The list is a work in progress so please send in your ideas.
- Invite your students, team, employees, family and friends to take part in the challenge together.
- Start a blog about sustainability and start writing. (Bloggers Challenge)
- Pick one topic from the book (The Sustainable MBA) everyday and learn more about it, visit the links.
- Come up with one idea a day about how to make something more sustainable (100 Ideas)
- Become obsessed with something related to sustainability for 100 days. Choose a topic, a business, an issue and do something every day to raise your knowledge and get engaged in this topic.
- Fix a sustainability bad habit you may have.
- Do the same thing everyday for 100 days, but in 100 different ways. (Five Years of 100 Days from Yale School of Art)
- Share an interesting sustainability related link or messages everyday on your social media platforms. (Twitter)
- Support 100 different local businesses in your community over the next 100 days.
- Do 100 different things in your office to be more sustainable over the next 100 days.
- Do something everyday to celebrate an International Day. This could be a UN day such as the World Water Day (March 22) or International Anti-Corruption Day (December 9) or a national holiday such as Australia Day (January 26).
- Read an article related to sustainability everyday in the news or subscribe to sustainability news feed.
- Explore 100 ways to make your city more sustainable…and implement some of them. (City of Houston)
- Take a picture everyday of something that is sustainable around you (or not sustainable but should be). Share your pictures.
- Have a conversation everyday with someone about a sustainability topic. (GreenDrinks)
- Start a project in your community, something small but with a big impact. Have fun with it. (Awesome Foundation)
- Identify something around you everyday that could be improved to be more sustainable and do something about it. This could be something at work, at home, at school or in the community
- Smile. Do 100 things that will make you smile….and that are sustainable.
- Think about the ads you are watching on TV or see in print everyday. Do they make sustainability claims? Are they believable? (Greenwashing Index)
- Fall in love with information (Information is beautiful)
- Turn off the lights.
- Reuse, Recycle and Repair. (Promise to Repair Pledge)
- Choose and learn about one eco-label every day for 100 days. (Ecolabel index)
- Become a mentor. Find a mentor.
- Choose a product you use or buy everyday and learn more about it. What does it say on the label? What company made it and what are they doing in sustainability? Is there a more sustainable alternative? (Simple guide to making more sustainable choices)
- Help solve a problem every day for 100 days. (Open Ideo)
- Get involved in helping the international community get closer to its sustainability goals. (Post 2015 and the World We Want)
- Visit a museum or art gallery. (ICOM)
- Make sustainability a part of your existing job. (Jobs)
- Take a short course (gowiu.com)
- Go outside.
- Learn how to recognise and deal with corruption and bribery in your professional life (The Fight Against Corruption)
- Learn what your city/region/country is trying to do to become more sustainable. (ICLEI)
- Be positive.
- Start a social enterprise (Hub)
- Give feedback for 100 days to the companies you buy from daily about their sustainability strategies (or lack thereof).
- Look into the secret lives of everyday things.
- Learn something new…online. (edX)
- Stop throwing things away. Give them to someone who wants them. As they say, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. Both at home and at work
- Choose, support and follow the work of micro-entrepreneurs in your community or around the world (Kiva, GlobalGiving)
- Slow your food down and enjoy it more. (Slow Food)
- Read something different that you wouldn’t usually read (Modern Farmer, New Scientist)
- Feature 100 different ways those around you can get engaged in sustainability (Babson)
- Make something.
- Calculate and think about your ecological footprint and what you could do daily to minimise it. (Footprint Calculator)
- Teach something to someone.
- Create your own manifesto for how you want to live your life (Sabbath Manifesto)
- Get to know someone better (20 Day Stranger)
- Plant something edible and work on your garden.
- Look into using your power as a shareholder for good (yours and your organisation’s).
- Give your team members time everyday to do something sustainable related to their job and the office, for 100 days.
- Work with your suppliers on sustainability issues…or explore new more sustainable suppliers.
- Start a second 100 Sustainable Days Challenge!
More coming soon….any ideas to add? Add them to the comments area below.
