Into recycling and renewable energy? Into conservation?
Try this for a day....then pass it on.
Go without your internal plumbing and running water for one day.
Get some bottled water as your only water source and see how often you wash your hands and how much water you use doing it, how often you use water for the most mundane tasks. How often you need water to flush a toilet. How about taking a shower? Washing dishes? Preparing meals.
As an alteration on this exercise, you can opt to get water by the bucketful from your furthest outside faucet for drinking, washing, bathing, etc to simulate getting water from a river or some other source.
There are many people on this planet that do not have the luxury of clean and reliable water. In many countries, farming and industry are polluting the few sources of water these people have.
You can also do the same with food, electricity, cars, etc. Take a day to remind you and your children how well you have things and how much others on this planet lack. Could you even walk to a local store to pick up food to eat for a day in your area?
There are some shoes you just can't really know what it is like to wear until you put them on and do it yourself.
What a wonderful idea. I'd say we should do something like this for many shoes we otherwise wouldn't walk in. No better way to understand.
ReplyDeleteSounds like camping! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder of how much we take for granted.
BLW, it is so amazing how much I don't know about the problems people have or find themselves in. It is sad how judgmental we can be through the assumptions we make about people.
ReplyDeleteT, it is very much like camping, only when you are camping you expect to be away from all your normal stuff and you plan for it. It is a little different mindset when you are doing your normal daily routine and you can't reach for faucet like you normally would. :-)
An example of how oblivious I can be at times was through a discussion with co-workers when Katrina hit New Orleans. I was baffled that so many people didn't evacuate the city. I figured they had plenty of warning. A co-worker gently reminded me that many of those people don't have cars or other transportation. A concept that eluded me until that moment. Hence the idea of going a day without using a car. :-)
A very good reminder. And yes, there are even places in our own country where people face these challenges.
ReplyDeleteWe are so very privileged.
Yes, we take so much for granted.
ReplyDeleteIt also might be good to go a day (or even an hour!) without sight, or hearing, or walking or (name 100 other things) to remind us about all the people with disabilities.
Those of us with health and a comfortable home are very lucky, indeed!
Lizzy, yes there are many people in the US that go without every day.
ReplyDeleteYvette, I agree. My son has Asperger's and he can be overwhelmed by external stimulus in the form of sounds, smells, light, touch, etc. I have often wanted to overwhelm people's senses so that they can get an idea of what he goes through, how he cannot tune things out.