Gliding Into the New Year with Everyday Earth Heroes
Hello readers and welcome to the last post of 2020! What a year it’s been. I think it goes without saying, but 2020 was a doozy. To close out this year and welcome in a fresh, shiny new one, here are four stories from what I like to call Everyday Earth Heroes.
You’ll hear more about Everyday Earth Heroes in the new year, but essentially it’s like this:
Everyday Earth Heroes
We all have a story to share, whether we know it or not. Some of the best stories for inspiring change come from those who don’t realize they’re doing something really freaking cool for this planet. These stories come from everyday people like you and me, just doing their thing, la dee da. In some cases, these are business owners doing something innovative for their community (and maybe they’re locally famous!). In other cases, these are backyard chicken keepers, or full-on farmers. Regardless of who, or where, these are the stories that – I think – have the power to change the world.
So, on with the tales from these Everyday Earth Heroes!
1. Wax On, Wax Off
Back in ye olde day, I used to snowboard and when I did, I loved it. When I moved to Canada, I packed light and left my snowboarding supplies behind. (Yes, I realize this was probably moronic of me: moving to the Great White North and choosing to leave my winter gear behind…) The last four winters, I’ve gotten into winter hiking and snowmobiling, but alas, no snowboarding. Luckily for me, my partner Jan’s younger son is a snowboarding fanatic, so I’ve now found someone to live vicariously through! He alerted me to this company – Board Butter Glide Wax* – who’s story I felt would be fitting for this week’s Wednesday Wins round-up – and a good example of Everyday Earth Heroes.
Board Butter is a local (to me) ski-and-snowboard-wax company based in Revelstoke, BC (the heart of the Kootenay Rockies and an epic spot for skiing and snowboarding – so I hear). They manufacture wax that is chemical-and toxin-free, plus they package their wax simply, in a cardboard box and nothing else. The wax is hand-poured and made with locally sourced paraffin.
Little Tweaks Make Huge Impact
It may not seem like much, but think about what happens every time someone dons a pair of skis or a board: they’re gliding down a mountain covered in snow. Whatever is touching the snow is leaving a trace, even if it’s micro-particles. If that wax is full of perfluorocarbons (hello, greenhouse gases!!), it’s leaving toxic chemicals behind. Not good for humans. Not good for planet.
“We believe in creating a product that is great and doing it in a way that reduces our environmental footprint, too.“
Board Butter Glide Wax
When we imagine “sustainability” and sustainable companies, it’s easy to rattle off obvious products: bags, cutlery, water bottles, coffee mugs, and other typical consumer goods. But getting into niche markets, this search becomes more nuanced. Discovering that there are companies out there dedicated to making a product like snowboard wax, more sustainably and with environmental- and people-health in mind, is super encouraging!
*FYI: I’m not getting paid to say nice things about Board Butter, nor is Jan’s son! We just really dig what they’re into. 🙂
2. Tiny Spaces, Happy Places
It turns out, sustainable living doesn’t have to be grand – and thank gawd, frankly. Sure, you could sell all your possessions and buy a plot of land and do the homesteading life, but that takes time (and money). You could also simply make do with whatcha got, right now. That’s what a small community is doing in Stockholm, Sweden, proving that sustainable efforts came come in all sizes (these people are all everyday earth heroes).
Sustainable Living, Apartment-Style
Residents of this apartment complex got together and decided to change things up: they built a community garden, started a lending library of tools and other gizmos, and yes, they even got chickens! Now, there are several families within this complex that keep these initiatives going, pointing to the ultimate power of community (and everyday earth heroism!).
“Lykke” – Happiness
A while back, I read “The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World’s Happiest People” by Meik Wiking. “Lykke” is the Danish word for “happiness.” I remember so vividly him describing what a community would look like were it to be built around the people and not built around cars. Its residents were happier and more connected, because they saw each other more frequently and shared resources instead of every person for themselves.
These stories can sometimes feel unattainable in our North American individualistic societies, but I think they’re a model for how to do things better. I think the ideas are taking hold, with co-operative housing on the rise. And, the flip side of real estate prices skyrocketing is that more and more people seem to be figuring out ways to do life sustainably, together.
To read more about this community in Sweden, click here.
3. Circles & Cradles, Oh My!
One of the most satisfying things I did this year, thanks to the pandemic, was to bump up my support of local business. For Christmas this year, I shopped exclusively at local businesses and it was so satisfying! Not only did my money stay in my local economy, it also allowed me to explore new businesses. One such new business – The Rogerie – is up to some seriously awesome shenanigans. They are certainly everyday earth heroes in my eyes! Why? Well for starters, they make everyday products made from everyday waste. But not just any waste…they make gorgeous items from recycled plastic waste. They even mine our local landfill for material. Hello, circularity!
The Rogerie
The Rogerie was started by a couple, one an engineer and the other a designer – both 3D printing enthusiasts – who wanted to put their skills to good use for the betterment of society and planet. They started playing around with 3D printing and realized there was a market in turning waste plastics into useable goods. They 3D print items like soap dishes, plant pots, utensil carriers, bulk goods containers, egg cartons, and even bird feeders! All of their products are beautiful, simple, and durable.
Inside the pot! 
Okanagan Urban Jungle + The Rogerie
Cradle to Cradle
I’m reading a book right now called Cradle to Cradle. It’s all all about circularity and why we need to be adopting circular principles when it comes to pretty much everything: design, manufacturing, etc. The book posits that in nature, there is no waste. Left to its own devices, nature will always circulate nutrients and waste materials through its systems with no harm done.
The book was published in 2002 and since then, the concept of circular economies has really taken off. More and more companies are popping up all over the world to tackle and change our systems from something linear and destructive, with waste, to something that is circular, where everything is used (again and again) with no waste. It really is possible to achieve circularity, but we have to advocate for it.
Make Like Nature
“Consider this: all the ants on the planet, taken together, have a biomass greater than that of humans. Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of years. Yet their productiveness nourishes plants, animals, and soil. Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every single ecosystem on the planet. Nature doesn’t have a design problem. People do.”
Cradle to Cradle
The Rogerie is just one example of humans deciding to make things in a better way, that provide society with useful goods, but without all the negative side effects, and waste.
4. Don’t Scrap It!
This story is the ultimate in Everyday Earth Hero action and evolved out of a conversation with a friend, about the aforementioned Cradle to Cradle.
The thing I love more than anything else is hearing about people’s journeys towards a more sustainable life. It’s the friends who message me saying they’ve replaced plastic straws with glass or aluminum. Or, those who are considering switching up their kitchen cookware (this just recently happened and it made my heart sing). Or, it’s someone digging into DIY and revamping their kitchen and cleaning routines.
That DIY Life
In this case, Heather (my friend) started collecting veggie scraps after American Thanksgiving. She kept them in a gallon Ziplock bag in the freezer and after a month, had enough odds and ends to make a mega batch of veggie broth. The broth was seasoned with home-grown sage, then transferred to glass jars her and her family had been saving from salsa, etc. And of course, the Ziplock was reused for future veggie scrap-saving.
Now, this is certainly not a new idea: ask any one of your environmentally-minded friends and they’ll likely have heaps of stories about their own zero-waste soup endeavours. No, what really made me smile with this story is Heather’s mentioning of how it has become a family activity. The scrap saving is so routine now that even her partner’s kids are on-board. They know, when veggies hit the cutting board, to go and get the veggie scrap bag. She’s teaching these budding humans a really, really important lesson! How freaking amazing is THAT?!
Orange You Glad “DIY” Is Here to Stay?
If that’s not enough hero-action for you, Heather is also finding a home for orange peels in a DIY vinegar cleaning solution. Once again, not a new idea but also once again, it’s the sentiment behind it, and the empowering factor I love oh-so-much. She messaged me on Christmas Day sharing the orange-peel story, and her comment about it was so freaking awesome: “Feels pretty great to do this on a capitalist holiday.” (aka Christmas). I couldn’t agree more.
DIY projects like this feel simple but also so, so incredibly powerful. They give us back control of our lives and make us feel superhuman (HEROIC, if you will). Ultimately, DIY is a way for us humans to fight the machine of the world telling us it’s easier and cheaper to just go out and buy it.
2021: The Year of the Everyday Earth Hero
And that’s a wrap on this year, folks! 2020 has been full of surprises and not all of them super fabulous. But, there have also been endless stories of resilience, proving that the human spirit cannot be brought down. I’m encouraged by those stories and can’t wait to discover more.
Look forward to more Everyday Earth Hero action in 2021. I’ve got some things cookin’! For now, Happy New Year’s Eve dear readers. Cheers to the new year ahead!
