Saturday: Giving back

Saturday's challenge was to "Pay it forward.  Feel the benefits of service."  This day of service was on my mind all week, both because of the planning it involved and because of my interest in actively exploring the connection between reducing my negative impact on the earth and increasing my positive impact on my community.

For this challenge, I participated in planning and executing a community project with seven friends.  When we started discussing ideas for the project earlier this week, there was a lot of interest in doing something that contributed to the ultimate goal of ridding NYC of plastic bags.  Our specific goals for this project were to raise community awareness of the impact of plastic bags on the environment, and to work on effecting change in this area one small business at a time.  We decided that we would go into local retail shops and ask the owners/employees if they would be willing to pledge to either eliminate the use of plastic bags in their stores, or to at least promise to make it a policy to always ask customers if they need a bag before giving them one.  We split up into pairs and set out along different retail routes in the East Village/NYU area.

When we set out, I was a little anxious about how people would respond to us and how open they would be to starting a dialogue about the plastic bag issue.  Once we were on our way though, I was pleasantly surprised by the experience.  By simply being friendly and outgoing with these strangers, they were disarmed and I was able to connect with them as a neighbor.  It was much more relaxed and fun than I had anticipated.  It gave me a sense of possibility and also made me feel more invested in my neighborhood.  It felt really good to be doing something so generous and positive with my afternoon, and to be living out my values in some active way.  It was also a real reminder to me of the ripple effect, and of the ability to promote positive change in the world by simply doing something small.  So as much as I gave back to my community, it also gave back to me.  It is amazing how simple it is for any of us to do this at any time.

Although the No Impact Experiment is obviously about doing less harm, I have discovered that it is equally about balancing that with doing more good.  Ultimately, it's less about limits and more about possibility.  And by doing more good with the joined forces of others, relationships are built and strengthened.  That was one of the most personally satisfying aspects of our project.

As Margaret Mead said, "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world.  Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  And as Edmund Burke said, "No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."  Cheers to that.