"What are you giving up for Lent?"
That's a common question in these forty days before Easter. And when I ask, nine times out of ten, the answer is chocolate, beer, or social media.
But what if we look at Lent as an opportunity not to just temporarily give up a bad habit but to start a good habit - a habit that makes a difference to people, to the world, to God.
This year for Lent, my goal is to protect our planet. I'm looking for ways to lessen my impact on our mother earth and bring me joy at the same time.
Here is the story of my progress.
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As long as there are flowers, I have hope for the world.
Let me be perfectly honest. I have no idea how to save our planet from the many threats we have imposed to its health and well-being.
Thank goodness, there are minds far greater than mine at work on the problem. .
Scientists study and educate us about the issues,
politicians work for funding and legislative protections,
engineers brainstorm new technologies,
businesses sell new solutions to consumers, and
consumers strive to make better choices.
Yet for all the intellectual muscle we apply to the challenges of healing our planet, no one knows for sure what will work. On a global level, this is no controlled experiment. We humans are battling air and water pollution, deforestation, climate change and other related problems all at the same time. We are making progress, for sure, but we don't always get things right the first time and we are bound to deal with mistakes and setbacks from time to time.
I'm especially aware of the potential for missteps in the business world. As any visit to a Whole Foods Market will prove, many first-world consumers are eager to open our wallets to pay for a healthier, cleaner lifestyle. Maybe we feel a little guilty about the mess we've made; maybe we hope to use our hard-earned dollars to make a difference. But our willingness to pay a premium for environmentally responsible products makes us vulnerable to ill-conceived innovation.
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Here's a case in point: in response to our throwaway society's need to reexamine packaging options and develop more multi-use containers, a company named Loop is posing a solution. Based on the milkman model, these innovators are developing a home delivery service where products are dropped off in reusable stainless steel and glass containers. When the containers are empty, Loop sends a truck around to pick them up and cart them off to a facility where they are cleaned, refilled, and delivered again.
For eight years, I used a similar system called Baby Diaper Service for my daughters' nappy needs. The delivery service was brilliant and worked like a charm. Every Tuesday morning, I set out on my doorstep a bag of used diapers, and by noon, it had been replaced with a sweet stack of freshies Those full bags of dirty diapers were a little rough, but oh, the joy of opening a fresh bag of forty immaculately white, soft as a baby's bottom cloth diapers. Pure magic.
Will Loop lead the way into a new philosophy of earth-friendly retailing and change the way we think about packaging?
Maybe. I sure hope so.
Or will Loop run my wallet dry and quickly fizzle out as an overpriced and inefficient way to bring home the Haagen-Dazs?
That's possible too. Only time will tell. Loop is launching in select cities around the world in spring of 2019, and only when a substantial group of consumers use the service will we be able to judge its feasibility.
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I want to be an early Loop adopter. I've signed their wait list and I can't wait till they kick off in Seattle. Until new data or my bank balance tells me differently, I'm willing to support the innovative dreams of forward-thinking retailers and give Loop a try.
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Read on about my efforts to help protect our planet
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