8095741888?profile=originalHow do you plan to make a difference this year? The Community Resilience Challenge is in the final week and we're inspired by all  your stories! People are building soil, growing healthy food, using water smartly, and helping others - grow more sustainable lives one act at a time. 

This year, some our most enthusiastic participants have been the kids. Kalen, a third grader at Alamo Elementary, has shown us that saving water is not only prudent but also fun. In his home, he has implemented the “hourglass competition”. Using a five-minute hourglass to time showers, Kalen challenges himself and his family members to finish their showers before the hourglass runs out. Winning the family competition by a landslide, he has cut his personal shower time down from over twenty minutes to just three minutes. His family’s daily time in the shower has been reduced by nearly 70%. Kalen’s parents even confirmed that he is still getting clean!

8095741501?profile=originalPittsburg Unified School District continues to live up to its Gold Level in the California Green Ribbon Schools Program by handing in thousands of student pledges. Science teachers at Martin LutherKing Jr. Junior High and Rancho Medanos Junior High have made the Challenge a school-wide event. At MLK, Tom Edwards has been instrumental in leading his students’ efforts around sustainability and inspiring the students to take action through the “Army of the Earth”, a coalition of students dedicated to caring for the planet. Edwards says that the Challenge gives him yet another opportunity to bring sustainability into the classroom and demonstrates to the students that others in the community care about these issues too. 

In addition to a successful year of implementing Army of the Earth club to student “soldiers” at Rancho Medanos, Ian Maslen and Jennifer Foster have had the pleasure of helping students make important learning connections between their sustainable choices and the impacts this can have on broader issues, such as climate change. ”The Challenge is icing on the cake, as it so astutely echoes the sustainability focal points of the year,” says Foster.

There is still time to get your kids involved. Have them take a moment to complete the online student pledge sheet here: https://www.tfaforms.com/421965.

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Around the East Bay kids and adults alike are proving that the little changes we make in our own backyards make a big impact. Kimberly from Walnut Creek pledged to bike the 22 mile round trip to her job at Republic Services at least once a month, using Bike to Work Day on May 12th as a reminder that she can do it. If she sticks to it, she’ll reduce her carbon footprint by approximately 120 lbs. annually. We know you can do it, Kimberly!

Kat in Walnut Creek didn’t realize just how easy it could be to make nutrient rich soil at home. After 8095742069?profile=originalstaring at her compost bin still in the box after a year, she finally had her husband assemble it. Now just a few homemade juices and family dinners later combined with a few blazing hot Walnut Creek days and clippings from their landscape, she is excited to be one step closer to naturally nourishing the freshly planted fruit trees. Without the Challenge to motivate her, that compost bin might have kept collecting dust in the garage for another year!

Join Kalen, Pittsburg’s Middle School students, Kimberly and Kat and be a part of the movement! If you haven’t yet pledged an action, there's still time.

Visit sustainablecoco.org/challenge to register your action and get a

FREE YARD of EcoMulch

Lead by example and share your story at #EastBayChallenge to inspire others! 

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