The big difference you can make with one small intention.

April 20, 2017

Good morning, beautiful people. It’s Earth Week, and the thing that’s been on my mind the most, and the place where I can make the most positive change, is with…chopsticks.

Still inspired by The Minimalists to work the Yoga Tool of Aparigraha, I was clearing out a kitchen drawer, and I found over 15 sets of disposable chopsticks from ordering Chinese takeout. They came with the orders, and we just stuck ’em in the drawer because we didn’t know what to do with them.

Turns out there’s not much you can do with them. Chopsticks, usually made of wood (some are plastic, but not many), are single-use items that are used for approximately 10 minutes and then go in the garbage. Most states don’t recycle them. It’s said that the US and European use of disposable chopsticks results in over 25 million trees cut down per year.

There’s a Yoga Tool for this: Sankalpa, or setting an intention. I’ve set an intention to make sure restaurants don’t put anything disposable in my take out—no chopsticks, no plastic.

Then, I got my own set of fancy chopsticks to use, and I have a little metal utensil I can take with me anywhere, like this one, for outside lunch dates with friends. It’s light enough to have my bag always in case I get a sudden need for sushi (it happens). It feels a little weird at first to eat sushi with a fork. It feels a lot better than tossing those chopsticks in the garbage.

Setting the Sankalpa to not use chopsticks or plastic utensils is one small intention, yet you can have a big, wonderfully positive impact on the environment. It’s another way for you to shine your divine light on the world.

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