Hope you are all getting on well with the first twenty lent challenges! Here are twenty more ideas of things you can do to live more ethically and make a difference to others…
21. Recycle your pens! We now have a Terracycle box in the shop where you can bring your old pens, biros and felt tips to be recycled.
22. Make a deliberate effort to talk to someone in a different generation to you. Expand your social network and chat to the old lady down the road or the teenagers who hang out near where you live. You might feel uncomfortable but we can learn so much from those people who are older and younger than us.
23. Make a meal for someone having a hard time at the moment. We all know someone, whether they’ve just had a baby, are looking after a sick relative or just really struggling with the busyness of life. Cook them a meal and drop it round to them so they have one less thing to think about.
24. Treat your feet and the environment! Switch your socks for our sustainable bamboo ones from Thought Clothing. In a range of designs and colours these socks have to be worn to be believed. Trust us when we say you won’t go back once you’ve made the change!
25. Show your appreciation to those who don’t often get it. Thank the people who collect your bin or the person who cleans your place of work for the service they provide for you.
26. Break the silence on human trafficking – come in and look at the beautiful products we stock made by women who have been rescued from this horrific reality.
27. Talk to your workplace, church or children’s school about taking on the rice challenge – we will provide everything you need for this and can even come in to do a talk or assembly. Sell 90kg of rice and you will have sent a child in Malawi to secondary school for one year.
28. Wash away unfair trade by changing the soap you use to wash your hands, body and even hair! We have a wide selection of soaps which are fairly traded and smell gorgeous!
29. Show love to the unlovable today. We all have people who, for whatever reason, we just don’t get on with or there is history there which makes it difficult for us to love them. Take the step of forgiveness and courage and show them love today, talk to them, write them a letter, take them out for coffee, just do something which demonstrates your love for them.
30. Buy a bag of fair trade sweets and hand them out on the bus or at your place of work – anywhere where there are a lot of people who you don’t know! Offer them a sweet and say hello!
31. Donate food to your local food bank. You can find your local food bank at https://www.sheffieldfoodbank.org.uk/food-bank-list/ or lots of supermarkets have trolleys where you can donate food at the checkouts. If you can, buy something special or a more expensive brand so that they people who access the food bank get a bit of a treat too.
32. Don’t forget about your TASTE bottle! Today, have a look under the sofa, in your car and at the bottom of your bag for any loose change you have lying around. Is your bottle full already? Bring it in to the shop and we’ll pass it on to TASTE and give you a new bottle to fill up!
33. Sign up the TASTE 5k fun run! Taking place on Saturday 13th May at Weston Park, this is a great family event to get you fit and healthy whilst raising money for the life-changing work of TASTE.
34. Bake some fair trade flapjacks, we have a great recipe you are welcome to use! You could keep half for yourself and your family to enjoy and wrap up the other half and give them away.
35. Hold a fair trade coffee morning at your home, it’s a great way to get your friends together to enjoy some delicious homemade fair trade cakes whilst raising money for a charity close to your heart. You could either charge a set price per drink or slice of cake or ask for donations (you will probably get more doing this!) and then donate the money raised to a charity of your choice or put the money in your TASTE bottle!
36. Examine your clothes shopping choices. Finding sustainable and ethical fashion brands (particularly ones which are affordable) is not an easy task. This is a helpful blog to read to get you thinking about your buying habits and gradually changing the way you shop.
37. Donate your time and volunteer! Many organisations (such as our shop!) rely on volunteers to keep going. Have you got some time in the week which you could give up to volunteer for a local organisation? Visit Sheffield Volunteer Centre for ideas or to arrange a meeting with an adviser to help you find something that suits your skills and availability.
38. Rehome your old phone – we have a box in the shop where you can drop off your pre-loved mobile phone and we will send it to Malawi to highly deserving, low-income nurses, teachers and smallholder farmers.
39. Twin your toilet! Did you know that 2.4 billion people (that’s over 1/3 of the world’s population) don’t have access to a clean, hygienic and safe toilet? Twin your loo to one in Asia or Africa and help people there to have access to this basic requirement. You even get a lovely certificate to hang in your bathroom!
40. Happy Easter!! We hope you have enjoyed our series of challenges – do let us know how you have got on! Now it’s time to reward yourself and what would be more appropriate than a fair trade Easter Egg?!