2022 reflection
Tanya Hewitt
Founder of Beyond Safety Compliance, helping environmental companies become internally healthier; Scam Survivor
In 2020, I wrote an article [1] at the end of the year as a reflection on my learnings that had taken place that year. I did the same in 2021 [2]. So it would seem I have established a tradition for myself to write a LinkedIn article on my learnings.
This year, the crises precipitating learning have not been as strong this year as in the previous two, but I am a lifelong learner, and as such I will share some of my learnings in 2022. The learnings are binned into two main categories.
I need not go all in when engaging in change
This was inspired by an article that I read on the Tree Hugger cloth pad website [3]. In that vein, I have two categories I would like to address through my recent revelations.
My Environmental Footprint
For some time, I have been aware of my negative contribution to the environment and have taken measures to counter that. One example is the shopping bags I made for our family to use when I was on maternity leave with my youngest daughter (who is now 20), and basically banning plastic bags in our house ever since. It took some time, and my husband has carried wares in his arms instead of taking a plastic bag over the years. We are now pretty well conditioned to take bags with us into stores and have been for some time. Another example is watering our lawn. Years ago, my husband and I watched a Nature of Things [4] episode whereby we are convinced that a lawn, that we had taken care of with chemicals and water like everyone else, is not natural – it is an artificial construct with the introduction of suburbs.?And manicured lawns are making things worse for the environment.?We have not watered (or put chemicals on) our lawn for many years.
Despite these two examples, I know I have a lifestyle that really impacts the planet.??And I am trying to do what I can to reduce my impact.?This was really driven home this year with environmental catastrophes taking place in areas of the world (such as Pakistan) which had a negligible contribution to climate change and knowing that my lifestyle is implicated in such inequities.
I have realized that my zealous recycling for over 30 years has not yielded the panacea I thought it would, and as such need to focus on the first and second of the 3 Rs – reduce and reuse, especially when it comes to plastic.?For years, I bought foaming hand soap and dutifully rinsed out the container and put the empty container in the blue bin.?I learned that foaming hand soap is not from the soap but from the dispenser, and earlier this year I began saving the hand soap containers as we emptied them.?I found a recipe to make hand soap and we are now using home made foaming hand soap in containers I would have previously recycled without a second thought.
Looking at the recycling from our bathrooms, I thought I might be able to make more of a change there.??I started using shampoo and conditioner bars (instead of buying liquid plastic products) and applied a paste deodorant from a glass jar with my fingers.?I also started using toothpaste pills (“chewpaste”), and have not bought shampoo, conditioner, deodorant or toothpaste (in plastic) in last half of the past year.??
I have always had a very hard time throwing textiles in the garbage – many years ago we stopped buying paper towel, and used instead rags from old clothes, towels and bedsheets.??This year, I realized that we were still using disposable serviettes, and thought we could do better.?I looked at some of my older clothes with holes and stains (not worthy to donate) and made serviettes out of them.?We now use cloth serviettes at our kitchen table.?I also made my 20-year-old daughter a shag rug made from old socks as a Christmas present.
Laundry was the next area to look at – and we have been using laundry strips that come in a cardboard box (instead of pods or liquid that comes in a plastic jug) in 2022.?More recently, sympathizing with the German situation of a government that set up contracts with Russia for oil and light natural gas, and knowing that many Germans will need to economize much more than they ever have on using natural gas (not to mention Ukrainians), I realized that I could try to use less natural gas too.?I bought an indoor clothesline and have been using it for my laundry and the household laundry I do.?The rest of my family does not use it (they still use our gas dryer), and I know that I do more laundry than other household members, so I feel as though I am making a difference, albeit small.
Back to the yard, I heard of a Wildflower society in Ottawa that was giving away seeds and had a YouTube channel [5] to help people learn how to winter sew, and the videos began with finding containers in which to plant the seeds – even making your own containers from plastic food containers.?I was thrilled!?I even needed to ask some neighbours if I could go through their recycling bins to allow me to plant all the seeds I took from the seed library.?I planted all I had, and they are well identified and in our side yard in soil in former margarine and berry containers.??
What I look forward to in 2023:
-?????????Buying rain barrels for all of our downspouts – using only rainwater for all outdoor watering needs
-?????????Getting an outdoor clothesline and drying clothes outside
-?????????Planting wildflowers in our yard to help re-establish native species
-?????????Learning more about sustainable gardening practices
-?????????Reducing our disposable paper products (e.g. toilet paper)
My health
Early in 2022, I was approached by someone I met in a business networking meeting [6] to check out his new home gym.?I have been training at least 1x/week with this personal trainer and can now do things I hadn’t been able to before (such as push ups).?
For some time, I have been changing the way our family eats, and have been meal planning for years.?More recently, I have tried to introduce a more plant-based diet with only occasional red meat meals.?We now are more comfortable with tofu and tempeh, and use leafy greens from our Tower Garden, which I got 1 year ago.?This dovetails nicely with the environmental footprint as well – reducing the amount of red meat and animal products overall is consistent with a more sustainable diet (although our agricultural practices writ large also need to change to become more sustainable).
What I look forward to in 2023:
-?????????Continuing a regular physical fitness routine
-?????????Continuing to plan more sustainable meals
-?????????Exploring a grocery store whereby we bring containers to buy goods
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My business
It is certain that I am in a better position than I was in one year ago [2].?I have a long way to go yet, and I have been able to accept some money from my buy me a coffee account [7].?I believe I can charge for services and need to work on getting the services ready!
My webinars [8] have been well attended, and I have been consistent with not keeping the recordings for too long (that are held on servers in other countries that need enormous fans to keep the servers cool – part of the environmental footprint I am uncomfortable with).?I learned how to undertake a LinkedIn live with those webinars, and the audience had a choice on how they wanted to attend.
I also launched a podcast in 2022, Beyond the Minimum [9].?It has been an interesting journey – from not feeling as though I could launch a podcast at all to learning how to make an audiogram (stay tuned) and more.?
While I have been blessed with amazing online communities [10], I have also been able to meet people in person in 2022.?I am very pleased with this hybrid arrangement.
What I look forward to in 2023:
-?????????A revised website
-?????????Launching the type of podcast episode I haven’t yet
-?????????Offering courses
-?????????Consulting to chiefly environmental companies to assist them with their people problems (“Reducing social toxins from environmental companies”)
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-?????????A continued hybrid existence
Overall, in what I have shared above, there are many areas of my life whereby I am not where I would like to be, but I have made progress.?Not going all in, but not staying at the shoreline, either.?Slow and steady progress, inching forward, and learning and improving as I go.?And now for the second category:
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The dangers in believing I am right
This theme came to me when I learned of the recent re-evaluation of archeology.?Much of the archeology with which I am familiar is based upon discoveries in the era of colonization, whereby enlightenment ideals obscured any recognition of the values of indigenous cultures, the interconnectedness of the environment, the contributions of women.?As we are now in an era that is beginning to untangle all the above, archeology is similarly tainted with colonialist thinking.?Lady Sapiens [11] was a fantastic rethink of prehistory, and some of the conclusions that the archeologists of the day made – and how with more context and science, we can now come to different conclusions.?More recently, Netflix released Ancient Apocalypse [12], whereby journalist Graham Hancock challenges the field of archeology to take into consideration the persistence of legends, myths and stories in the analysis of antiquities, and comes up with some dramatic re-evaluation of what I thought I knew.?
While archeology has been a recent challenge, my epistemology (how I know what I know) of my own country, and my own religion have been in flux.?Everything from the origin story of Canada to who Jesus really was have been completely redefined for me in 2022, and the stories are not yet complete.?The recognition of the role of imagination in how I experience life and my understandings is just starting – I owe much to Charlie Mackesey’s You Tube presence [13].??I still have oodles to learn on both counts and will continue to do so in 2023.
Social science (specifically social psychology) has had a fundamental rethink as well.?The foundational experiments of Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo have been reanalyzed, and their grim pronouncements on human nature have been called into question.?If this is all Greek to you, my apologies – but if you do know this stuff, which I thought I knew very well, take a look/listen to an All in the Mind episode [14] and a YouTube of Alex Haslam’s research on Milgram[15].?Everyone should be intrigued with Rutger Bregman’s Humankind – A Hopeful History[16].?The basic premise is that people are on the whole good, and that the negative bias we all have has been highjacked by news, media and the like to make us think otherwise.
All in all, after a lot of this rethinking ontology (what I know), much of which was very important to who I believed myself to be in the larger human family, I am now more aware of how precarious my understandings may be.?Instead of being certain of being right, I am now more curious and questioning.?As said by Alex Haslam,
“…the participants, far from thinking they had some something terrible, they thought they had done something wonderful.?That is frightening.”?Overall, the ends DO NOT justify the means – the means (how you get there) are always important.
I have come to believe that Boolean thinking (yes/no, right/wrong, etc.) is not as helpful as believing there is a spectrum.?Everything from health to gender, to environmental footprints to being right – are all better explained on a spectrum instead of absolutes.
What I look forward to in 2023:
-?????????Keeping abreast of this evolving ontology and epistemology, and being excited about the new findings
-?????????Being far more respectful of imagination as part of human knowledge on a spectrum
-?????????Being less judgemental and more curious
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I thank you for reading this, and I look forward to further engaging with the wonderful community on LinkedIn!
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[5] https://www.youtube.com/@ottawawildflowerseedlibrar8788
[6] https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/mayank-sharma-10b024152/
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRC0Kvrn93Q
[16] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52879286-humankind
I help leaders solve the "speaking up" problem. #leadershipdevelopment #psychologicalsafety #speakingin
1 年You are amazing! So thoughtful...thank you for sharing your personal journey, it takes courage! We will catch up soon!
PB JAM Co-founder | Revolutionizing Modern Workplace Engagement
1 年Thank you for introducing me to Lady Sapiens and Haslam's take...happy new year Tanya Hewitt!
Helping Trucking Companies Find Quality Truck Drivers to Hire Online Without Using Traditional Advertising. Family Man l Auto Hauler l Mentor
1 年Tanya Hewitt Great article. I actually have 2 rain barrels for many years for my garden and other outdoor needs, a clothing line as well and it's awesome. You won't regret it. Have a happy and prosperous new year
Remote EHS Professional | Navy Veteran | World Construction
1 年I think great lessons are learned from our account of our successes, and challenges that allow us to calculate our Optimal Azimuth Angle preparing us for future obstacles. Excellent read.