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The Santosha Pledge
Thanks for coming.
Please choose 1 - 5 pledges from the following list (addressing the categories of work, home, and community) that will be real challenges for you (i.e. not things you are doing already). If you choose to share, your name and pledges will become part of our YFT pledge wall which will inspire others.
In the spirit of our yogic tradition, we have provided 108 possible pledges in six categories. Pick your pledges all from one group or spread them between a bunch!
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Transportation
1. To ride my bike or walk to work and yoga classes in spring, summer and fall.
2. To ride my bike or walk to work and yoga classes all year round.
3. To walk or bike to all places within one mile.
4. To walk or bike to places within two miles.
5. To arrange a carpool system for getting to work.
6. To arrange a carpool system for getting the children to school and other activities.
7. To use mass transit where I presently use my car.
8. To sell my car and join a carshare club if I need motorized personal transport
9. To take my holidays by train, bus, freight boat, or car, and not by airplane.
10. To restrict my air travel to essential or emergency family visits.
11. To not board an airplane, period.
12. To lessen my business travel by 75% by means of teleconferencing etc
Energy
13. To have an electricity-free half-day once a week.
14. To have one electricity-free day per week (except for heating in winter).
15. To impose an electricity curfew upon my household for an 8-hour stretch daily (except for heating in winter.).
16. To replace all incandescent/fluorescent light bulbs with LED equivalents.
17. To exercise outside or in a studio rather than using electric equipment at a gym and traveling to get there.
18. To not use the dryer cycle in the dishwasher, and let the dishes air dry, and to turn down the water temperature used in the dishwasher.
19. To turn off all lights, appliances and computers when not in use, using power bars to eliminate subtle power leakage.
20. To hand-wash all the clothes I can.
21. To use a clothes line instead of a dryer whenever possible.
22. To take only short, warm showers.
23. To replace bathing with showering.
24. To fully bathe twice only weekly, and sponge-bath in between.
25. To never buy a flat screened tv because they are greedy with electricity.
26. To get rid of my television.
27. To get a compact fridge.
28. To unplug my fridge and use it for dry storage.
29. To turn my water tank down to medium setting, or below, and to wrap it in an insulating blanket.
30. To keep the thermostat set at 16C or lower through the winter months
31. To heat only the spaces in use.
32. To open my windows instead of using air conditioning.
33. To replace air conditioners with fans.
34. To purchase and install solar panels at home, either electric or water.
35. To purchase renewable source energy from companies like Bullfrog power.
36. To get an energy audit of my home and follow through with it to improve its efficiency.
37. To ask my yoga studio and my place of business to turn down its heating and turn off its airconditioning.
38. To install a programmable thermostat at home.
39. To install energy efficient windows at home.
40. To live in a dwelling no bigger than 800 square feet per person, or 1200 square feet per person.
41. To phase out the use of natural gas appliances and replace with appliances that run on renewable energy supplies.
Food
42. To purchase staple foods in bulk and carry them home in my own containers.
43. To purchase all of my produce from my local farmer’s market when in season.
44. To purchase all of my produce from small businesses who support local and organic farmers.
45. When purchasing food from abroad, purchase fairly traded food that support the local ecosystem and local communities.
46. To purchase only those grains and legumes that I know can be grown within a 100-mile radius of my home.
47. To live on the 100-mile diet in the growing season, and within Canada and the US for the rest of the year.
48. To live on the 100-mile diet completely.
49. To only eat free-range meat.
50. To stop eating ocean fish, which are endangered.
51. To reduce my animal flesh consumption to one time weekly and refrain from beef, which counts for 30% of all global emissions.
52. To encourage at least 1 person/month to learn to cook vegetarian food by cooking them dinner while chatting about the benefits.
53. To become vegetarian.
54. To become vegan.
55. To boycott all GMO foods.
56. To purchase 50% organic food.
57. To purchase 100% organic food.
58. To fast for one day every week.
59. To fast for one day every month.
60. To create my own organic garden (even if it's just one potted plant!).
61. To compost in my own home or backyard.
62. To involve myself with the local community garden project.
63. To start an organic community garden.
64. To share all leftover or extra food with neighbors in the community rather than throwing it out.
65. To share my land with a new organic farmer who needs support in starting a CSA.
66. To learn to make my own sauerkraut or kim chi from local vegetables as a local raw-food organic supplement through the winter.
67. To buy from farmer’s markets in the fall and root-cellar the food through the winter.
68. To eat 50% seasonally and regionally: cutting out tomatoes etc, in winter.
69. To eat 100% seasonally and regionally: squash, kale, potatoes and apples are the produce of Dec through March
Stuff and Garbage
70. To organize or regularly attend clothing swaps, and encourage other items to become swapped.
71. To share, donate, or trade items I am no longer using rather than throwing them away.
72. To buy only locally-made clothes.
73. To buy from local craftsman instead of from distant sources.
74. To make all my personal purchases (clothes and furnishings) from the second-hand stream: craigslist, charity shops, vintage stores, antique shops.
75. To not update any electronic hardware.
76. To replace household cleaners with low-impact products.
77. To avoid purchasing anything with packaging whenever possible and ask the shopkeeper not to wrap it.
78. To eliminate use of all toxic or polluting cosmetics, including hair products, and household cleaners.
79. To use the library as a first resource for books.
80. To replace all disposable items with reusable equivalents such as cloth napkins, hankies, bags and so forth.
81. To bring reusable containers with me (glass is the healthiest choice for you and the planet) and to always bring my own reusable shopping bag.
82. To assess all my non-essential expenditures and decrease them by 75%.
83. To replace gift wrapping paper creatively with recycled kraft paper, clothe bags or painted newspapers.
84. To put up a “no junk mail” sticker.
85. To boycott bottled water.
86. To ask my yoga studio and/or health club to stop selling bottled water and to encourage water bottles and filtration systems.
87. To buy only organic cotton (cotton is one of the most pesticide-heavy crops).
88. To use reusable feminine hygiene products rather than disposable pads and tampons (old socks make great pads).
89. To always have appliances, furniture and clothes fixed instead of replaced.
Water
90. To replace my water-loving lawn with a drought resistant garden.
91. To replace my heat-creating roof with a green roof.
92. To plant a water-catching garden for reducing water run off.
93. To water my indoor plants/garden only from rain water or grey water.
95. To install a system to capture and store rainwater, or get my condo to do so.
96. To only flush the toilet when necessary (letting yellow mellow).
97. To get a composting toilet.
98. To turn off the faucet while brushing teeth and shaving and to turn off the shower while soaping and shampooing and use water only to rinse.
99. To plant native species, drought resistant plants, and fruit and nut trees in my community.
100. To install a household water filter instead of buying bottled water.
Social and Political Action
101. To volunteer with a women's organization monthly, because women's rights are closely tied with population and lighter loads on the planet.
102. To become an activist for peace, as the carbon footprint and other costs of war are astronomical.
103. To volunteer with a local aboriginal organization monthly, to enrich myself with those social, spiritual, and ecological values.
104. To set aside 1 hour a week to sign petitions and write letters of environmental concern to local and central government.
105. To set aside one day a month to volunteer for non-profit green-initiative organizations.
106. To set aside one day a week to volunteer for non-profit green-initiative organizations.
107. To spearhead a green-initiative organization myself.
108. To run for office myself.
Thank you for your pledge.
It is now a public record that will inspire others and stand as a testimony to the power of your personal responsibility and devotion to life. You’re even more connected now, and we welcome and thank you. Please feel free to share anything you wish in the space below.
May all acts of kindness towards the planet also be acts of kindness towards ourselves and community. May all pledges be taken in the spirit of freedom, joy, and may changes in our lives lead to greater joy and freedom. May time freed by letting go of any material possession enable us to further educate ourselves, and strengthen our communities. May we not condemn or judge one another, but rather serve as light to one another, feeding the fire of our friends with the calm, steady air of peace. May we not undertake promises as a form of self-harm, but always ensure that any good for our planet, then we are preserving our own very root of existence and security. Let our environmental care be self care.
Namaste.
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