Lighter Living Groups

Are you concerned about climate change? biodiversity loss? social justice?
And do you want to take action and explore how to make a difference?
Sign up for an action-packed 28 days alongside other BCers & the OneEarth team!

Join a Lighter Living Group and take 5 acts a week for a month: watch your footprint reduce and your community grow!

Would you like to participate in an upcoming Lighter Living Group? For now, we're focused on people in British Columbia, but let us know your interest and we'll be in touch as the pilot progresses - and for opportunities outside BC.

Our current groups run from 4 April - 2 May.

Ask for More Information

Groups

6-10 participants per group

2 facilitators per cohort

Completing different actions every day for a month

Impact

A 28-day period of daily action-taking on personal sustainability and community action with measurable results on key footprint areas - alongside others in British Columbia.

Data

The Lighter Footprint App provides each of us with our own personal ecological footprint and evidence-based actions to improve it. It's based on the BC numbers!

Picture: a turquoise post-it note with blue text that reads: Time Commitment (1) completing one act five times a day (the types of acts and how long they are is all up to you), (2) a kick-off session on November 17 at the beginning of the program, (3) a halfway catch up/call to check-in on progress, (4) an end of the month celebration.

Picture: a turquoise post-it note with blue text that reads: Lighter Living means meeting the everyday needs and aspirations of everyone in ways that makes us and Earth's living systems happy and healthy. Focus areas for our actions include: how we move around, our money, where we live and work, what we eat and our stuff.

We'll measure our footprint - and have tips to guide us in our actions.

The new Lighter Footprint App will help us on our journey together. Based on the numbers for BC and developed by BCIT Centre for Ecocites and Etho Studio, the app is designed to help all of us build better habits—for ourselves and the planet.

The App will help you make changes that improve your life, and the environment. Backed by the latest scientific data, together, we'll see how little habits can make a big difference. You will:

1) TAKE A QUIZ

Complete a fun, ten minute quiz that helps set your baseline ecological footprint, and clarify what matters to you.

2) SET YOUR GOALS

The app then suggests tailored, personal goals that benefit you and the planet.

3) TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

Checking in at regular intervals, the app tracks your progress and celebrates your successes. Group features are being launched in 2022, where you can connect with colleagues or classmates.

The Lighter Footprint App is a web app developed by the BCIT Centre for Ecocities and Etho Studio, with funding from the Real Estate Foundation of BC, Vancity, and ECO Canada and in-kind support from OneEarth.

Picture: a turquoise post-it note with blue text with written examples of what a lighter living act might be. These include: hosting a clothing swap party, making a weekly meal plan, combining trips and carpooling, encouraging non-material wishes for birthdays and weddings and capturing your 28 days of lighter living actions on social media!

Inspiration for action!

The Footprint App will give you lots of tips and ideas. You can also look through these OneEarth action packs:

Lighter Living Action Pack for Neighbourhoods in BC
7 Motivations for Lighter Living Action in British Columbia
Sustainable Lifestyles: Options & Opportunities
Sustainable Lifestyles: Options & Opportunities in the workplace

How will my Lighter Living Group work?

Here's the plan for the month -- and we look forward to learning alongside you as we build an impactful, exciting month-long program that uses the Lighter Footprint App. During the month, we'll stay connected using a shared Slack channel, posting our actions and receiving tips and feedback from the facilitators.

Picture: a turquoise post-it note with blue text that reads: Four weeks of impact. Week 1: Come prepared with questions, ideas and lighter living goals. Week 2: share and update your lighter living goals for the rest of the month. Week 3: meet anytime during the week; keep the actions going! Week 4: final meeting to celebrate our successes and reflect on moving forward beyond 28 days.

A tested model, adapted from Shift Australia

The Lighter Living Groups is adapted from the effective Shift Australia program, created and run by OneEarth Associate Fergus Kinnaird.

Shift Australia delivers a facilitated group-based behaviour change program and has honed the model and its impact measurement over the past years. The Shift model is purposefully issue-agnostic - bound only to actions that promote a just, sustainable and inclusive society.

Shift is a grassroots community organisation working to build more active citizens by giving people the tools, confidence and community they need to create real change on issues they care about. We bring together small groups led by skilled facilitators to provide a month of skill and confidence building to grow a more just, inclusive and sustainable society. Started in 2018 by a group of friends, the organisation continues to be powered entirely by volunteers. Shift groups are delivered by a pool of experienced volunteer facilitators.

Picture: Shift Australia cohort virtual meeting.

There is a strong track record of success against mindset and capacity indicators for this model. Based on the 500+ participants in Shift Australia to date:

92% more empowered

96% of participants strongly agree or agree that they feel more empowered to take action on injustice that they encounter or hear about as a result of Shift.

82% more engaged

82% of participants strongly agree or agree that they feel more engaged in their community and issues in their local area as a result of Shift.

61% ongoing activism

61% of participants have committed to an ongoing volunteering/community engagement opportunity at the conclusion of the Shift program.

Presented by OneEarth:

with partners including CityHive.

With funding support from Vancity:

Adapted from Shift Australia: