Who Cares? They’re Just Table Scraps. Or Are They?

At Red Sunflower Farm, Barry and I are committed to eliminating waste and reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible. Some of the steps we’ve taken, like installing solar panels and a geothermal heating and cooling system, were grandiose. But most are small, simple shifts that require little effort.

Take the basic task of preparing a salad for example: The tomato seeds, bell pepper cores, and extra bulgur wheat kernels end up in a tub that eventually makes its way outside to feed the chickens.

What can’t be given to the chickens (like leftover chicken) is savored by the dogs as the ultimate treat.

There’s no food waste here.

At first glance, this seems like an inconsequential habit. But over time, the simple task of taking our veggie scraps out to the chickens (instead of tossing them in the trash) has a cumulatively profound impact on the environment.

The CO2 emissions produced by chickens is less than half the C02-e produced by the anaerobic decomposition of food waste in landfills.

Small change, big difference.

Food that ends up in landfills creates methane, a greenhouse gas. But food fed to our chickens creates fresh eggs for breakfast. It’s a practice that has even been embraced by Austin, Texas in the city’s Zero Waste by 2040 Strategic Plan, where citizens can get paid to keep backyard chickens.

Sometimes small changes are the way to go.

Think abut a time in your life when you made changes. When you tried to make a big change, did you often fail? And when you tried to make a small change, were you often successful?

Those who master change do so by making small changes again and again and again.

In The Prosperity Playbook I write about how to change your focus and rock your bottom line. It’s an idea that doesn’t require grand gestures or significant reorganization. Instead, it’s about making small, carefully targeted efforts that multiply to make a big impact. Table scraps if you will.

I’ll leave you with this curious question:

What’s one small change that can have a big impact on your business?