A Winter of Care and Repair. I love this Challenge! I participated last year and it was very gratifying. The online Challenge is hosted by Jeanna @thepeoplesmending and takes place from the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2024) to the Spring Equinox (March 20, 2025).
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| Winter of Care and Repair 2024-2025 |
Make a plan, set some goals
During this season-long project, participants are encouraged to design their own parameters/plan/outcome/pledge that suits their lifestyle while focusing on mending, repairing, and caring for their belongings or themselves. I generally focus on textiles—mending, up-cycling, recycling, prolonging their life, and keeping them out of landfills. In general, being more sustainable by caring for existing items rather than buying new.
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| One of the mending projects slated for this year’s Winter of Care and Repair Challenge. |
How the WOCAR Challenge began… and what’s new
Jeanna started the Winter of Care and Repair Challenge in 2020 during the Covid 19 lockdown as a way to provide some semblance of structure and control during an uncertain time. This year, she’s added another element to the concept. She says, “The winter of 2024/25 feels like the beginning another period of frightening uncertainty… with the future of human rights and environmental action looking bleak, I’m expanding the very lose parameters of WOCAR to include ‘something within the participants’ circle of control’ rather than just belongings.”
In the past, the Challenge focused on the care and repair of garments and belongings. This year, she’s including other aspects to her personal plan that are “in her circle of control.”
Need ideas?
Visit @thepeoplesmending for ideas for creating a plan or your personal plan or pledge. In the past, some participants have designed their Challenge project to focus on things such as:
- tending a garden and prepping the ground for the next season’s planting,
- repurposing or repairing household items (rather than disposing of them),
- de-cluttering a room/garage/house,
- creating habits to improve personal health and well-being.
