If you’re a typical North American maybe your day goes a little something like this: You wake up before sunrise to have some coffee and read the paper. You go to work. You come home long after the sun comes down, and eat some take-out. Then you play a little bit with the kids, watch T.V., and get to work on your extra project. The next thing you know the day is over, and you’re in bed, dreaming about those two weeks of vacation you have a year. Then you do it all again the following day.
By Flickr user psd
Sound like too much? Well, at least three nonprofits think so. Read on to find out how they are trying to put the brakes on the high-speed lifestyle that so many Americans indulge in.
Take Back Your Time is an initiative based in the United States and Canada that combats “time poverty.” Believing North Americans are overworked and overscheduled, the organization strives to make sure our lives are balanced through fighting for more vacation, limiting overtime, and encouraging paid sick-leave for everyone. The more abstract
Long Now Foundation, on the other hand, hopes to move us away from a short-term mindset by promoting “slower/better” thinking. To achieve this goal, the group is working on building a 10,000-year clock whose cuckoo comes out once a millennium, among other projects, to change our concept of time.
Slow Food USA takes a different approach, targeting your taste buds as the means to a stress-free life. With over 170 local chapters across the country, Slow Food USA encourages people to take the time to sit down at the dinner table to savor the pleasures of food and community. The nonprofit also hosts a series of
programs and events to educate the public about the intersection of food and our environment. Renewing America’s Food Traditions, for example, celebrates our diverse culinary pallets, while Tierra Madre shares innovative solutions about sustainable food production.
Are you more like the turtle and believe that slow and steady wins the race? Or are you more like the hare and think that a busy lifestyle is the only way to get things done? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.
This entry is by Celeste, who works on our Community Outreach Team. Today she also blogged at Idealist in NYC about whether public school students should be paid to attend classes.
