I am in the midst of my 11th move in the last 12 years. It’s been a fun and crazy 12 years, as your late teens and twenties often are, but I am ready to be settled. This will be the last move for quite a while and Zach and I are very excited. As we box up all our worldly possessions one more time, we have been talking and daydreaming about our life in the new house.

It’s funny how many small details come up in our conversations. “Just think, Stella, you can put a laundry basket right under the laundry chute off the kitchen and finally have a good place to put all those cloth rags,” or “I want to put the bikes somewhere out of the way, but easy to get down so we will actually use them.” “Maybe we should put a little chalkboard or whiteboard in the kitchen to write down stuff we need as we realize it so we don’t have to make so many emergency runs to the store."

We believe that every little action helps, but, like most of us, sometimes we lose focus. One of the big obstacles to living more in line with our values has been organization. I start out with the best of intentions, vowing to bring my stainless steel water bottle, my cloth grocery bags and my travel coffee cup everywhere. I resolve to ride my bike for errands and only use paper towels for really yucky cat or baby messes. Then life intervenes and I am dashing out the door forgetting my water bottle, or taking the car because I’m 5 foot 2 and my bike is hung too high for me to reach, or reaching for a paper towel to clean up a juice spill because I haven’t washed the cloth rags.

I suspect that I’m not alone in being derailed in my efforts to be green by disorganization, so I want to invite you to join me in The Sunny Way Organization Challenge. Spring is a perfect time to do this. It doesn’t have to be big. Maybe you’ll resolve to put the cloth grocery bags back in the car when you’ve unloaded the groceries so you don’t forget them, or maybe you’ll streamline the laundry so it’s easier to line dry it. Whatever it is we want to hear from you. For those of you who are already super-organized, tell us your secrets. I’ll be chronicling my efforts as best I can during the move and I’d love to hear more about yours. We’re all in this together.