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Het Hedendaagse Heldenboek by Rachel van de Pol

Het Hedendaagse Heldenboek by Rachel van de Pol

Posted on November 20, 2017January 24, 2023

With this blog I keep telling you over and over: individuals have a massive impact on our planet. And therefore, every single person can have positive impact, every single day. Up until this point the focus of this blog has been about sustainable changes to cross out the negative impact on the planet. But there are other ways to make positive impact. This book gives you the tools to do it: Het Hedendaagse Heldenboek (The Herobook of Today) by Rachel van de Pol.

Het Hedendaagse Heldenboek

Het Hedendaagse Heldenboek is a book in which the author, Rachel van de Pol, does a challenge where she performs one heroic act every single day for an entire year. It is similar to the book Sleeping Naked is Green, but this book from van de Pol is not just about sustainability only. I love such projects! The heroic acts she performs are very different throughout the book. From walks with the elderly to picking up trash. Since there’s a lot of variety we can get a lot of inspiration from this book!

‘Some scientists say that the brain automatically goes into a pleasure mode when people do well, also called ‘the helpers high”

Rachel van de Pol

The Build-up in The Book

In the beginning of the book you mostly find answers to the question: why should I fulfill heroic acts? Then you also find out why this whole project from van de Pol has started in the first place. You read why you shouldn’t want to be someone who complains, but why you should want to be someone who actually does something if you can. After this the heroic acts are described. There are not 365 acts described in the book itself because the book reads like a diary. If you want read all 365 acts, you can read them on van de Pol’s blog here.

Practical Acts

All the heroic acts are very practical. I like this a lot because these are things you can do yourself. If she’d say: ‘give more attention to others’ or something, that would be way too vague for me personally. Of course these practical tips add up to a bigger picture, but I like the concrete steps a lot. Here are some examples of acts I personally really like and had never heard of (these below are really focussed on sustainability because I personally like that part but there are not only sustainable tips in the book).

– The Solar Bell. This is a doorbell on solar energy. This would make you rely less on your energy supplier because it saves you energy. Check out their website here.

– ZonnepanelenDelen. I loved this initiative so much that I wrote a whole separate post about it. I’ve been investing in solar energy ever since!

– A must watch: Virunga. A documentary about a group of ranger who protect the Virunga park. It’s on my list of must-watch now!

something about Unicef

And something really interesting (but also really random) I learned from the book. Michiel Kramer en Rachel Glennester have tested whether new books, better books, teachers and free uniforms would make more children go to school in Kenia. Their research showed that none of these things helped. By a tip from the World Bank they researched another subject, deworming. It seems to be that more than a billion people suffer from it. When they started the deworming programs 25% more children went to school! This really gave me insight in white saviorism. We think we know what’s best for other people, but we really don’t. I keep thinking about the commercials from Unicef who are currently going round. They ask for money to give kids who don’t go to school books and a school bag.

Yours sincerely,
Romee

3 thoughts on “Het Hedendaagse Heldenboek by Rachel van de Pol”

  1. Pingback: Weekoverzicht #18: ik was op vakantie! – When A Teen Goes Green
  2. Pingback: Earning money with solar panels: ZonnepanelenDelen – When A Teen Goes Green
  3. Pingback: Weekly diary #18: I was on a holiday – When A Teen Goes Green

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ABOUT ME

 

when a teen goes green

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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Een greep uit de vegan maaltijden die ik at in mei 2023 πŸ§†. Als ik zo terugkijk heb ik de italiaanse weer helemaal ontdekt, haha! Maar het hoogtepunt was wel echt de vegan, zero waste, kaassaus die ik maakte voor over de nachoschotel 🫘. Welke vegan ijs-, toetjes- of yoghurtproducten zijn het lekkerst? Ik zette het voor je op een rijtje in een artikel die vanaf vandaag te lezen is 🍧. Je vindt de link in mijn bio. Spoiler: deze van Hertog staat er zeker tussen! #plantaardig #vegan #blogger ✨ 4 tweedehands outfits die ik droeg in mei 2023 πŸ‘—. Ik had op iets beter weer en iets koudere outfits gehoopt, maar goed, dat schuiven we dan maar naar juni! Ik ben poepdonor πŸ’©. Ja, Γ©cht. Ik doe mee met een wetenschappelijk onderzoek waarbij mijn darmflora gebruikt wordt om mensen met een leveraandoening te genezen. Ik ben zo blij met de positieve impact die ik hiermee kan maken! En ik krijg er nog betaald voor ook. Meer weten? Lees het artikel dat ik erover schreef via de link in mijn bio. Binnenkort zal ik er ook een Youtube-video aan wijden. #donor #positieveimpact #nafldnashresearch Minimaliseren en ontspullen blijft een ongoing process πŸ“¦. Ik vind dat ik niet al te veel spullen heb, maar toch geef ik nog geregeld spullen weg aan de kringloopwinkel. In deze reel laat ik de laatste 5 items aan je zien. Plantaardiger eten hoeft niet moeilijk te zijn, je moet net even weten welke producten vegan zijn. Vandaag deel ik een makkelijke swap voor mayonaise 🍟. Het is weer mei! En dat betekent dat er weer een artikel met podcast-tips op mijn blog staat (de vijfde in de reeks inmiddels!). Vandaag lees je over 4 podcasts die ik aan bijna iedereen zou aanraden 🎧. 5 vegan maaltijden die ik at in april 2023 πŸ₯™. En ja, Γ©cht alles is vegan. Want elk gerecht is te veganizen. Vandaag verscheen er weer een kijktip op mijn blog. Ik tipte de serie Dominee of Koopman, een serie over ontwikkelingshulp. Wat ik ervan vond lees je in het artikel πŸ’°. #blog #serie #ontwikkelingshulp

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  • The best vegan ice-cream, desserts and yoghurt
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  • Why I never light candles
  • 4 podcast tips from May 2023
  • Series: Dominee of Koopman

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