There is so much out there regarding eco or green living ... which is good and bad. Good because you have all of these different resources and ideas that you might not have thought of and bad because the battle to live that life style seems never ending. I read things about being 'green' then about being 'greener' then about being 'greenest' ... it even makes me feel inadequate and I have been living this lifestyle for a loooooong time and have a strong sense of self. I can just imagine how overwhelmed those just starting out feel. When I started out there were a few books on natural living and homesteading (urban homesteading wasn't even written about but my mom kept a small coop and had a garden and we lived in town AND yes we seemed to be the only ones). Sometimes I think not being bombarded with all the marketing hype made going green easier ~ cloth or plastic diapers ... that was easy cloth at home (which was 95% of the time) but plastic if babies were left with family :: plastic or glass bottles ... same again, glass at home but plastic if going out or to the store (so that when baby throws the bottle across the store I won't be responsible for the clean up on isle 4). But now if parents don't live the lifestyle 25/8 they are horrible creatures and deserve to get their kids taken away from them. Please don't feel bad ... there is just too much pressure out there.
Lacto-Ovo-Pascoa Vegetarian, Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw Vegan, Low-Fat Vegan, Macro-Vegan, eat only what you grow .... where does this crazy cycle end? When you consume water only? Oh, Wait!!! Tap water, filtered bottle, spring water, river water, glacial water, glacial-filtered only .... this is getting INSANE! We live in a culture that doesn't embrass the 'that is ok if that is the best you can do' principle of life ~ we say we do but we don't. Instead we (and especially women) are subjected to the 'oh you do that!' or the worse one 'you allow your kids to eat, drink, do THAT!' and then proceed to hear 'how they would neeeverrr allow that'. We hold up certain people like idols in this "Green Movement" then we get high browed if somewhere along their life things change course. I love the Dervaes family, I live vicariously in their pictures and videos but if they decided to snap a few of those chickens' heads I won't give it a second thought or think that they are now not 'walking the walk'. My point being is that anything you do is better than not doing anything at all. Life is a journey and on this journey we are to explore new things and make sooooo many mistakes but that is ok ... that is part of the joy of free will. I currently drive a Kia Rio ~ it gets twice the mileage as the Toyota Prius .... and ... so what .... does that make me less of an enironmentalist? I hate the planet and now wish for it to blow up?!?! Noooooooo!! I owned a Civic Hybrid 7 or so years back ... I loooved that car but eventually we moved into a mini-van, then another one, then to my Rio. Some things just are .... I haven't gone back to a hybrid not from not liking them ~ I am just not wanting to make such a large payment and the option just wasn't in the car lot. I figure ... I pack my own lunch, I don't eat out a lot, I take reuseable bags everwhere, I reduce/reuse/recyle just about everything, my recycling bin gets more use than my trash can, I make a concious effort to use non-animal tested products (or atleast biodegradable ~ better if it's both), I grow my own veggies, I don't buy anything leather, I unplug non-used items (coffee maker, microwave, ect), I donate to the homeless (and not just during the holidays), I use a clothes line, I make my own household cleaning products, I buy at thrift stores, I compost, I use glass containers to reduce my use of plastic ones, I eat a (primarily) vegetarian diet .... I figure if I maintain a low(er) impact lifestyle on a daily basis then it balances itself out. I remember about 10 years ago going to the Home Depot and asking for non-VOC paint and the guy having no clue what I was talking about ~ he had to get another guy to help us. This is just the life style I know ... could I do more? Sure I could ... I could get (lease) solar panels, I could cook only with a solar oven (which I do want to get ... someday), I could ride my bike everywhere (it is going to be 120 so that's not going to happen), I could be more strict in everything that I do but then I would feel like I am sacrificing more than I am gaining. And at this moment in time in my life ~ I am not willing to do it. So for you just getting started in this way of living ... start slow ... do what you can ... remember than sometimes living simply and living green won't be able be on the same page ... you will need to pick and chose your battles and one day you will be living the life you have wanted without feeling deprived or having regrets .... and that is the best feeling of all!!
Lacto-Ovo-Pascoa Vegetarian, Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw Vegan, Low-Fat Vegan, Macro-Vegan, eat only what you grow .... where does this crazy cycle end? When you consume water only? Oh, Wait!!! Tap water, filtered bottle, spring water, river water, glacial water, glacial-filtered only .... this is getting INSANE! We live in a culture that doesn't embrass the 'that is ok if that is the best you can do' principle of life ~ we say we do but we don't. Instead we (and especially women) are subjected to the 'oh you do that!' or the worse one 'you allow your kids to eat, drink, do THAT!' and then proceed to hear 'how they would neeeverrr allow that'. We hold up certain people like idols in this "Green Movement" then we get high browed if somewhere along their life things change course. I love the Dervaes family, I live vicariously in their pictures and videos but if they decided to snap a few of those chickens' heads I won't give it a second thought or think that they are now not 'walking the walk'. My point being is that anything you do is better than not doing anything at all. Life is a journey and on this journey we are to explore new things and make sooooo many mistakes but that is ok ... that is part of the joy of free will. I currently drive a Kia Rio ~ it gets twice the mileage as the Toyota Prius .... and ... so what .... does that make me less of an enironmentalist? I hate the planet and now wish for it to blow up?!?! Noooooooo!! I owned a Civic Hybrid 7 or so years back ... I loooved that car but eventually we moved into a mini-van, then another one, then to my Rio. Some things just are .... I haven't gone back to a hybrid not from not liking them ~ I am just not wanting to make such a large payment and the option just wasn't in the car lot. I figure ... I pack my own lunch, I don't eat out a lot, I take reuseable bags everwhere, I reduce/reuse/recyle just about everything, my recycling bin gets more use than my trash can, I make a concious effort to use non-animal tested products (or atleast biodegradable ~ better if it's both), I grow my own veggies, I don't buy anything leather, I unplug non-used items (coffee maker, microwave, ect), I donate to the homeless (and not just during the holidays), I use a clothes line, I make my own household cleaning products, I buy at thrift stores, I compost, I use glass containers to reduce my use of plastic ones, I eat a (primarily) vegetarian diet .... I figure if I maintain a low(er) impact lifestyle on a daily basis then it balances itself out. I remember about 10 years ago going to the Home Depot and asking for non-VOC paint and the guy having no clue what I was talking about ~ he had to get another guy to help us. This is just the life style I know ... could I do more? Sure I could ... I could get (lease) solar panels, I could cook only with a solar oven (which I do want to get ... someday), I could ride my bike everywhere (it is going to be 120 so that's not going to happen), I could be more strict in everything that I do but then I would feel like I am sacrificing more than I am gaining. And at this moment in time in my life ~ I am not willing to do it. So for you just getting started in this way of living ... start slow ... do what you can ... remember than sometimes living simply and living green won't be able be on the same page ... you will need to pick and chose your battles and one day you will be living the life you have wanted without feeling deprived or having regrets .... and that is the best feeling of all!!
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