My Reusable Life

Have you ever heard the argument, "You would have to go through X-amount of styrofoam cups to equal the environmental impact of ONE mug, so there's nothing wrong with using styrofoam cups." (Or variations on that theme?)

Here's why I think that argument is totally bogus:

When our lives are filled with cheap disposable products, we develop a throwaway mentality. We don't value things because they're so easily replaceable. We don't value the materials that went into them or the labor that built them. They pass through our lives so quickly, why would we give them any thought?

When I hold a styrofoam cup in my hand, I barely notice it's there. It looks just like every other styrofoam cup I've ever held, and in a few minutes, I'll toss it into the trash without a second thought. When I hold my stainless steel water bottle, I think of the thought process that went into choosing it and how much it cost, and I feel good for making a good choice. I remember taking walks or playing outside with my kids because the water bottle came along. I keep track of it; I don't want to lose it. It's on my mind.

I have a sentimental attachment to my children's cloth diapers, in the same way I grew attached to some of their baby clothes. When I see a disposable diaper, I think, "Ewww...stinky garbage." Even when they're not on a child, don't you think of them as kind of gross? (Or is that just me.)

Even our stained cloth napkins and mismatched food containers and the hankies made from my husband's old shirts carry memories in every use, though perhaps they don't have as much sentimental value as the TV I bought ten years ago when I rented my first house or the raggedy couches that were our first grown-up furniture purchase.

Is it silly to feel attached to inanimate objects? I don't think so because those objects are made from materials that come from the earth, and caring for the materials is one more way to strengthen my connection to the planet I love. Those objects are made by human hands, and caring for the objects shows respect for the people that created them. And those objects enter our homes and become part of us in ways large and small. When we fill our lives with objects we care about, it shows that we care about our lives.

I do not live a throwaway life. Do you?

If you're new to a reusable life, you might want to check out Reuseit.com for cloth bags, water bottles, lunchboxes, and more.

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

• Disclosure: I am an ambassador for Reuseit.com. Check out my About page for more info on what that means and always remember to be a Conscious Shopper.

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There's More Than One Path to Green

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today talking about "femivores"...

I hate the label femivore, but overall I found the article very interesting. It definitely describes me.

My first job after college was with a private investigation firm. On paper, it sounds like a cool job, but in reality, it was long commutes, long workdays stuck in an uncomfortable office chair staring at a computer, lots of overtime without overtime pay. Two and a half years later, we moved to Maryland, and my very generous employer offered to let me keep my job working part time from home. Two years after that, they changed their minds, and I found myself in my new (and current) career as a full time stay at home mom.

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Green Journeys

My green journey began the day I started college. "I'm a vegetarian," I told my new roommate. Little did she know that I'd only been a vegetarian for, oh, two hours. But I stuck with it, I gave up meat "cold turkey," and I even waded into the vegan waters for a year.

After that first very big change, my green-formation went very. very. slowly...Granted, for awhile I was the only person I knew who carried cloth bags and knew what a CFL was, but beyond those surface changes, I didn't do a whole lot that was green.

And then I turned 28. Which doesn't sound like a very important birthday until I remind you that 28 means you've been an adult for an entire decade. I have a very clear memory of having a discussion with my husband on my 28th birthday - we were in the car turning onto Georgia Avenue - and I said, "I'm a completely different person now than when I was 18. I still claim to have the same values, but I'm not living those values. What am I doing with my life?"

I decided it was time to green my life. And more importantly, to get involved. Fast forward three years, and here I am. Blogging almost daily about going green. Working on building up Raleigh's public transit and community gardens. And dreaming of the garden I'm going to plant this spring (though the chickens and the bees are still far in the future).

If you want to read what happened between my 28th birthday and now, you can visit this post I wrote over at The Green Phone Booth about how I became The Conscious Shopper.

I think December is a great month to look back at how we've done and plan for the future ahead, and on that note, I've enjoyed reading all of your posts about your green journeys for December's APLS Carnival. Such progress we've made!

:: Cherie at Renaissance Garden traces her journey back to some eye-opening books and writes that her biggest struggle is now plastic.

:: Kellie writes at The Green Phone Booth that "there was no grand catalyst or life-changing event that caused our decision. It was just something we knew had to be done. Plain and simple."

:: Connie at Penny Basket describes going green in Malaysia, which she says is "not one of the greenest countries in the world, but we're getting there."

:: Rae at My Zero Waste says that her green journey began with being pregnant: "I became aware that 60% of what I put onto my skin would end up inside me. And inside me was a perfect, healthy and growing baby. I wanted to keep her that way as much as I could, so I started looking at the products I was using and was horrified by what I discovered." I think many mothers can relate.

:: At Going Green Mama, Robbie also traces her green journey back to becoming a mother, and her efforts at going green have revolved around her children. She writes, "These days, though, I’m focusing on launching a quiet attack – by teaching my kids habits that can last for this generation and the next."

:: Alison of Green Me describes how she was "outed" as a treehugger. Her life sounds awesome, and I now wish that I lived in Boulder, CO.

:: Steph at Greening Families cites finances, medical issues, and having a child as her green impetus. She adds, "Now that our daughters are a little older, the lives lived by other families is becoming the driver of change for us. We want all children, human and animal, to have the chance to grow up healthy and strong."

:: Hannah at The Purloined Letter writes that for many years she was resistant to environmentalism....until she and her partner were in discussions over the number of kids they should have. At that time, she read Bill McKibben's Maybe One: A Case for Smaller Families and it "changed [her] life in the way few books have."

:: Jenn at It's Not Easy Being Green describes how her parents (in particular her parents' garden) impacted her green journey.

:: Lisa at Retro Housewife Goes Green also had a green mom who was so influential Lisa was already concerned about recycling by age two! She writes, "My dad went to throw away a glass baby food jar to which I said 'no daddy we cycle.'"

I hope you'll take a few minutes to check out these wonderful stories! Thanks to everyone who participated in the carnival.

If you are interested in serving as a host of a future carnival, simply contact Robbie from Going Green Mama at goinggreenmama[at]gmail[dot]com.

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Weekend Ramblings: More on Consumption vs. Happiness

Sometimes on the weekends, I ramble about thoughts I've been having that week. Feel free to comment, add to my thoughts, or disagree with anything I say. But please remember that I don't like being called an idiot, even if I'm being one. So keep your comments respectful.

Continuing with the topic from last weekend's rambling, I've been thinking more about consumption and environmentalism and how they relate to our level of happiness.

In his book, Colin Beavan spends a lot of time pondering his theory that we consume because we want to feel loved, and advertisements tell us that if we consume, it will make us feel loved and that will make us happy. But if the point is to feel loved, he queries, why don't we just skip the consumption and spend more time with people. Thus, Beavan concludes that if as a society we improve our social connections, we will feel less of a need to consume.

I agree with this idea to a point. But I also think there's some intrinsic pleasure in consuming that has nothing to do with the desire to be loved. An example:

For ten months while we were trying to sell our house, half of our stuff was staging our house in Maryland while the other half was in our apartment in Raleigh. During that time, I discovered how little we needed to get by and how much of our stuff was purchased not to fill a necessary role but to make our house look nice. It made me really think about our consumption habits.

But when we finally sold our house and got all of our belongings back together in one spot, it was like Christmas - only instead of getting new things, I was rediscovering old things. And once all of our furniture and decor was placed in a permanent spot, I looked around and felt a real sense of home - a sense I never got when our stuff was divided.

And even now, when I walk into the house, the first thing I think is, "My home is so beautiful," and I get this great feeling of satisfaction. The decor really shows off my style and tastes. Everything in the house is something I picked out, and I love it all.

So maybe I don't need all this stuff. But it still makes me happy.

Another example:

I have severe addictions to Diet Coke and chocolate. Sometimes at the end of a stressful day, I have an overwhelming urge to drink a Coke or eat some chocolate. I'm feeling unhappy, and Coke or chocolate are an instant pick-me-up.

Feeling like I shouldn't need to consume something to make myself feel happy, I've thought a lot about what role Coke and chocolate are really filling in my life and whether or not I couldn't get that same feeling from something else. But although I enjoy reading and music and crafting and yoga and even watching TV or spending time with my husband, they don't provide that instant feeling of gratification that I get from drinking a Coke or eating some chocolate.

I don't love the stuff in my house because I'm trying to make an impression on someone else. I love it because it's mine. And I couldn't replace the Coke or the chocolate with social experiences and get the same effect. So maybe consumption is not all about a desire to be loved.

What do you all think? Are there other reasons we consume? And do you think men consume for different reasons that women?

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Weekend Ramblings: Consumption vs. Happiness

Sometimes on the weekends, I ramble about thoughts I've been having that week. Feel free to comment, add to my thoughts, or disagree with anything I say. But please remember that I don't like being called an idiot, even if I'm being one. So keep your comments respectful.

This week I've been thinking about consumption and environmentalism and how they relate to our level of happiness. Mostly, I've been thinking about this because I've been reading No Impact Man's book, and that is one of his big things: we're consuming, and our consumption is destroying the planet, but it's not making us happy.

But I've also been thinking about it because my family does a lot of walking, and because the house we're renting is in an interesting location in Raleigh.

We live in a part of town that is being revitalized - some builders bought up all the run down or abandoned houses on a couple of streets and knocked them down to build new houses or restored them if they weren't in too bad of shape. What that means for us is that two blocks in one direction is a historical neighborhood filled with beautifully restored old houses running half a million dollars and up, and two blocks in the other direction are really run down (sometimes crumbling apart) houses and apartments.

We walk through the rich neighborhood to get downtown, to my husband's work, and to my son's school, and I love to admire the big old mansions, manicured landscapes, and (because we live in the South) furnished front porches. I love the idea of a porch where you can sip tea and swing and admire your flowers and call out to your neighbors as they pass.

But in the four months that we've lived in this house, I've never once seen anyone sitting on the porches of those big beautiful houses. Sometimes I pass people jogging on the sidewalk, sometimes there are other families with kids at the playground. I know they must hang out in their yards sometimes because they've got to put in some effort to make their yards so beautiful, right?

But I've never once seen anyone swinging on a porch, sipping tea, admiring their flowers, and calling out to their neighbors as they pass.

You know where I always see people out on their porches? Going the other direction, through the poorer part of town. They don't have lovely wicker furniture (sometimes just some folding chairs), they don't have beautiful yards (usually just a few overgrown shrubs). But they're always out there on their porches, calling out to us as we pass: "How ya'll doin' today? On your way to the library?"

I think most of those people on the poorer side of town would happily trade away those leisurely front porch chats for nice houses, nice yards, nice stuff, nice jobs. But what I wish is that we as a society could find a way to have both. To have beautiful houses with covered porches and swings and flowers, but also to enjoy our houses and porches and swings and flowers.

What do you all think? Is it possible to have both? Or do we have to work so hard to be able to have the nice houses and stuff that there's no time left to enjoy what we have? What do you think is the solution?

Photo by gailf548


Related Posts:

• What Are Your Values?
• Weekend Ramblings: Housing
• Book Review: Nickel and Dimed
  

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The Common Ground

The following is a guest post by my cousin Matt (who occasionally blogs about politics at United, but is lately very busy with school, moving, and a pregnant wife).

I've been frustrated lately by all of the lies and accusations coming from both sides of the political divide. We seem to be so caught up in our own agendas that we aren't recognizing what really matters and seeking to find common ground to make those ideals reality. I asked Matt to write a post for me because he and I have different political views, but there is also a lot that we agree on. I personally tend to lean toward the left, and although my cousin Matthew and his wife are more right leaning, I can recognize worth in their beliefs, particularly those values that we both share. We may not agree politically on the methods for bringing about change, but we can agree on the importance of issues like frugality, sustainability, and living consciously.


"Birther!"

"Tree Hugger!"

"Homophobe!"

"Liar!"

"Crazy!"

The political tit for tat is tiresome. The networks have driven hard into the political foray where they appear to have convinced many that pundits and politicians should be partners in chasing the ratings. They’ve turned the news into entertainment and Washington into Hollywood. The divisiveness is not only dizzying, but dangerous.

Somehow caring about the environment was drug into the mess as one of the hot button issues of the decade.

Stupidity in action.

Sometime after Al Gore invented the internet he invented global warming as well, but to the chagrin of many conservatives this claim had some traction. Why?!? How could anyone latch on to this liberal ‘going green’ ploy!?!

Because it made sense.

Forget the details. Forget the scientific research. Didn’t your mom ever get after you for leaving the lights on after you left a room? Didn’t she ever tell you that there were starving kids in Africa who would love to eat what you were leaving on your plate? Doesn’t frying green tomatoes out of your own garden always taste and feel better than a super-sized order of fries? Do you like paying $4.00/gallon for gas?

It just makes sense. That is why conscious and low impact living, of all issues, should be a common ground for the right and the left. Living consciously is just that – living so that we are aware of how our everyday actions impact those in our town or on the other side of the globe or our children or our grandchildren. What we buy and how we buy it. What we eat. What we wear. All of these have an economic, social, and environmental impact that should be the common ground.

Photo by purpleslog


Related Posts:

• Do Personal Changes Matter? Yes, yes, yes!
• The 80/20 Rule for Going Green
• What Are Your Values?
  

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Do Personal Changes Matter? Yes, yes, yes!

Do personal changes matter?

That seems to be the big question circulating around the green blogosphere this month.

First, there was the Orion Magazine article, Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change, in which the author asserts:

I’m not saying we shouldn’t live simply. I live reasonably simply myself, but I don’t pretend that not buying much (or not driving much, or not having kids) is a powerful political act, or that it’s deeply revolutionary. It’s not. Personal change doesn’t equal social change.

Then there was this article in the New Yorker where Elizabeth Kolbert criticizes No Impact Man's "eco-stunt:"

So committed is Beavan to his claim of zero impact that he can’t—or won’t—see the deforestation for the trees. He worries a great deal about the environmental consequences of Michelle’s tampon use and the shrink-wrap around a block of cheese. But when it comes to his building’s heating system, which is apparently so wasteful that people are opening windows in the middle of winter, he just throws up his hands.

(Reading this article, I wanted to rush to No Impact Man's defense - his experiment did matter because of all the people he has influenced...Me! for one. But Kolbert also describes the eco-stunts of a couple other popular environmentalist writers, and I was completely turned off by her descriptions of Vanessa Farquharson, whose book I had on my to-read list.)

Grist mentioned the Kolbert article twice (here and here), and also ran a piece about Henry David Thoreau referring to the same biography of Thoreau that Kolbert discusses in her critique of eco-stunts (Walden Pond being the first and most famous eco-stunt).

Fake Plastic Fish took up the argument on Wednesday, listing several bloggers responses to the Orion article, and then interviewed Diane MacEachern of Big Green Purse for her post today. Diane defends using consumer power as a political act by stating:

For thirty years, my focus was really on public policy. I thought passing laws to address environmental issues was the most effective way to make a difference. We still need stronger laws, and enforcement of regulations on the books. But the last few years, I've become convinced that the marketplace moves faster than the halls of Congress! Companies fight legislation tooth and nail - but consumer dollars are their lifeblood. If we use our money to make a difference, we can accelerate the transition to a cleaner, greener world.

So what are my thoughts on the subject?

1) Personal change leads to political change.

Personal change probably doesn't matter very much. The author of the Orion article points out that the majority of waste and energy use comes from commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources, so personal changes are just a drop in the bucket.

That's true, but the people who are taking shorter showers, recycling, and bicycling are also the people who are lobbying for water, land, and resource conservation and proposing solutions like cap and trade. Personal change is like a gateway drug. You start with the easy stuff by greening your own life, and pretty soon you're looking around for some harder drugs to ease your addiction: "Now how can I help my office go green? Or my school? Or my city? Or my country?"

I've pointed out before that real wide-scale changes will require organization and policy change, but those big changes start with individuals making a choice to live differently.

2) Corporations are people too.

We have a tendency as environmentalists to anthropomorphize corporations, labeling them as "good" and "evil" as if a corporation has the ability to make good or bad decisions. Corporations do not make decisions. They are made up of individuals who make decisions - ordinary people who are just as capable as you or I to make personal choices about water use, energy consumption, and waste management. But whereas my decision to go green affects very few beyond my small sphere of influence, if the executives of Walmart decide to go green, it has a monumental impact.

And why would the executives of Walmart decide to go green? Maybe in part because they care about the environment, but it's more likely because they recognize the economic value of a green image and green products. They are responding to consumer demand.

The author of the Orion article doesn't want us to label ourselves as consumers because "we reduce our potential forms of resistance to consuming and not consuming." He's right that we have many other "resistance tactics" available to us, but it's wrong to say that consuming is an invalid method of protest.

We are consumers, and because we consume, we have immense power. We can choose to buy a product because of the materials it's made of. We can choose to buy a product because it's less toxic. We can choose to buy a product because it's made in a safe, fair environment. And we can choose not to buy a product at all.

We do have power as consumers, and when enough people choose to wield that power, the marketplace listens. Corporations have to listen, or they will die.

3) It matters to me.

I made my very first environmentally related decision twelve years ago when I became a vegetarian. It was a major lifestyle change, but I didn't do it because I expected my actions to have a huge rippling effect or that my personal choice would change the meat industry. I did it because I personally could not feel good about eating an animal that was raised and slaughtered inhumanely. My decision to give up meat was not based on a desire to change the world. I became a vegetarian because I believed it was the right thing to do.

Every eco-related choice I've made since then has followed the same line of reasoning. I hope that my actions will influence others. I try to be involved in my community so I can effect change not just in my own life, but in the world around me. But what matters most is that I'm being the best person I can be.


I intended to write this post last week for one of my Weekend Ramblings, but I never got around it it. So many people have blogged on this topic since then that I feel like I'm late to the party, and it would have been easy to say, "There's nothing left to say." But because I believe in the power of personal change, I believe my voice matters. So here I am, adding my individual voice to all the others, asserting that my changes matter. Your changes matter. Our collective changes can make a better, greener world.

Photo by Marco Belluci

This post was included in the Carnival of the Green #195 at EcoTechDaily.

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The 80/20 Rule for Going Green

I was surrounded by waste and excess: styrofoam cups, plastic straws, paper wrappers, thin plastic placemats, and plasticrap toys. Across the table, First Son and Second Son were filling their toothy grins with french fries (deep fried) and chicken strips (probably full of antibiotics and hormones), eager to finish eating so they would have time for the indoor playground.

It was Second Son's birthday, and we were at Chick-Fil-A. My boys were delighted, and I was weighed down with guilt.

I didn't plan to have Second Son's birthday dinner at a fast food restaurant. We were there because of poor planning on my part, and that was partially the cause of my guilt. But these days I feel guilty about a lot of things. Not just anytime I step foot inside a fast food restaurant, but also when I forget to take my cloth bags to the grocery store, or buy a Coke at the gas station because I forgot my stainless steel water bottle, or make a trip to Target because I've searched in vain for a used belt and can't justify to myself spending $40 on a belt made from recycled materials.

And I spend more than my fair share of over-thinking-it time, like when my flip flops broke, and oh, crap, good shoes are really hard to find at a thrift store, but where am I going to find affordable flip flops made from sustainable materials by someone who's not getting screwed for being born in a different country?

This is the curse of being a Conscious Shopper, and it's at those moments that I can understand why some people say, "It's better not to know" and others say, "I try not to care."

But I have a solution...It's during those extreme moments of guilt and over-thinking-it that it's time to turn to the 80/20 Rule.

The 80/20 Rule Defined

You may have heard of the 80/20 rule of dieting that suggests that if you eat healthy 80% of the time, it's okay to blow your diet the other 20% of the time. Put in practice, this means that if you eat healthy Monday through Friday, you can scarf down a burger and fries on Saturday night and indulge in some ice cream on Sunday.

But the 80/20 rule can be used for much more than just diet. Rephrase it a little, and it could say, "If you live green, 80% of the time, it's okay to blow it the other 20% of the time.

Used in this way, the 80/20 Rule can give you some room to wiggle as you transition to a greener lifestyle.

The 80/20 Rule in Action

A few months ago, I mentioned the 80/20 rule as a Jogging Stride suggestion in my post about using fewer paper towels: 80% of the time reach for cloth first. The other 20% of the time, use paper towels made with recycled content.

Here are some other examples:

• If I try to feed my family healthy, made-from-scratch meals 80% of the time, it's okay to indulge in fast food for the other 20% of our meals.

• If I am able to purchase 80% of our food from organic or local sources, then 20% of the time, it's okay to eat hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.

• If 80% of our clothes are from the thrift store or other eco-friendly sources, then 20% of our clothes can come from Target.
  

• If we try to live sustainably 80% of the year, it's okay to take some vacations from green living the other 20% of the time.

The 80/20 Rule of Not Being Too Hard on Yourself

Some people might argue that an 80% effort is not enough. Perhaps they are right...

But as I sat at Chick-Fil-A, unable to turn off my eco-conscious conscience, I could sense an encroaching environmental burnout. And it's at those moments that the 80/20 rule is essential.

80% of the time I give 100%, but 20% of the time, I give myself a little slack.

Can you think of any other examples where the 80/20 rule could apply to green living?

Photo by ebruli

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What Are Your Values?

Last week, I asked, "What is your mission statement?" and suggested that a life plan would be as valuable for an individual as a business plan is for a company. Now that you have your mission statement, the next step in writing your life plan is an outline of your values.

In conjunction with your mission statement, your values statement sets your priorities and can help you make both small and crucial decisions about your life. For a Conscious Shopper, knowing your values can help you decide which issues are most important to you, especially if money and time are limited.

With a values statement, you can more easily answer those tough questions at the grocery store, such as:

• Should I buy local or should I buy organic?
  
• Should I buy the fair trade bananas wrapped in plastic or the conventional bananas without plastic?
  
• Should I support the company who gives 10% of their profits to local communities or the the company who gives 10% of their profits to fight worldwide hunger?"

I'll provide my own values as an example. After pondering this question for a few days, I prioritized my values as follows:

1. Health and well-being of my family
2. Fair treatment of human beings
   
3. Fair treatment of animals
   
4. Health and well-being of my community and local economy
5. Health and well-being of mankind worldwide
   
6. Health of the planet

With these values in mind, I can now see that I should be favoring organics more than I have been since pesticide intake can affect the health of my kids. I can tell that buying the fair trade bananas wrapped in plastic is more in line with my values than buying the conventional bananas without plastic since fair trade is a human issue and plastics are primarily a planetary issue. And I can also recognize that I would rather support a company that gives to my community than a company that gives to people far away, as worthy as their cause is.

I can also tell that if I could only afford to focus on one value, I would choose foods and products that preserve the health of my children.

Still, knowing my values does not alleviate the intricacy of those important environmental and social issues, and because of that, someone with the exact same values as me might come to different conclusions about their priorities. For example, they might believe that plastics are primarily a health issue, and therefore fall under category #1. Someone else might conclude that organics are mostly a planetary issue and would therefore fall under category #6.

The questions are endless and confusing, but I think if you have a relative picture of your values (even if that picture is slightly hazy and changes with every new piece of information you learn), you've got a good reference point to start.

So now it's your turn: What are your values?

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What Is Your Mission Statement?

For a few years, I ran a book club website called The Reading Lounge, so I read several books about starting your own business. Although some of the information in those books varied widely, they all agreed on one thing: If you are going to run a business, you need to have a mission statement and a business plan.

I was thinking about those books the other day in connection to my blog (which I am thinking of expanding into some workshops), and I had the thought, "Why do businesses have a mission statement, but not people?"

A mission statement describes the purpose of a business by defining their overall goals. When the owners of that business have crucial decisions to make, they can refer to their mission statement to help them decide which path to take, where to focus their efforts, and how to invest their money.

Wouldn't individuals benefit from a mission statement in the same way that businesses do?

Without a mission statement, we move through life on autopilot, making decisions based on habit and ease. With a mission statement, we focus our time, money, and efforts on the things that matter to us.

For example, in The Tightwad Gazette, Amy Dacyzyn relates that when she and her husband got married, they decided they wanted a big family and an old farmhouse in the country with an attached barn. With this long term goal in mind, their frugality never felt like a sacrifice because they knew every penny saved brought them closer to their dreams.

Other examples:

If your mission statement includes having a close, happy family, you will spend your time with your family, rather than putting in extra hours at work.

If your mission statement includes owning your own house, you will put your money into savings rather than spending it on plasma TVs, iPhones, and designer shoes.

If your mission statement includes having a successful business, you will focus your energy on building your business and growing your networks, rather than lounging in front of the TV.

Part of the advice for businesses to create a mission statement is that they clearly define it and write it down. I can think of many situations where I might have made a different choice if I had clearly defined and written down my mission statement.

So my mission is:

• To raise three kind, creative, intelligent, and happy boys who care for humanity, love God, and have a connection to the earth.
• To live a sustainable life, including having a "green" home and a bountiful garden. Bees, chickens, solar panels, passive solar design, and within walking distance from entertainment would be pluses.
  
• To have a career I enjoy.

The last statement is pretty vague, I know. I'm still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. But hopefully, the other two statements will help me and my husband as we make decisions in the future.

What is your mission statement?

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A Conscious Shopper Is/Is Not

Since we still haven't sold our house in Maryland, my family has lived for the past eight months with only half of our stuff. The other half is still in Maryland "staging" our house. Thinking of this fact today, I had two thoughts:

1. Our house in Maryland looks really beautiful without all the clutter.
2. Except for missing a few big furniture items, it hasn't been much of an adjustment to cut back to half as much stuff.

Don't get me wrong. I will be ecstatic when our house finally sells and we have all of our belongings in one place again. I miss having a home that actually looks like a home, instead of like we're in transition.

But doing without has made me realize how much of what I own was purchased to fill up space, to make an impression, or to fulfill an impulse rather than being chosen with careful thought.

I know I'm not alone in that. Afterall, recreational shopping is one of America's favorite pastimes. And in general, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting nice things or wanting to look nice.

But often, we get so caught up in everyday living that we forget to pay attention to the things that matter. We live such fast-paced lives that we don't have time to choose carefully, and we end up with stuff we don't need, stuff we don't use, stuff we don't wear, stuff that doesn't last. And because we bought the wrong stuff in the first place, we end up buying more stuff and more stuff and more stuff.

This cycle of spend, spend, spend is not good for the planet or the pocketbook, but many people are afraid of what will happen if they step off the treadmill and try something new. They fear the hippy stereotype, and they fear criticism from their peers for being "different."

So I'm here right now to set the record straight...

Being a Conscious Shopper means:

• you think before you buy
• you are aware of the effects of your purchases on others and on the planet
• you try to choose the best possible products to meet your needs
• you live within your means

It does not mean you have to radically change your life (although you might do it by accident). It does not mean you have to make huge sacrifices (unless you want to). And it definitely does not mean you have to look ugly or drab (but you might end up caring a little less about how you look and a little bit more about the world around you).

Most importantly, a Conscious Shopper knows that shopping can never replace real living. So in the words of the New American Dream:

More fun, less stuff!

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Conscious Shopping Tips

I was interviewed recently by a nice woman from Co-op America, and hopefully (fingers crossed) there will at least be some mention of me and my blog in the upcoming issue of their quarterly magazine.

I don't say that to gloat. No, no, no, quite the contrary...It was a phone interview, and for some reason, I am not very good at talking on the phone. This is an affliction that I've had my entire life, and I'm not sure why. I do fine in person, I do great by email, the blog is my domain, but put me on a phone, and my mind stalls like a teenager learning to drive a stick shift.

So I've been thinking a lot since then about what I could have said better. And here it is...

To anyone out there who uses the excuse, "I can't afford to go green," this is what I would say to you:

1. Take it slow. You don't have to go green all at once. Because of budgetary limitations, I am taking it very slowly. Right now, I buy a lot of locally grown food, but not a lot of organic food. I hope to be able to buy more organic food in the future, but right now, that's not possible for my family. Think about what small changes you can afford, and do them!

2. Do the money savers first. A lot of so-called "green" changes actually save money. Making your home more energy efficient, driving a more energy efficient car, walking more, riding a bike, taking public transportation, using less water, buying less or not buying at all...These things save money.

When people say that going green costs too much they're generally thinking of organic foods, beauty supplies, and clothing. But think about this: I estimate that I can save $150 to $200 a month (maybe even more) by making changes in my transportation, energy use, and spending habits, but rather than blowing that money on something useless, I plan to shift that spending to the food and clothing categories of my budget. Voila, I can afford to go green!

3. Shop smart. Organic food is expensive, I admit that. But there are ways to make it cheaper. Just as with all grocery shopping, you need to shop smart. Buy on sale and buy in bulk. Avoid processed foods. Avoid non-nutritive foods (sodas, candy, chocolate). Know which grocery stores in your area carry the cheapest organics. Make food from scratch. Join a food co-op or a buying club.

You can also save money in the food category by planting a garden, visiting u-pick farms or orchards, canning or freezing surplus produce, and raising chickens, bees, or goats. Even though I'm in an apartment, I plan to try some container gardening on my balcony this year.

4. Buy used. Organic, sweatshop free, and fair trade are expensive labels, but there are ways to save on clothing and house decor also. Think of thrift stores, consignment stores, and yard sales as your new favorite place to shop. Take advantage of our wasteful society and discover the bounty of like-new items on Craigslist. Experiment with Freecycle or start your own Swap Network (I'm planning to try this soon and will report my findings).

5. Adopt an attitude of non-consumerism. The less you buy, the more money you'll save (and the more money you can shift to food and clothing). Think about what stores are your downfall (in my case it's Target, maybe yours is the mall), and don't go there as often. Stop looking at catalogs and don't watch commercials. Believe me, the temptation to spend money drops to almost nil when you're no longer surrounded with enticements to buy, buy, buy!

6. Build a community. You don't have to do everything all by yourself. Go green with your neighbors and swap garden produce, skills, and time.

7. Do the big four. If you've tried everything I've already mentioned, and you still can't afford to go completely green, then just focus on the big four: energy efficient housing, energy efficient transportation, less meat-eating, and buying less.

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What do you say?

The following are real conversations that I have been part of since I started this blog...

• Woman 1: I've been looking on Craigslist for a bike for my son's birthday.
• Woman 2: Why are you looking on Craigslist? You can get a brand new bike from Walmart for $40.
• Woman 3: Because it was built by some little ten-year-old in Guatemala.
• Woman 2: Well, yeah, but that's not our fault. We're only pawns in the system.
• Woman 1 and Woman 3: Yeah, you're right.

• Man 1: Did you hear Bob's trying to sell his Prius?
• Man 2: What would you need a Prius for right now with gas prices at $1.50?

• Woman: How's your green blog going?
• Me: It's going great.
• Woman: I could never go green.
  

• My sister: You know, Erin, sometimes it's just better not to know.

I never know what to say in these situations. What I really want to say is, "No, no, no! You don't have to be a pawn in the system and just because gas prices are lower doesn't mean climate change has gone away and how can you not go green and it's better to know about things so you can change them!"

But except for my sister, the other comments were made by people I don't know well, and I don't want to offend them or be pegged as "that weird lady with all those weird opinions."

Or the other reaction I get from people when I start talking about environmentalism or social responsibility is that their eyes glaze over and I can tell they're not really listening. I don't think I'm that boring - it's just that most people don't want to hear it.

I've had this dilemma ever since I became a vegetarian. I've found that when people ask, "Why are you a vegetarian?", they don't want to hear the real answer. I even had a friend in college who became antagonistic about my vegetarianism once I explained about factory farms, and it led to the erosion of our friendship.

After enough negative responses, I started replying, "I decided that with all of our modern conveniences, it wasn't necessary to kill animals to eat." This answer satisfies most people without riling them up and potentially spoiling the evening, but it also has never ever made anyone consider going vegetarian.

I guess I've always been of the "lead by example" opinion, but I'm starting to think maybe that's not enough. You can't force people to change, but how do you convince them to want to?

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