a better life
I’ve really been thinking lately about how much impact I’m having on the world and how much impact it’s having on me. It’s becoming a bigger and bigger priority of mine to be more “socially conscious”. I’m really trying to implement better practices, like eating organic food whenever I can – I think about all the chemicals we’re consuming and it’s scary! I read a really great article a couple weeks ago about what we consume. How much of our nutrition is processed and altered? How much of it is actually real, whole food? I’m trying to avoid food that has ingredients that I can’t pronounce. (Whenever I’m struggling with the progression of something, be it family relationships or consumerism, I always try to think back to the way things are “supposed” to be. The way things originated. It used to be that the farmer grew the food and the people ate the food. The money people spent on food was kept in their community. And in the winter they had no fresh produce – not everything is bad about social advancements. It’s sometimes hard for me to balance what is a good advancement and where we’ve gone too far in the name of convenience or to save money.)
I’m also thinking about how much waste we generate. I come home from a grocery trip and have 10-15 plastic sacks to contend with, not to mention that everything I purchase comes in some sort of packaging. The least I could do is start bringing home my purchases in reusable sacks.
I’ve got all these thoughts about how to live a better life floating around in my head and it’s getting a little overwhelming. I think I just need to start where I can, like eating as much whole food as I can. (And accomplishing this on a budget!) And using reusable shopping bags. I’ve knit one already, so, what? I’ve got like 9 more to go! Luckily, the pattern in the Spring Issue of Knitscene is really cool. And, I may also crochet this one – of course out of different yarn!
And maybe that’s what I should go start on right now…
Category: daily 9 comments »
March 29th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I hear ya sista! I’ve been watching Living Fresh with whoever it is on TLC and there’s some pretty cool options out there!
You can bring your bags back to City Market to recycle…most of the stores anyways…
March 29th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I’ve been thinking a lot about this, too, lately. About a month ago I finished reading Jane Goodall’s Harvest for Hope which is about agribusiness and the effects of our food choices on the world. She emphasises eating organic, locally produced food as well as eating little to no meat.
I have a cookbook called Simply in Season. I like that it is divided up into Seasons with recipes that include produce that would be available seasonally. I cook from that a lot and it gives me an idea of which things in the market came from our local areas.
My brother and I grew up on a seven acre hobby farm and my parents raised their own chickens and usually a couple of cows. They had a large, organic garden that would feed us all summer and then we could preserve food for the winter. It’s so strange to me to go to the market now and buy produce and have no idea where it came from and who it was that raised it. This summer I’ve subscribed to a Community Supported Garden. You can find one in your area by looking on localharvest.org. It’s a great way to support local farmers and get fresh, locally grown produce by people who care about the land.
Sorry for the long comment. You really touched on something I’ve become more and more aware of in the last few months.
March 29th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I forgot– go to LocalHarvest.org and click on the CSA link.
March 29th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Sounds like the archives a new blog I’ve just started reading through. Here.
March 29th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Oh senorita, I hear you. I’ve been working to go green for the last couple years now and it seems like a never ending task. I actually started with the grocery bags too, and it’s made a huge difference, just that one thing. I like worstedwitch.com for info on green living. It always seems like small but helpful advice, and since the author lives in a city she understands that not everybody can go live on a farm or something.
I know it’s hard, but it;s the small things that add up.
March 29th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Hi there! I was just looking for blogs on healthy living. I totally understand your overwhelmed feeling. I am going through the same thing and kind of feel a real sense of unrest. I love the knit bags idea. You know you’re crunchy when you bring your own bags in to the store! Then what next??? Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
March 30th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Sara Snow….that’s her same. Interesting show…
April 1st, 2007 at 9:15 am
I’m finding that as I come up with was to reduce, reuse, and recycle – it realize more and more how much the world around me can’t see the forest from the trees. It’s not always easy being green (I just had to say it). I found for me, starting with the foods I buy (and will grow once I own a home) and the things I make got me moving in the right direction.
There’s a great list of 101 ways to get started in a Bpdy and Soul magazine.
Oh and I too plan to make the Rutabaga bag and found a small correctionon Knitscenes website for it: http://www.knitscene.com/2007/corrections.asp
Hope that helps!
April 1st, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Good for you – you’re right, it is overwhelming. But you have to start somewhere and once you’ve started it’s kind of like getting the ball rolling and then it’s easier to start doing more and more environmentally and socially conscious things.. so again good for you and good luck! I have been moving in this direction since I got pregnant and am living a lot greener in a lot of ways and it feels really good.