Step up to green, Part 2
A few days ago, I talked about how changing my mindset was the first step in trying to live a more sustainable life. Today, my successes and challenges.
I don’t believe I’ll ever win the title of the World’s Greenest Grandma. (Although imagining myself gussied up in the regalia is kind of fun!)
Actually, I don’t want to. Way too much pressure.
But what I have committed to is to make conscious choices about how I live. Over the last seven years, these have involved some very simple decisions and some that have left me scratching my head.
Thanks to the internet though, it’s easier than ever to get information about how to make or buy less toxic products, what to do with dead-in-their-tracks electronics, how to fix things that are broken and every aspect of making healthier choices.
Just yesterday I wanted to remove paint from a table I’d mistakenly thought I could re-do, but 1. didn’t want to buy and 2. didn’t want to use anything toxic.
I searched for “make non-toxic paint remover,” and came up with several recipes.
As I write this, a concoction is working its magic on the table. (I have to say I’m totally 100% skeptical that this particular solution will work, but we’ll see. If it doesn’t, I’ll try some others. This is not an emergency. And that’s my approach with a lot of the alternatives I try. I’ll give it a whirl. If it works, great. If not, little or no harm done.)
I thought it might be useful to someone reading this if I listed the changes that have been easy for me and the ones that I’ve found harder to implement and why.
Easier
- Take bags to store for produce as well as regular shopping bags
- No plastic bags in trash cans
- Turn lights off
- Do laundry in cold water
- Dry clothing, towels etc. outside in summer
- Give consumables, experiences, handmade for gifts
- Eat less meat (this one was a lot easier for me before I started on a new food plan that cuts out carbs)
- Buy organic when possible
- Buy less clothing
- Wrap gifts in anything other than virgin wrapping paper
Harder and why
1. Buy items with least packaging: I’ve found this easier with food because there are more choices unpackaged and bulk, much more difficult with other packaged products
2. Buy eco-friendly clothing for self: There still is a limited selection available especially for women who don’t want to dress in t-shirts and jeans all the time, don’t have stick thin figures and who can’t afford higher-end clothing.
3. Cook with solar: The only time I could consistently do this is in the summer and I don’t cook much then. Mostly serve fresh foods, salads, cold soups etc. But when I do cook, going solar remains a goal.
4. Unplug everything when we leave home to avoid phantom power loss: I’m doing better on this when we leave for a few days. Not so much on a daily basis.
5. Stop buying canned goods: Huge leap forward in this one over the last year. Yes, it was difficult, but the only thing I consistently buy now canned is tuna.
6. Change out personal care items for better alternatives--shampoo, deoderant, toothpaset etc. : This was another challenging area for me, but one in which I’ve found great success either purchasing products or making them. It’s mind-blowing how simple it is to make many of these items myself, and I can no longer see the reason to spend the money or buy packaged for many of these items.
7. Seeking out local, sustainable restaurants: I do seek them out, but finding them is still a challenge. Even though there are some in Seattle, when we decide to go out for dinner on the spur of the moment, we don’t want to drive into town and where we live, there simply are no restaurants yet, that serve local, organic, grass fed, and recycle, compost etc. I have no doubt there will be someday, but for now, we might as well be living in the middle of the desert as within shouting distance of one of the greener cities in America.
8. Technology: I’ve loved technology ever since I got a “periscope” for my 35 mm camera when I was in high school. This add-on allowed me to take pictures of someone while seeming to point the camera at a 45 degree angle to her. So the subject was unaware she was being photographed. Yikes! Sounds creepy when I write it, but believe me, I only used it to take photos of my friends so they wouldn’t be hamming it up every time I got ready to snap!
I was one of the first to own a word processor and a digital camera. I’m not into shoes or clothes. My heaven would be filled with every gadget in existence. While I’m tempted (which is why I stay out of electronic stores and try to avoid the “Geek” category on Pinterest), I rarely buy gadgets because I’m fortunate to have someone in my family who passes his “old” ones down to me, but I admit to gazing longingly at the latest and greatest and occasionally succumbing to its lure.
9. Eco-friendly furnishings: Not that I purchase very many, but again, this is an availability and price issue for me (and I suspect many others). It’s one thing to buy organic apples instead of sprayed, another to pay a couple of years worth of savings for a locally made sofa constructed of FSC certified lumber with kapok stuffed, organic cotton cushions. Kaching! I do purchase used when I can and this in itself is a switch in mindset. Years ago it never would have occurred to me to check out Goodwill or the want ads (since Craigslist didn’t exist back then) when we needed a bunk bed or desk.
10. Fewer vacations by car: This is another tough one for me because although I love staying home, I spend 90% of my life working and living here. I enjoy exploring our area and I’m sorry, but I’ve not yet gotten to the point where I’ll take the bus to go on vacation. What I have been doing much more of though, is learning and implementing what I can do to make these trips less impactful on the environment.
And as I said earlier, what’s important to me is that I am now a person who is conscious of my choices and trying to do the best I can in large ways and small. Actually, believe it or not, easy or hard, I find the attempt a whole lot of fun!
What have you found easy and what’s been difficult in your quest to live greener?
Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®.
