Everyone is going green, what are you doing to leave the world a better place?
The latest “green” fad is a just that, not so much focused on lasting change, but to fit into the Hollywood-styled, t-shirt wearing, “let’s make this easy” lifestyles. To be frank, that doesn’t work for me.
I have decided to embrace my inner hippie. Not the free-love, narcotics-laced or the down with “The Man”, tax-evading type, but the crunchy granola, save the earth hippie, tree hugger may be the operative word.
When I was young the books, movies and television I consumed has strong messages of protecting the environment. Here’s looking at you Captain Planet! I even attended two ecology club meetings before my mom pulled me out due to the salty language of some of the membership.
Since Hazel was born, Esther and I have realized that we have a large number of chemicals that we use everyday, some of which have questionable health implications. While trace amounts of chemicals are all around us, we figure why expose ourselves and our daughter to more than the background radiation the Universe puts out.
That being said, we are diapering Hazel in cloth. It was initially a scary / daunting task, but after a few weeks of trying, I can confidently say that It is not that hard and not as disgusting as I originally thought.
We are also reducing the amount of other chemicals by creating our own weed killers, laundry detergents and cleaning supplies. All of the organic versions of products, we are making out of items that are generally found in the medicine cabinet or pantry. This is the newest part of being a hippie we have adopted, so it will be interesting to see how this goes.
I am still a vegetarian. The amount of land that is clear cut for livestock is astonishing as well as the amount of waste they produce. Yes, that waste is pretty toxic.
We are also reducing packaging and the throw-away nature that our culture is permeated with. We currently recycle more that we throw away and are going to start composting, reducing the amount that goes to the landfill even more. We reject plastic bags when offered preferring to use a longer lasting alternative and we aim to buy products that have as little packaging as possible.
Lastly, I am riding my bike in lieu of driving. That is no small feat. Racing to work in the morning twilight or home amongst the hurried drivers is not an easy or 100 percent safe undertaking, but the benefits are two-fold, I get a great workout riding over twenty miles round trip, and I am reducing the number of days I put carbon emissions into the atmosphere. If I had the opportunity, I would ride everyday, but that would require me relocating my work wardrobe to work, and that would be a little awkward.
I know the things I am doing are small, but they are becoming increasingly important to me. I am now thinking about how small everyday actions can have a larger impact. How may disposable cups (from Starbucks or a fast food restaurant) have you thrown away from in the past 30 days? Think about it. I realize that, yes, I will from time to time eat a meal that requires me to dispose of the wrappers without recycling and not eat organic. I also realize that chemical exposure from cleaning supplies is minute, but how are you embracing your inner hippie?
