Trail Mix

I can't put my finger on when it all started.  Whenever I try to pinpoint an event of decision I always end up finding an incident that goes even further back.  I'm finding that our lifestyle is becoming more and more green.  It wasn't as if we started the movement or just jumped on the bandwagon, it happened gradually.  I think "going green" has this image of being tree-hugging hippie granola people (I have nothing against any of those names....we've been called them before in friendly conversation and now that Spence often sports a beard we could add hairy to the list). I'd say we're more "trail mix" than "granola".  Really we look normal and act the same but we think and do things just a little bit differently than we used to.  

It probably started a few years ago when I had a co-worker from California who was adamant about recycling.  She made paper recycling bins for each of our classrooms and made sure the students and teachers used them.  She would take them home to empty every Friday and bring them back on Monday.  I would recycle the more obvious items occasionally but I wasn't as serious until I decided to get in the habit thanks to this co-worker.  I truly admired her dedication.  By the time Spencer and I married I was in a good rhythm of recycling. Spencer was always interested in using essential oils and herbs for healing rather than medication. I started making homemade bread and reading Whole Living magazine and delivered our baby naturally. So, where are we now? 

We separate our recycling and what the city won't pick up on our weekly garbage/recycling day we take to a drop-off site.  We cloth diaper and use cloth bags when grocery shopping.  I make homemade whole wheat bread and I've started making a large number of other goods from scratch.  Right now our big project is to weed out as much plastic as possible.  We've collected a few jars in various sizes and often use them to carry our lunches or hold leftovers. We also use glass baby bottles. 

We dream of collecting rainwater, composting, and installing solar panels in our future home. 

This isn't to say "look at us, we're so wonderful" because there are so many people better at it than we are.  It's just a realization I came to within the last week or so as I tried to figure out where it started. It was a lot of little things that added up to where we're going now. 

There is a sense of pride, of having done a good deed I feel when I think of another way we can live more responsibly and prudently.  

My mom has always said that she believes we have a stewardship over the Earth that God created for us. I believe it too and, come to think of it, that's probably where it started.