I don't really mean to stop listening to your friends, but more to stop listening to your friends and take what they have to say under advisement. Everyone is an expert on how hard or easy it is to be more eco - or whether you should even bother at all, but the truth is that many of the things you change are personal.Because of this, I'm going to share some of my personal experiences with becoming more eco.Greenies and guilt ridden blogs are two of the most important contributors to saving our planet, but those behind them are crusaders and if you are starting out on your eco journey, paying too much attention can just make a tough job even tougher.The facts are that no one knows your own life like you do and the facts of living a more considered, sustainable life is that your approach has to be about you, your lifestyle, your family and your opportunity.
The facts also are that we do so many things that have a negative impact on the environment and that's why it's important to focus on what you can do to be more right for you personally rather than becoming paralysed by everything that's wrong in the bigger picture.I have a teenage son who lives in fear that he'll never see another soda, fast food burger or teaspoon of sugar in his life. And thinks his mother is obsessed with natural everything and possibly possessed with something supernatural. (As in an evil organic being of some kind.)Then there is the husband who is waiting to be poisoned one day by the endless leftovers that get made into another gourmet delight later in the week, even though I swear they look just like the pic below! (How does he even know?)
The same husband is also convinced that anything a day out of date is a potential visit to the emergency wing of the local hospital, despite having eaten at least 3,000 items over the years that pass my 'sniff' test and fail the packet use-by date.Look at your own life, how you live, what you like and start somewhere that works for you. Start where you care because that is where you are most likely to succeed early. What will make you proud? What do you care about? That's where you start and don't worry about anything else.Success really does come easily when you start becoming more eco. It's because there are so many places to start & ways to do better. And each time you do or be something more sustainable, it's another eco step. There are 2 main opportunity categories:
It doesn't matter which you choose as both have a zillion options. Start where you are comfortable and start simple. Simple can make a lot of difference.
Stop buying the things you don't need. First choose ONE Stop. It doesn't have to be one of these. It could be one of your own, but get each Stop right before moving on to a new one. Here's a few things you can stop buying or using:
Words like eco, organic, small batch, sustainable, tend to make people think 'expensive'. Straight up, it's important to shake that thought. Sometimes organic or small batch is a little more, but not always, so best to go in with an open mind.
I was away on holidays recently with old family friends. We were staying at an apartment at the beach and I was making dinner. At one point, (warning - something gross coming) I had the dishcloth and wiped the crouton crumbs from the bench into the Ceasar salad. My family friend's son saw me and was understandably completely horrified.Like him, you are probably pretty horrified too, unless you are a baker, where upon you would think scraping perfectly normal. When I first started making bread and pasta, I had to knead dough on a bench top so I used to put down a dough kneading sheet. (Ridiculous now I think about it.) The dough spilled over the edges of the mat and got sticky so pretty soon I realised that I had to just use the bench. Which meant I had to make sure it was super clean. And that's how saving bench top scraps started for me. And why the dough scraper was my new best friend.
It took me ages to get used to the fact that I was scraping flour from a bench into the bread I was making. Then I found out what a Miller's Loaf was....You may not be comfortable living like this and that is perfectly fine. You might not have a life that is structured for it anyway. Think about the households you know. Many of them probably don't ever clean their dish cloths. They use them till they get tossed. That's totally gross. Along with the tea towels that wipe dishes dry for weeks.
My benches are ridiculously clean. I have at least 10 bamboo dish cloths that get washed every day. Depending on what's going on, some days I use one and others 2 or 3, so no old dishrag for me. And I have tea towels that don't get used much because I don't dry dishes, but do get washed every day. So, for perspective, my eco-ish home life revolves around the fact that I am obviously a bit of a washer woman, I freeze a lot of food that becomes different meals, and I buy bulk where I can. Some more optics: I'm super busy. My husband lives offshore, so I am pretty much a single mum with a business, a teenage son and a big property to maintain. I am always in a hurry, always late, need to be efficient and I hate waste of any kind. Food, time, labour, love, words.These influences define my eco choices, which keep growing as my life adapts. Just like the framework of your life will define yours.
There are still many things I do that I technically shouldn't as a perfect greenie, but then I don't claim to be a deep green greenie and I am not trying to make you one either - just someone trying to live a better life. In line with this, here's a tip for when you start to become successful as a household eco-ist and you get called out.
I still light fires in winter, although way less than I used to. I still invite my family and friends over and we toast marshmallows and make smores. I have a neighbour who rings me every time I light a fire in my outdoor fire pit and gleefully enquires about how 'green' open fires are.She's right of course. Even though I am burning my own timber or timber from a sustainable source, fires are terrible environmentally, but for me, my fire is not a battle I've chosen yet and that's ok. (Anyway, I think she really wants a smore.)
Going eco is like getting fit, only tougher. And the reason is because we are bombarded consumer advertising for more stuff, sweet stuff, fast stuff, all day long. We live in a world stacked to the eyeballs with consumer marketing and much of what we are being sold is about buying more, faster - so we can do more, faster. Consume more. Get more. Cheap. Fast. Consumer marketing and particularly now on social media, is like feeding an addict their addiction and expecting them to still give up somehow.
Start your changes with simple things you can change out easily and which aren't going to require a lot of your time. Go for the things that really bug you or you know in your heart are bad for you and your family.