May your gardens be green,
May your harvests be golden,
May your heart fill with love,
and your larder with food,
May your life be fulfilled
with all that is good.
Today dawned sunny and bright, after what was obviously a very cold night — there was a light frost on the ground when I let the critters out in the morning. As noon approaches, the blue sky is hazed with more and more solid strands of white fairy-tale clouds. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming. Later on, it will rain, the life-giving (sometime life-taking) waters will wash everything clean and refill the aquifers.
More than appreciating the beauty and grandeur of it all, on Earth Day I like to also consider how I preserve it. Here are my thoughts as I sit here in a reasonably warm, well-built house, with plenty to eat and power for my computer, the lights, the laundry and the television…
We drive older cars — would newer cars with better mileage make up for the resources needed to produce them?
We eat some foods that are imported — though possible to live on foodstuffs grown and available locally (how locally would that need to be?) much of the year, we are generally limited to buying what is in the stores when we get there. I buy organic most of the time, though it is easily three times more expensive than chemically-grown or treated foods. We grow some of our own foods, but lack the space and time (and money) to grow most of the things we eat on a regular basis.
We tend to wear our clothes until they are outgrown (and then donated to other children) or worn out, and we buy many things at Goodwill rather than in stores that sell new items. Now that I have a sewing machine again I will make more of my own clothes… but shoes, coats, and other items need replacing often. And sometimes — well sometimes a dress in the store is pretty, and so much less expensive than I could produce — sometimes it makes more sense to go to a store where economies of scale lower both my cost and the costs of production.
We used only organic, natural cleaning products for years. But my poor health, the high mineral content of our well water and the high cost of these items that really didn’t get things clean have moved us toward a more moderate approach. We purchase stronger cleaning products for the bathroom and kitchen now; but I use vinegar and baking soda most of the time and the least toxic but still effective substances everywhere else.
We recycle as much as we can, after trying to buy things with the least packaging possible. Paper, plastic, metal, glass, garden supplies, shopping bags… everything gets at least a second use. But some things aren’t recyclable, and sometimes recycling isn’t available.
It is a common theme in my writing: Though it would be nice to live entirely by repurposing, reusing, or doing without… and I know many people do! …it is not practical for us. We are not willing to join the ranks of people who live communally — or in the city — we are not willing to give up all the comforts we grew up with. But we do minimize our usage, consciously, and we teach our children how to consider the needs of the earth and its denizens when making decisions. Our parents don’t understand and sometimes our children (who want to have all the latest and greatest like many of their friends in our affluent community) complain, but perhaps our grandchildren will understand and lead better lives as a result of our efforts.