Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Plugging the Dam

Sometimes the fight against wastefulness feels like it just isn't enough.  In gathering my thoughts to write this post I was thinking of the little dutch boy with his finger in the dam.  Not actually knowing the story in full, I decided to Google it and this is the link I found


And this is the quote that jumped out of the page at me: "This story is told to children to teach them that if they act quickly and in time, even they with their limited strength and resources can avert disasters."

And so it is.



I previously shared some of my back story and the why of living "green."  Today I want to share some of the how.  I am a huge fan of taking baby steps and not beating myself up if I don't do it all "perfectly," whatever that means.  Any positive change is, well, positive change.


Six years ago, I decided to use cloth diapers. (Yes, there was research conducted that "proved" cloth isn't any better than cloth diapers.  The study was paid for by Pampers.)  I used them most of the time and had disposables as back up.  When I went back to work due to a family crisis, I put my daughter back in disposables because cloth diapering was way at the bottom of my list of priorities.


Six years ago, I also made a list of paper products that we could replace with cloth or reusable items.  (Paper towels, napkins, Kleenex, etc.)  The paper towel switch to rags was really easy (just grab a cloth towel instead), but I only finalized this transition in the last couple of years.


A couple of years ago we started gardening and hence began a compost pile.


We love to cook, and making food from scratch cuts way down on packaging waste.


Last summer I bought the kids and myself insulated stainless steel water bottles--so worth the money, that water stays COLD.


Last school year we switched from plastic baggies to sandwich wraps and snack bags that I bought from a local woman I found on Etsy. We are going to buy little stainless steel containers for wet items like cut-up fruit for this next school year.

The beginning of this year we decided to become a little more focused on cutting down waste and focused on fixing one item each month which led to:


Getting a system in place for remembering grocery bags
Reusable mesh produce bags
Reusable cloth bags for bulk items
Reusing spaghetti jars, etc for bulk peanut butter and for storing food (This one I am the most proud of because I spent weeks trying to figure out what to buy to store peanut butter in and then it suddenly occurred to me that I had this FREE option.)
Replacing freezer bags with towels and a pillow case for baked bread and reusable containers for other items
Being careful of how much waste we spent moving and spend working on our new house
Making our own cleaning products

We are still a work in progress.  Each month we continue to focus on one thing that we can change to reduce the amount of waste generate in our household.


I am that little dutch boy.  As are you.


Here are some websites that you may find helpful in your journey:


lifewithoutplastic.com
zerowastehome.blogspot.com
www.nurturedfamily.com
house cleaning recipes from mothering.com
www.bluelotusgoods.com


Monday, July 16, 2012

This Waster of Time

I'm backing up the train a bit.


You see, I sat down to write a blog post today about waste and decided to check Facebook "real quick" before writing.  Nearly two hours later--no blog post, and my kids' quiet time was over.


I have a problem.


My lack of self control in this area is so completely inconsistent with the way I handle many other areas in my life, including other outlets of media.  I enjoyed taking a break from it all a couple of weeks ago during media week.  After media week I had decided to make Sundays Facebook-free.  


And I did.  


And then I gorged myself on it the very next day.


I'm thinking I've missed the point.


Yesterday, my friend spoke at church.  During her message she mentioned BrenĂ© Brown's statement that "We are the most in debt, obese, addicted and medicated adult cohort in U.S. history."  She also discussed how much advertising effects us, selling us something beyond the actual product offered.


In the back of my mind I thought (and even said to my husband), "I'm so glad we don't have TV in our house."  (We have a TV, just no channels which means no commercials.)  I sometimes think to myself how great it is that I'm not addicted to Soaps or other Daytime TV.  Isn't it great that I'm not like those other Americans?


And then there's the internet.


Ahem.  Yes, I remember the parable about the Pharisee praying "God thank you I do all these great things and that I'm not like him (the tax collector)." Meanwhile the tax collector is praying, "God be merciful to me."  (Luke 18:9-14)  And I remember the so often quoted plank-in-your-own-eye bit. (Matthew 7:1-5)


My friend read the passage from when a lawyer asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was and Jesus responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘ You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:35-40)  


Everything I do, feel, and think should be reflective of loving God. And I must love my neighbor as myself.  


When I waste time on things that don't really matter, I'm not really loving God, my neighbor, or myself.


I'm extending waste into this week to work on a few things I didn't finish last week and to include "time" by putting a boundary on those things that I allow to steal it.


I'm linking this one up under Media and Waste on our Summer of 7.  You're welcome to join in or just read what's going on at other blogs.  Just don't stay too long... ;).



Thursday, July 12, 2012

Who cares about the earth anyway?


When Jen Hatmaker mentions in 7 the Christian shirt she wore growing up in the Bible belt of America, it brought back memories of my own experiences growing up.  I am embarrassed to admit that I bought and proudly wore a T-shirt which read “Save Forget the Whales, Save the People.”  Believe it or not, somewhere I had gotten the distinct impression that environmentalism and Christianity were two irreconcilable and opposing forces.  (On a side note, that T-shirt got some remarks from non-Christians at my school.  Surprise of all surprises, they weren’t asking to go to church with me on Sunday.)

My journey in becoming “more green” started a several years ago while reading The Tightwad Gazette.  Amy Dacyczyn that environmental efforts and frugalness often go hand in hand—that being resourceful and reusing is actually quite helpful to the environment, (maybe even more so than running out and purchasing all the “green” products now advertised…)

Reading this book started the wheels turning in my mind and led me to think about replacing paper products in our home to save money and cut down on our wastefulness.   (I’ll share specifics in a later post.)  I started researching alternatives to paper towels, napkins, etc, and came across a blog written by a Christian lady who, from what I could tell by reading, really loves Jesus and is also environmentally conscious.  Shocking.  This discovery caused me to start to think about whether or not Christianity and environmentalism in and of themselves really were at odds with each other.

And here is where I landed:

God created this Earth and all of its living creatures.  God put man in charge of the earth and its living creatures.  And while I do not believe putting the earth or its creatures in a place of worship (above God or people), I also feel that many Christians have missed the mark when it comes to being good stewards of what God has created.  To be perfectly blunt, wastefulness, squandering, and inhumane living conditions for animals are not Biblical values.  However, being faithful with what one’s been given, responsibility, servant leadership, and compassion are valued in scripture.  Proverbs 12:10 even tells us that a righteous man takes care of his animals.

Which leaves me with the following questions:

Why is it that we would be outraged if a house guest wasted our food and money, trashed and dirtied our home and broke our possessions, yet we feel as if we have no responsibility whatsoever to properly care for and manage the home God made for us?  Why would anyone else want to follow a God whose followers squander the world that they claim He made with absolutely no regard for how their actions affect others?

Regardless of how others may have turned environmentalism into a religion in and of itself, as a Christ-follower, indifference and apathy just don’t cut it with respect to wastefulness.   God cares how we use what He's given us.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Facebook and "The Deception" Re-post

So I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. Moving turned out to be all-consuming (big surprise), and I just needed a week of to settle into the new "normal."


And last week was media week.


We spent the entire week in New Hampshire at a Bed and Breakfast on a sustainably managed farm. Be still my beating heart.  It was wonderful.  (I have so much to say about this trip, but later.) And guess what was nowhere in sight? A TV and a computer (although my husband  did bring his I-pad and I had my I-phone which I barely used).  Glorious!!!  I mean, why would you even want to ruin such a vacation with media?
Part of the view of the farm from the Inn

To be truthful, I am not an avid TV-watcher, however, I can waste hours of my life on the computer reading blogs, "researching," and Facebooking. 


Therein lies the problem.  Not only do I allow the internet to suck my time away searching out things that I actually should be doing something about, I easily fall into the trap of comparison: A) All of my friends are having fun without me;  B) More people like her than me; or even C) More people read his/her blog than mine, I must not be good enough.  (Shocking, I know.) A break from the monster that is the Internet and the internal dialogue in my head was definitely a good thing.  


The conclusion I have come to is that my Internet time definitely needs some boundaries so that it does not morph into a twisted addiction.  In the spirit of waste week, which for me started yesterday, I'm going to "recycle" my original blog post which speaks to these heart issues. :)



The Deception


It's Easter.  The girls are dressing and getting their hair curled. I reach for my hair dryer to straighten out mine and realize the irony of it all--blowing hair straight only to curl it again in less-natural curls.  Trading my God-given curls my own daughters long to have. 

I think of my brown-eyed, brunette daughters wishing for golden locks, while my blue-eyed blond daughter covets the formers’ dark tresses. I remember my own childhood longing to look and be like someone else.  We are experts at disvaluing our own beauty and talents.  What we have is not enough.  It’s the same lie man has fallen for time and time again.  God is holding out on us.

“Love does not want what belongs to others.”

The Scripture from Corinthians read at our dining room table just last night echos in my mind.

And then the lie goes deeper.  Who we are is not enough—not pretty enough, not smart enough, not funny enough, not kind enough, not brave enough, not lovable enough.  We are hopeless failures.

On the surface this lie appears to be a lack of self-confidence—a bought of self-depreciation that can be solved with a self pep-talk or the like.  Yet this lie goes deeper.  It is a rejection of the God who created us.  It is an unwillingness to trust our Maker with who He has created us to be.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

I pause and return the hair dryer to the drawer.  Today I choose to embrace the curls God’s given me—to be comfortable in my own skin. I open my hands to let go of the striving to be like someone else and to be at peace in who God has created me to be.


A mere two days passed.  


That voice whispered in my ear again.  The one that says I'm not enough and no one likes me.  That feeling of being on the outside of the circle slithered its way into my heart—such an old familiar self-loathing codependent friend.

I know better than to listen, but struggle to overcome the thoughts.   These demons have haunted me since I was a child.  I remember thinking in elementary school that everyone liked my best friend and not me.  When I finally confessed my fears to her one day, she responded that she thought everyone liked me and not her.   The house of cards fell that day, but the seed of deception still remains.  It creeps in like a weed, and I have to root it out again and again.

These lies are barely affected by recalling mere facts such as the realization that just last week I had a girls night with some friends.  Or that I just spent Easter with all my family.  Or that my husband and kids love me dearly.  Nor does reciting a list of friends help.

In the midst of my battle the scripture flashed in the back of my mind again.

Love does not want what belongs to others. 

Oh, but I don’t want what belongs to others.  They can keep their cars and houses and clothes.  I don’t care about all of that.  I just envy their giftings.  And their friendships.  And their…  ouch.

 And then the Father gently questions,

“What if you really are alone and unloved by others?  Am I enough for you?”

Oh. Ummm, good question.

“Why are you looking for others approval to fill you?” 

I don’t have an answer.  At least not a good one.

And then He reminds me—again—that He has created me to be me and no one else.  He tells me that He needs me to use the gifts that He has given me because that’s my part to play.  He asks me if I trust Him with the cup He has given me—if I trust Him with my story.

The danger in the lies is that my reaction is to want to run and hide. To bury what I’ve been given for fear of hurt and rejection.  It seems easier to be a carbon copy or two-dimensional rather than risk going deep.  Like the man of the parable who buried his talents, I too want to shrink back in fear, and bury my gifts deep in the sand.

And there it is. The sin of self-preservation.  When Jesus said whoever wants to follow me should deny himself and pick up his cross. 

So denying myself looks like taking my eyes off myself and watching Jesus, listening to what the Father’s story is for me.  It means thinking about reaching out to others instead of worrying what they think of me.  It means I trust God with His timing and don’t become anxious when it’s not the same as others.  I must shift my focus from myself and allow God to tell me my story.