I do not hide my conservative philosophy nor my Gnostic beliefs and neither do I hide that I live a frugal life. Oddly, being frugal (my husband says cheap )
happens to be, also, often environmentally wise. I thought I would share some my thoughts on how to live in harmony with the environment in this weird, often crazy century.
First, for those of you who won't be reading this because your lights are out... you are being very silly ... I do not have the liberal fascination with the pre-industrial past - the past was a hard, painful place to live, often, life was short and just hard work. I love technology - have you ever tried to write by candle light? I have. Bad for the eyes. Don't even try to make lace, you will go blind.
Our house is only 1000 sq. feet. It is a small house. We have gas heat and burn wood only when we must, 1 toilet (my only complaint) & a small kitchen. The first step in both frugality and environmentalism is to have a smaller foot print on the earth. Having a small house keeps your footprint small, naturally --a large house that demands more energy to heat, more water, more of everything - you even buy more stuff to fill it, don't you? - and then pay for security to guard all the things you have accumulated.
We do not use chemicals on our lawn - the weeds grow happily, which makes the birds and bugs happy. I mow during the spring but I allow the lawn to die in the dry summer. We don't live in a wealthy neighborhood - I would guess it could be called lower Middle Class so no one complains. It saves the effort of mowing and the lawn mower pollutes. I do water my herbs, potted plants, flowers and roses. I use no chemicals on my herbs and flowers but I do use some on my roses.
I work at home. This saves an immense amount of money. I do not spend money on my hair, clothes or on a second car (Each car you own costs you many hundreds of dollars each year.) My clothes are either handmade or bought at Walmart,and, sometimes, T.J. Maxx.I stay away from Malls. My 'style' is American typical, I have fashion sense, of a kind, but at my age I don't try to impress people with my looks, such as they are. (I am losing weight for
health reasons.) I rarely buy fabrics or yarns that can not be washed. Dry cleaning is not only bad for the environment, it is an expense that is mostly unnecessary, with today's lovely fabrics. I also knit, crochet, tat (lace-making) and do bead-work - I would claim I am an embroiderer but I try to tell NO lies - lets say my embroidery is after 'a fashion' and leave it, there. I make most of the gifts we give to our friends at Christmas, which both saves money and is good for the enviroment, I suspect.
We have only one vehicle which my husband drives, a 250 Ford truck. Owning such a truck enables us to save money shopping at Costco, buying large amounts of certain supplies. (which is also good for the environment. ) I have smaller containers for some these supplies that I refill. I do not drive. (never quite got the hang of driving, I like day dreaming too much.) He uses the truck to go to work. We use it for chores, shopping far from home and for one pleasure trip a week, on Saturday morning, usually, to go out to lunch. I usually only see the inside of the truck ONCE a Week ! We run all our errands all at the same time, consolidating them, and then park the truck until Monday morning. I get all my groceries locally - I live in a small suburban town and a nice but not fancy neighborhood - everything else I need I either buy on line or go for a walk. (walking is good for my waistline, also.)
We do not go on vacations. Again, this is to save money but it is also environmentally wise. We go out to lunch, make meals at home, 'hang around' and enjoy each other. Our vacations rarely cost more than 300 dollars. I see no reason for vacations and I love being home with my husband and cats. I do my crafts those weeks and enjoy the sweetness of life - give me a crochet hook and some yarn and I need little else to relax.
We have been using the compact fluorescent light bulbs for many years, since they first came out ! They are less expensive to use and last a very long time. I just threw out our first generation of bulbs 2 years ago. Try them, you may find you like them better than the traditional ones. There is talk now of mercury in them... I need to research this subject, so I won't say more. Try the Ott light if you do crafts and needlework, they are wonderful. The L.E.D. bulbs are still very expensive and not practical because of cost, quite yet. I suggest keeping an eye on their price and that you should try them when you find them on sale. We already are using them for our Christmas decorations but I am not quite fond of their cool colors and dull luminosity, so far - they are at least part of the answer to lighting cheaply. I love a tree bathed in the warmth of the mini lights of the past. I may experiment with mixing the two kinds in the future. (Note : did this Christmas 2007 and liked the results very much!) They are very cheap to use (after the original cost) and they will improve as all technology does, this also saves energy.
Christmas note: do not use colored flocking on your Christmas tree. Natural trees are the best, Recycle them with the season is over. Recycle your wreathe, also. You may want to make your decorations, so many are badly made imports that are made in China. I have used recyclable gift wrapping paper over the years but to be honest, I like the glossy kind that can not be recycled - but I am considering making my own cloth bags for Christmas 2008 - I can decorate them and make them part of the gift, particularly for my dearest friends.
Wash your clothes and dry clothes in the late evening and the very early day. This prevents the need to build more power plants - my local power company tried this for awhile and promised a rebate, but the idea fell through, few did it - I was one of the ones who did. Peek time for energy is in the mid morning and early evening when people are making breakfast or dinner.
Home cooking is not only tastier, it is less expensive and is, also, better for the environment, and better for the family. Prepared foods fill our land fills with waste plastics & containers. I personally LOVE cooking and it is a great hobby.
Eat LESS meat and less take out - I tried vegetarianism and couldn't do it. But less meat is good for you. My husband suffers from Gout and has to eat less meat. (reason for less meat is green house gasses coming out of cow butts, sorry, can't clean this up...
We turn the temperature of the house down during the day and in the late evening - usually to 60 degrees. We have gas heat and use our wood stove for emergencies only.
We walk everyday, at least a half hour - its for our health and I joke that our doctor gave us the choice to walk or die, so we chose walking but it is also a very environmentally friendly thing to do. We walk to the local stores, the library and some of the local restaurants. We buy fresh vegetables and meat every day at the local grocery stores. Anything that we can carry and is sold near by our home - neighborhood living is almost out of style but it is a style of living that is very good for the environment.
My husband owns a motorcycle - a Harley. He uses it to go to work in the summertime. It saves money and GAS to do so.
I've already given you a list of recycling solutions.
So why do I choose this kind of life: frugal, simple, conservative ? It is because I believe that materialism of all kinds is wrong-minded. Frugality is another name for saving money. I consider it a spiritual discipline. I don't need things to be happy. My husband, my cats and my crafts and hobbies are the foundation stones of my life, they give me joy, pleasure of the best kind and a chance to create and serve others. I need nothing more in my life.
The money we save is being invested in our retirement funds. So many today seem to think that a bigger house, more things will make them happy. It isn't true. They work, work and work, spend time away from each other needlessly and wonder why they aren't happy. Things do not give happiness. They just fill up your house and your heart with things. Possessions and wealth will never bring true happiness. Happiness comes when I live a meaningful life: Service to others, Love, friendship, kindness, simplicity, lack of desires (a hard thing to achieve!) and creativity are all what makes me happy.
Although, friends, I would really, really like a bit more space and a second toilet !
We've talked about it and will wait until we retire. I would like to move some place drier with more of a real summer - as you know, I love astronomy, yet never see the stars hardly, here, Part of the problem are the city lights - but part of it is the cloud cover of the northwest - I want stars and warm, beautiful summers, again, and oh, yes, two toilets, please, oh, Lord! will I be happy without these things - Sure - happy, now, people ! (just not warm, it snowed again today.)
These old joints aren't getting any younger ! (God, I sound like my mom, now!)
So any and all who read this ... think about my words and see if you can include these ideas into your life.
I apologize for all the smiley faces - sometimes I just have to be a bit silly. It keeps me young, or nearly so.
