I read other blogs to see what everyone else is up to, what their opinions are, and if there’s something important in this world that I don’t know about yet.
I’m still surprised to find people who think blogs are simply an online journal - a place to tell your personal story, or write about your emotions, etc. Blogs are very personal sometimes, but not as frequently as some people imagine. I find it helpful for sharing your personal knowledge or expertise about a particular subject, or creating a place for posting big ideas (eg. how to make the world a better place) or advice (eg. how to turn your shoe into a water fountain). (Don’t Google that.)
Sometimes I find a blog post that is particularly inspiring or thoughtful, and The Green Divas posted a poem that I read as a kid, but haven’t really understood before, or given much thought. It’s lovely, and I think it shares a peaceful vision of an earth-friendly, sustainable living world.
This poem can probably help all of us remember a quiet, peaceful place in our lives. It makes me think of my grandparents’ home in the country, surrounded by big fields, numerous flower gardens, orchard, and little nooks and crannies that were secret and mysterious, which all turned my childlike perception of reality into one long summer daydream.
Where the Sidewalk Ends
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright.
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
Consider some of the most obvious edits that we can make to our daily lives:
- Changing our light bulbs and turning off the lights
- Carpooling to work
- Starting a garden (and composting to fertilize it!)
- Um, recycling?
- Riding your bike for short distances instead of driving
- Unplugging all unused electronics
- Turning down the heat or air conditioning in your home
The only way to motivate all of us to make such simple changes, and possibly dozens of others, is to help people find a reason, their own personal reasons. People only do what they want to do, right?
This article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine by Michael Pollan suggests a few reasons for living a greener lifestyle, and he also addresses the most basic question: why bother?
Pollan suggests that perhaps it is a matter of personal virtue. Virtue, defined as moral excellence and rightousness, is certainly one motivator. As many people feel anger over watching someone litter (you can see the result immediately), there are others who would feel the same if their neighbors weren’t recycling.
Pollan also suggests that perhaps each individual could influence others to become more conscious of living a sustainable lifestyle, that it isn’t such a lonely effort after all. That perhaps it could become cool to NOT have things, instead of having everything. I think this as a viable possibility. This type of infectious cultural movement is seen in many places - otherwise how could we have such a difference in sustainable living habits in communities from, say, Portland, OR to Omaha, NE?
And, once we find our reasons - whether to feel better about our personal values, to join a hip cultural green trend, or to preserve the earth for our future generations - all it takes is that one bold but very difficult move to make a change, and just maybe join your local carpool or learn something about gardening. Once you start a garden, you never know what challenge you might feel like tackling next. Solar panel roof? You go.
The power of one person. The power of one family. One country. One oil spill.
One Earth Day.
The Power of One was the theme of this year’s Earth Day Omaha. While I originally imagined it referring to the power of one person, it transfers to various subjects.
After this year’s Earth Day Omaha, my coworkers started a discussion with me over lunch. They asked about the events. How it went. Then they started to discuss their own recycling woes, their opinions about being green. My boss asked me what else our office could do to be greener. (A lot.)
So the power of one Earth Day inspired how many conversations, I wonder?
And just whose idea was it to start Earth Day Omaha?
You know there’s usually one member of a family who makes recycling easier for everyone else. There’s one member of a neighborhood committee who initiates green discussions and efforts.
Hey, there’s only one Oprah. Someone needs her to go crazy green. Endorse Earth Day.
Earth Day could join the ranks of Eckhart Tolle and Obama. And Dr. Phil.
You don’t have to be a super-national endorser of feel-goodness, though.
All you gotta do is teach your kids to protect the world for their kids, who can then chide their friends for not car-pooling to school, who then might even convince their parents that they need bikes for trips to get ice cream, and so on.
The power of recycling one newspaper equals putting you in the habit of recycling every newspaper.
I think you get my point. I love this year’s Earth Day Omaha theme.
When I was a child, I had my own garden. It was a tiny squared-off section of my grandparents’ much larger garden where they grew everything from asparagus to yellow squash to sweet corn. They lived in the country, so there was space for an orchard with various fruit trees that grew cherries, apples, plums, and more, and bushes of raspberries and blackberries were a treacherous source of sweetness. There was an entire plot for potatoes - more than we could ever eat - and they raised chickens for the eggs.
Mint grew next to their house, and I’d chew on it because it was fascinating to me that something so weed-like could taste so good. Who knew I’d be buying it at Hy-Vee in little plastic boxes for homemade mojitos 20 years later?
My food’s path from the land to my dinner table has become wide and more complicated than my grandparents’ organic practices. It’s so much easier for the current urban dweller to pick up all of his food from the grocery store, although sometimes a farmer’s market in the summer might call his name.
I’d like you to imagine that you have just decided to move into the country to start your own 20-acre organic farm.
What would you grow? Would the physical labor of working the land, living in the dirt, buying work clothes for their durability, appeal to you?
To be an organic farmer, you would have the satisfaction of providing one of the most basic human needs. You could plant seeds and foster them into green bean plants, dig potatoes out of the soil, kneel to collect ripe red strawberries, and maybe even cook them into preserves to sell at a farmer’s market. You could gather eggs from the nests of feisty hens who have no choice but to give them up, day after day.
If the thought sounds terrifying, I understand how you feel. Most people feel the same way. I have found that these are activities that are more easily approached when you have been raised in a farming environment. But if the thought appeals to you, there are first generation farmers, and with the new demand for an organic food supply, it’s apparently becoming easier to begin your own farm.
This article from the New York Times inspired my post today. It provides a glimpse into the new organic farms, and how they are able to survive in the midst of the current corporate farm take-over. The article specifically mentions two organic farms that have been started by two sets of partners - both a male-female partnership, neither of them are couples - who are first generation farmers. The links throughout are awesome, and the multi-media interactive feature gives some sound clips from the actual farmers.
Even if you don’t feel ready to start your own farm, maybe you’d feel comfortable starting your own garden. Whether you’re growing fresh basil in your apartment windowsill or working a 10×10 foot plot in your backyard, it would at least give you the opportunity to know the exact origins of your food. You could even start a garden for therapeutic reasons, like as a really productive hobby.
Do you like to garden? Would you garden if you had the space and the time? What do you think of being a first generation farmer?
My good friend Gabby has been reading my blog, and she had an awesome question the other day.
Gabby wanted to know what she needed to do to start living a greener lifestyle. She wanted to know what the first steps are to living the LIME life.
Alright, so there aren’t any rules for starting. In fact, I’ve just started focusing on living a greener, more organic lifestyle since I’ve started this blog. This blog is my journey, and I’m inviting everyone else to join.
I’ve learned a lot the past few months. So. Here are three basic principles that I would recommend keeping in mind. While they aren’t necessarily specific practices, the big picture should help to guide you in making greener lifestyle choices.
1. Consume less. This is easy to imagine if you’ve had a parent or grandparent (or maybe you?) who lived through the eras of The Great Depression and of the World Wars - rationing, saving, and reusing products were so important then, and these practices still are now. The word “consumer” seems to have a positive connotation, right, because we’re all consumers, and we like new things. But click on the link to the definition of “consume” and you might rethink the word. Wherever and whenever you can, find joy in buying less and requiring less. Less is more.
2. Recycle and reuse more. Recycle the things that you don’t need, and keep around something that you think you could reuse. Don’t keep too much stuff around, though, or you’re going to end up on that TLC show Clean Sweep, arguing with your family about whether you have valid reasons for keeping your large collection of plastic bread wrappers and teen romance novels from the 80s. Try not to throw stuff away if you can 1) reuse it in a short period of time, 2) recycle it, or 3) give it away to someone who would use it.
3. Support green companies. Hey, you have to consume, so if you’re going to do it, try to buy from a company that is trying to support our environment as well as your health. Look for companies that are using all-natural ingredients, giving back to the community, using less packaging, or supporting green practices in their production process. The little bit extra that you might pay for these details will come back to you in a positive way.
What inspires you to live a greener life? Remember, I’m always learning, too, so I love to hear what you all have to say.
The most recent post is titled: Living Consciously: 10 Things I Have Learned About Myself. The author mostly discusses living healthfully in both mental and physical states. It’s an excellent article, and the entire blog offers little bits of life inspiration.
Of course, I’m eating a tub of Hagen Dazs at 8 PM when he says that he doesn’t eat sugar past 5. Whatever. My ice cream was the equivalent of 148 weeks of happiness, packed into one little dairy pile of Carmel Cone goodness. Bliss. I am more mentally healthy because of it.
I think that his “living consciously” message applies to all things in our lives, though, including living green. Living consciously can be more challenging, but more rewarding in the end.
I’m not sure how living consciously can be more rewarding, but I know this is true. And if you don’t think so, then you should go consciously have some Hagen Dazs Carmel Cone before 5 PM, and you will agree. You can thank me later with a pint or two. (Or twelve.)
Anyone out there have suggestions for organic ice cream?
Going green seems like such a trendy thing to do, doesn’t it?
All in all, the concept seems wonderful. Every single person changing some of his or her small habits to improve the future of our Earth. It can’t be that hard, and really, wouldn’t we like to prevent the possibility of An Inconvenient Truth sequel?
And just what does it MEAN to go green? I set out to discover the truth.
Naturally, I checked Wikipedia.
Wiki explained that “going green” is “a concern for the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment…” yadda yadda yadda. Somewhat helpful, but I needed something less abstract.
I found this girl on YouTube.
To my absolute delight, National Geographic has an extensive website called The Green Guide, which offers a large volume of interesting articles on green (environmental, according to Wiki) topics.
In my initial research on The Green Guide, I was pleased to find a quiz that informs me which Eco Celebrity I am most like. (Ashley Judd, Will Farrell, and Michael Rappaport are just a few.)
Also, I can quiz myself on just HOW green I currently am. Fortunately they don’t grade that quiz.
I want to be a more responsible citizen, and I want to share my journey. Over the next few months, I will be making small changes to my lifestyle, and reporting them on my blog, Why Not Lime? I anticipate some shocking discoveries about interactions between people, consumerism, and the environment. I also expect to reveal just what a person has to do “go green”.
Keep checking my blog for my new “green” discoveries and information. Always feel free to share your favorite environmentally responsible tips as well.
