Most of us, when we think about making a change, go hog wild. We're going to clean out all the closets today! We're going to only buy organic and free trade! Which works for about ten minutes and then reality sets in. When are we going to find time to clean out all the closets? The only fruit your toddler will eat is bananas. So then all your best laid plans go out the window and you think: Forget it, this is too hard, we can't do this. We've been there and we had to find a better way — one that worked. And then a friend of ours (who's really good at this sort of thing) shared her method with us, and we realized it could apply to everything, from saving money to making better lifestyle choices...
Instead of cutting out things in our life, we move them around like a puzzle; instead of doing a whole project, we break it down into pieces; instead of tossing everything out and starting over, when the time comes to replace something we make a different choice.
Gradually changes start. We replace one bulb with a CFL, we postpone our haircuts for every two and a half months instead of every two months. We go grocery shopping every ten days instead of every week. We're not ready to stop eating meat altogether but we go meatless a few times a week. We'll feed our toddler bananas and every other day. We make a list of all of our favorite clothes on paper before tackling the closet or we turn all our hangers and just observe for a month or two what we're actually wearing. Gradually, change happens. We're running fewer errands and using the car less, we're walking more, we're eating more locally grown vegetables, we notice we never wear that green shirt and it goes to a friend who loves it.
How did this change happen? When did this happen?
Not overnight.
[image from Erica Tanov's Secondhand Beauty]
this is AWESOME advice. and it applies to just about everything in your life: especially diet and exercise!!
view rosiemoth's profile
Good advice, if you toss everything out and buy new organic/fair trade stuff (I'm talking about your closet and fridge, as you are, cleaners is a different story) then you are not being environmentally friendly at all. Use things up first please!
view Hollie's profile
Why are hair cuts not green? Just curious. Or are they just not cost-effective when frequent?
view MODERnestS's profile
This is excellent advice for all aspects of my life! Change can happen one step at a time.
But what about bananas? Are they not green? I'd feel bad keeping them from my toddler even if they're not 'green'. Myself, maybe.
view lella's profile
I like "going greener." But seriously, what's wrong with bananas? What about organic bananas purchased at your local co-op?
And we "tack" our closets? proofreading, let's do it!
view twitteringbirdie's profile
Bananas can only be grown in tropical countries, and thus it takes a huge amount of fuel to transport them to your grocery. Also the species of banana we eat is a sterile monoculture that has a serious fungus problem, eventually they will not be able to produce this plant on a global scale, once the soil it is grown in is contaminated with the fungus you can not grow bananas there. Often more land is cleared to grow more bananas after this.
view Hollie's profile
Great advice! Thank you!
view Catherine W's profile