and now I shall save the world

I thought of starting this post out by saying, "I'm on a new kick" but that would really make it sound like something that won't last. Instead, I could say, "I've started something new" or "I'm making some changes".

What am I up to, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

When I was a wee girl scout, we had an environmentally-minded person come and talk to our scout pack about the world and how when we were all 30 it would be dead and we would all have no planet to live on anymore. The answer? Recycle. Just recycle anything you could and that would save the world. Oh, and turn off the water when you brush your teeth.

I was a pretty sensitive child and let me tell you, I almost cried during that little "pep-talk". I'm sure my face was all contorted in fear (much like Plava's becomes when she's concerned about something) and I remember feeling almost nauseous with the idea of watching our planet implode. Where would we all go? Would we have to move to the moon?

Thankfully I recovered from that trauma. What that person was thinking putting such frightening, dramatic images into the heads of a group of little girls was beyond me, but I suppose it was all in the name of saving the world.

So yes, it is along those lines that I've been thinking lately. I feel that it's time I became more responsible. Not only environmentally though. Socially, economically, and spiritually, if I may. I'm tired of hearing that there are people in villages in countries where they don't have fresh water and passing it off as another "sad fact" as I wash my dishes in constant running water. I'm tired of producing bags and bags of garbage, knowing that it doesn't all just "disappear" when the garbage truck takes it. I'm tired of watching socially and economically marginalized people wander down the street with little to wear and no support and doing nothing but thinking about how sad it is. I'm tired of buying cheap toys that I throw away, cheap clothes that wear out after a couple washes and that I know were made by under-paid workers in a far away country. I'm tired of using plastic bags and see them gather in a huge mound in the back of my pantry.

In my mind, if I could go to the extreme, I'd start sewing my family's clothes, not get anywhere near disposable diapers, stop using chemical cleaners, deodorants, and soaps, eat organic food, and more local food, use the heater, oven and hot water less, sell my car and get a bike with a trailer for the little ones.

In reality, I don't have time to sew my family's clothes. I don't have the money to eat organic food. I can't completely give up driving unless I really want to be an at-home mom.

What can I do then? Well, I can use cloth diapers on Pito. I can use less water when I wash the dishes. I can turn the heat down. I can have one day a week that I don't use the car. I can research clothing companies and be more responsible with where I shop, and buy good quality clothes that will last me a while. I can keep going to swap meets to buy my kids used clothes. I can clean with vinegar and water rather than chemicals. All these things, I've started to do already, and it feels really good. It's time to take a little more responsibility for what I've been given, the country and wealth I've been born into, and the world around me. Here I go.