Time is flying....

Oh, how time has flown! Summer is here and in full swing, and so is our social schedule! One great thing about keeping a blog is that it is kind of like when you were younger and you would go each year to the same part of the house for your new height measurement. You stand there for a moment and reflect on how far you have come.

I work in a small office, and I noticed that a lot of plastic bottles and tin cans were going into the trash (we do not recycle there) each day. I decided that I was going to take them home at the end of each day and recycle everyone else's items with my own. On my 3rd day of doing this, one co-worker told me that she loves that I am so into the eco-movement. Another co-worker told me that I cannot save the planet on my own so why even try. After she said that, she went onto say that once her baby is born, she is going to be filling up landfills with disposable diapers.

It was really hard for me not to say anything about how I want to make sure that we pass this planet onto our kids in the best possible shape we can, and I am sure she can respect that, given that she is pregnant, right?

It's really hard when I come upon people who share those same ideals. I am of the belief that although I cannot single-handedly save the planet, that enough people like me, acting and thinking like me, can surely make a difference. Every little bit counts, right? And why would you make the choice to rain on someone else's parade? Just because I have not opted to have children at this point in my life does not mean I would ever ridicule her decision, nor should she ridicule my decision to become more eco-aware. Although it is everyone's responsibility to save this one precious planet, I have accepted that I am going to have to bear the burden for others (those who will wish to reap when they have chosen not to sow) and work extra hard.

Sometimes my husband gets crabby about my new endeavour. He LOVES to drive - if I would let him, we would just drive around all day on Sunday and do nothing but drive and hang out in the car. I am so aware of every mile we drive, of every place we eat that has disposable diningware, of every item that goes into our trash. In order for me to win the war, I have had to lose some domestic battles, such as my wanting to make my own laundry detergent, wanting to line-dry 100% of our laundry, etc. Today we watched "An Inconvenient Truth" and I think I saw some of it starting to sink in - only time will tell.

Each day I marvel at how far we have come, and how we are now more aware than we used to be. I am hoping that very soon we can move back to our "hometown" which is far more eco-friendly than the blue-collar factory town we are in. Then my trips to Trader Joe's and The Farmer's Market will be the rule; not the exception.