A few weeks ago, I was in Bed, Bath, and Beyond buying a gift from a registry.
I already knew what I was getting because I'd looked it up online. I asked the lady not to print out the whole registry but to just print the cookware portion. She told me it would just be easier to print the whole thing. I said "OK" and then explained I just didn't want to waste the paper. She then replied, "Oh honey, your little one print-out isn't gonna make a difference. Do you know how many of these things we print a day?" My point exaaaactly!! What Bed-Bath-and-Beyond-lady doesn't know is that I'm not trying to make a huge difference. That's not why I do what I do. I do what I feel like is "right" whether it makes a difference or not. I can't and won't answer for anyone other then myself. I'm held responsible for what Lindsay does or does not do and not for what everyone else in this world does or does not do. We should not make our decisions based on how big of a difference they are or are not going to make. We should decide to do something because it's the right thing to do!
In Psalm 24 David, the shepherd (he probably knew a little bit about the earth and "grass-fed" before "grass-fed" was hip) stated
"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters."
The first sentence of the Bible is..."In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"
If you look at the details of that creation process happening you will see that He spent 5 whole days creating the earth. Five out of seven days!!! That is significant. Why would he spend 5 whole days creating something He didn't care about? Well, He wouldn't. God cares about the earth, and we should too!! When He told us to fill the earth and subdue it, I don't think He meant use it all up and abuse it. When He placed each star in the sky I think He intended for us to actually see them. I think He wanted them to shine brightly down on us and not be hidden from our sight because of pollution and smog. When He created rushing mountain streams, wide, wide rivers and beautiful lakes I think He wanted us to enjoy them and be amazed at their sight...and not dump harmful chemicals into them. For those of us who follow the God who created all of this we should be the very ones leading this charge. Sadly, we are not. Many of us don't even really care that much. This is an area where we as the Church have been sleeping and thinking that we have "more important" things to tend to. It's time for us to wake up! If you are not a follower of this God, then it is still in your best interest and the best interest of your community and world to start taking more responsibility in this realm.
I finished waste week better than I started it, so I guess you could say it was a success.
Remember the seven areas of focus:
I already knew what I was getting because I'd looked it up online. I asked the lady not to print out the whole registry but to just print the cookware portion. She told me it would just be easier to print the whole thing. I said "OK" and then explained I just didn't want to waste the paper. She then replied, "Oh honey, your little one print-out isn't gonna make a difference. Do you know how many of these things we print a day?" My point exaaaactly!! What Bed-Bath-and-Beyond-lady doesn't know is that I'm not trying to make a huge difference. That's not why I do what I do. I do what I feel like is "right" whether it makes a difference or not. I can't and won't answer for anyone other then myself. I'm held responsible for what Lindsay does or does not do and not for what everyone else in this world does or does not do. We should not make our decisions based on how big of a difference they are or are not going to make. We should decide to do something because it's the right thing to do!
In Psalm 24 David, the shepherd (he probably knew a little bit about the earth and "grass-fed" before "grass-fed" was hip) stated
"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters."
The first sentence of the Bible is..."In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"
If you look at the details of that creation process happening you will see that He spent 5 whole days creating the earth. Five out of seven days!!! That is significant. Why would he spend 5 whole days creating something He didn't care about? Well, He wouldn't. God cares about the earth, and we should too!! When He told us to fill the earth and subdue it, I don't think He meant use it all up and abuse it. When He placed each star in the sky I think He intended for us to actually see them. I think He wanted them to shine brightly down on us and not be hidden from our sight because of pollution and smog. When He created rushing mountain streams, wide, wide rivers and beautiful lakes I think He wanted us to enjoy them and be amazed at their sight...and not dump harmful chemicals into them. For those of us who follow the God who created all of this we should be the very ones leading this charge. Sadly, we are not. Many of us don't even really care that much. This is an area where we as the Church have been sleeping and thinking that we have "more important" things to tend to. It's time for us to wake up! If you are not a follower of this God, then it is still in your best interest and the best interest of your community and world to start taking more responsibility in this realm.
I finished waste week better than I started it, so I guess you could say it was a success.
Remember the seven areas of focus:
1. buy only local: well aside from the complete failure of day 1, I actually stuck to this. Many people this week have asked me "why local?" "How is that associated with waste and recycling?" Well, when you buy local the money is staying in your community. You are helping small business owners and farmers make a living, instead of funneling all your dollars to the huge corporate machines. Buying local food also means MUCH less fuel costs to get the product to you. Ok, so back to this week. I didn't buy from any businesses that were not local, and I didn't purchase any nonlocal groceries. I do feel that I kind of cheated by dining out quite a bit though. It would have been much more difficult to eat "only local" at home. Thankfully, though, Augusta has many great restuarants that are not chains. I got to enjoy time with friends and co-workers over the past week at Manuel's Bread Cafe, Bees Knees, Kitchen 1454, Pizza Joint, and Bistro 491. If you live in the area and haven't been to any of these places...stop in and check them out and support your local business owners. I would not have been able to cook in my home using local ingredients without my generous friends Kathryn and Reid who gave me some fresh and yummy veggies from their garden!! Also, a patient brought in some fresh eggs from their farm last week. In the 7 and a half years that I've been at my job patients have brought us many things. Never has a patient brought in fresh eggs......until this week. They must have known that I needed them. I also picked up coffee, zucchini, and squash (lots of squash!!) from the Augusta Market at the River last weekend. The coffee is fair trade and was roasted at Buona Caffe right here in Augusta the day before I bought it. I bought the zucchini and squash from the man who grew them. I love the idea of that. Straight from the hands of the man who grew it and into mine.
2. continue recycling and find somewhere to recycle glass: check. This one was pretty easy. I've been doing this for a while now, so it wasn't like starting a new habit for me. And yes, I was that girl who pulled a box out of the trashcan at work to bring home so that I could put it in my recycle bin. As far as glass...I think I found somewhere. Fingers crossed. I haven't actually been there yet, so we will wait until I go there to see if it's a success.
3. not use napkins or paper towels: check. I successfully went for a week without using any paper napkins or paper towels in my home. Just cloth for me. I'm going to try and make this a permanent switch. I'm in the process now of making some more kitchen towels and napkins out of scraps of fabric leftover from sewing projects and from an old mismatched bedsheet (The color is a really pretty blue and I only have 2 pillowcases and a fitted sheet. Who knows where the matching flat sheet is...) I know this will mean more laundry, but for me NOW I think it's very manageable. I realize that for a family this would be a lot more to add to the already huge mountains of laundry.
4. not use any disposable containers, cups, plates, etc: questionable on this one. After day one when I forgot during lunch, I did pretty well with this one. Yes, my friend Kellie (one of the girls on this crazy adventure with me) and I were the only ones eating off of real plates with real forks during a baby shower at work on Tuesday. The funny thing is that no one really said anything to me about it. My co-workers have figured out by now that I'm "different". The questionable action under this category was bringing takeout boxes from a restaurant. Now y'all know I can't go to a restaurant and leave without a takeout box. I realized that I was breaking the rule by doing this, but I figured to waste food was worse. Plus, the container was made from 100% renewable materials. They don't do styrofoam.
5. join Augusta Locally Grown: failed. I did spend some time browsing the site to see what is offered and to learn more about some of the vendors, but I haven't actually placed an order yet.
6. limit energy/electricity use: this one was hard to measure. I tried to be more mindful of turning off lights and fans and unplugging things. I did have to do 3 loads of laundry this week. It had all kind of piled up on me. I did use cold water though. A lot of energy is used just to heat the water up. I tried using a different cycle on my dishwasher, too. It's a shorter cycle which means the total time it's on and running is less, and it uses less water. My clothes and dishes seem to be just as clean. That will be an easy habit to keep up.
7. carpool more: so-so. I carpooled to work one day, and I carpooled to various events and church a total of 3 times over the weekend. Not a strong finish in this area.
2. continue recycling and find somewhere to recycle glass: check. This one was pretty easy. I've been doing this for a while now, so it wasn't like starting a new habit for me. And yes, I was that girl who pulled a box out of the trashcan at work to bring home so that I could put it in my recycle bin. As far as glass...I think I found somewhere. Fingers crossed. I haven't actually been there yet, so we will wait until I go there to see if it's a success.
3. not use napkins or paper towels: check. I successfully went for a week without using any paper napkins or paper towels in my home. Just cloth for me. I'm going to try and make this a permanent switch. I'm in the process now of making some more kitchen towels and napkins out of scraps of fabric leftover from sewing projects and from an old mismatched bedsheet (The color is a really pretty blue and I only have 2 pillowcases and a fitted sheet. Who knows where the matching flat sheet is...) I know this will mean more laundry, but for me NOW I think it's very manageable. I realize that for a family this would be a lot more to add to the already huge mountains of laundry.
4. not use any disposable containers, cups, plates, etc: questionable on this one. After day one when I forgot during lunch, I did pretty well with this one. Yes, my friend Kellie (one of the girls on this crazy adventure with me) and I were the only ones eating off of real plates with real forks during a baby shower at work on Tuesday. The funny thing is that no one really said anything to me about it. My co-workers have figured out by now that I'm "different". The questionable action under this category was bringing takeout boxes from a restaurant. Now y'all know I can't go to a restaurant and leave without a takeout box. I realized that I was breaking the rule by doing this, but I figured to waste food was worse. Plus, the container was made from 100% renewable materials. They don't do styrofoam.
5. join Augusta Locally Grown: failed. I did spend some time browsing the site to see what is offered and to learn more about some of the vendors, but I haven't actually placed an order yet.
6. limit energy/electricity use: this one was hard to measure. I tried to be more mindful of turning off lights and fans and unplugging things. I did have to do 3 loads of laundry this week. It had all kind of piled up on me. I did use cold water though. A lot of energy is used just to heat the water up. I tried using a different cycle on my dishwasher, too. It's a shorter cycle which means the total time it's on and running is less, and it uses less water. My clothes and dishes seem to be just as clean. That will be an easy habit to keep up.
7. carpool more: so-so. I carpooled to work one day, and I carpooled to various events and church a total of 3 times over the weekend. Not a strong finish in this area.
And.......as the perfect finale to waste week.......tonight walking out of church and through the parking lot across the street I found a little chair sitting out by the dumpster just waiting on a ride home with me. With a fresh coat of paint and some new fabric on the seat, it will be as good as new. I'll make sure to post "before" and "after" photos once I complete that little re-do.
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| 7: an experimental mutiny against
excess "Jesus, may there be less of me and my junk and more of You and Your Kingdom" ~Jen Hatmaker
Next: Spending
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