Making Waves

I am one of those people born in the early 1960’s. Life sure seemed a lot simpler back then and I believe we had a greater appreciation for the things we had. We had not yet become a “throw it away” society, but that was on the horizon as technology and knowledge advanced us as human beings.

My mom often told us “if you want to make a difference then do your part” “because every little drop in the bucket matters”. It is that teaching that would guide my life and my actions. I view the earth as my bucket and every action I choose to take can be positive or negative for an earth that has sustained my ancestor’s, my generation and hopefully will continue to sustain the generations of our future.

Reducing my carbon footprint is about incorporating reuse, recycling, and composting into every aspect of my life. It is about making conscious choices about the products I purchase and choosing simpler ways in life such as the types of foods I use.

Reducing my carbon footprint starts off with the food I purchase. I love to cook so you will usually not find pre-made, boxed or canned foods in my cart. I like to know what is going into my food and the best way to do that is to prepare your own food using the vast array of natural foods our earth is capable of supplying to us. We are all so busy today and sometimes it seems so much easier to just buy prepackaged and ready-made food. With the internet at our fingertips, quick and good recipes are just a click away. Meal preparation time does not have to be a chore but rather a time to unwind, share in the work, educate our children and grandchildren, and yes laugh and spend time with our loved ones.

At the cash I use my reusable grocery bags as opposed to the store offered plastic bags. Once home in my kitchen I compost pretty much everything that gets used in my kitchen. While my city offers a composting program, I choose to compost for myself. Its’ an awesome reward and benefit in creating your own soil for gardens and potted plants. Developing compost is like watching Mother Nature at work.

It is next to impossible in today’s world to buy products that do not come packaged with plastic, glass, paper, or cardboard. It takes a change in mindset to look beyond the product you are buying and consider its packaging in your purchasing decision. We sometimes really need a specific product, and we cannot avoid the packaging it comes in. We can though make a conscious choice to make sure that packaging is either recycled or reused. I keep two bins under my counter for recycling throughout the day and it makes one easy trip outside to the recycle bin at night. I often have products I purchased that are packaged in glass and this is a fantastic reuse item. Soaking the glass container in some hot water will remove all the labels and then a quick boil in water sterilizes them for other uses.

And if you have household items you want to get rid of instead of sending them to the garbage offer them as free items in your community. There is always someone in our community that could benefit and make use of those items.

My actions do make a meaningful difference, but the greater difference I can make is by ensuring my children and grandchildren are doing everything possible to do their part in taking care of this incredible place we call home.

I have a responsibility as a Mother and Grandmother to teach and instill these values in them. They must know that they are custodians of our planet and that they are accountable for its future survival. We are creating waves and bringing about change because every drop in the bucket that each of them makes is 13 times what I will make.