Organic or Bust

I sat in front of the computer screen clicking through the questions and answering honestly. The class: Global Environmental Issues, The assignment: calculate your environmental footprint. As I sped through the answers I felt pretty good about things. Our tiny little apartment didn't have a/c and I left the heat pretty low in the winter, we always wore sweaters and sweatshirts anyway. My dad had trained me to turn off lights, we tried to buy locally whenever possible, I'm not a vegetarian, but steak or burgers hit my plate once in a blue moon; and although my '04 Isuzu SUV was a gas guzzler and I was putting in an hour commute six days a week I felt that I lived in a way that was much more sustainable than the average American. Then I hit the "complete" button and my jaw dropped. "If everyone on the Earth lived like you we would need 2 1/2 planets." I stared at the screen, shaking my head in disbelief. Seriously? Two and a half planets?! But we lived on a small farm, we get eggs from chickens, we have two gardens that feed us through the summer, I barely ever eat red meat, we use a propane tank for our heating, the reasons raced through my head. The car was a significant factor contributing to my obscenely large footprint, but there wasn't a lot I could do about that one. Single parent of two kids, back in college. The SUV in question had been paid off two years ago and the lack of a car payment was a God send, for the time being.

That moment was the turning point. It had been coming on slowly through this class. I can't say to what lengths I'll go, but I knew I needed to make a change. In my life, in my kids life, and hopefully set an example that would allow my kids to enjoy the world for years to come. As a nature lover, I'd always been worried when news anchors started brandying words like, "global warming, overpopulation, or climate change," around. They made me nervous. Concerned with the dangers that our beautiful planet faced. Throughout the semester I began thinking about my kids and their kids, and even their grandkids. What did I want them to be able to experience. The way things were going, would they be able to see the Great Barrier Reef, or watch sea creatures in tide pools? Would there still be rainforests to explore? How many more animals would we force into extinction? So, when our final assignment came, to write our own Environmental Ethics Statement, (see below) I made a decision. It was time to make a change. I struggled with thinking, "how could just one person make a difference?" "Will my choices change the state of the world?" Maybe not, but I wasn't willing to do nothing when I could do something. And at least I could teach my kids ways to help, and live a more sustainable lifestyle.

Our mission: to change as many non-sustainable habits into sustainable ones during the summer months so that once school starts we are living as sustainably as possible, and hopefully inspiring others to do the same!