Sensible Sue

Every year, along with millions of people from around the world, we wrap up the hectic winter holidays with sales receipts, cold medicine and photo sharing. A majority of people also resolve to begin the new year with self improvement. This week we transition from 2008 to 2009 and I am on a mission to clean and reorganize my post-holiday home with a symbolic fresh start to the promising new year. I pause, however, to resolve that I will take greater strides in making positive and lasting changes with the way in which I manage my bustling everyday life.

I have known (on some level) about being 'green' as a grade school kid in the 1970's, but the mass number of people at the time were moving towards convenience and production. So, the world became overrun with plastic solutions for nearly everything, along with unconscionable waste.  As a teenager and young adult in the 1980's, I slowly began to delve deeper into my 'eco-conscience' and became aware of modern man's glutenous and perhaps irrevocable toxic ways. Everyday decisions with regards to packaging, garbage, energy, are opportunities for the actions that add up to green, healthy living. One of the improvements I am planning includes a 'healthy home'. That is, I am gaining an even stronger eco-conscience with every cellophane and styrofoam package I reluctantly use, every unwrapped present, every plastic bag and bottle (which I reuse, but eventually discard) and every pile of cardboard and aluminum I devotedly recycle. It is time to pay the price for that fast-paced lifestyle by tipping the lifestyle scale back to a more natural approach to things. It is time to heal.

Change in routine and consumption are an imminent and necessary reality.  Our habits, oblivious waste and acceptance of toxins used in the products we use everyday are now recognized as an ecological threat to humanity and existence on Earth as we know it.  There are non-toxic, sustainable solutions that we can easily adapt to with respect to 'convenient and productive' while becoming prosperous. Global changes happen when mass numbers of people are enabled to move in a similar (and positive) direction. It starts with responsible people who take it upon themselves to tap into their 'green conscience'.

to be continued...

In the 1970's, the grass roots environmental movement was happening, but no one was sure what to make of it. Living in the land of plenty, eco-conservation seemed much too great an effort, I suppose. A small population of people were maintaing a healthy environmental conscience, but not many would take it as far as carring their own shopping bags around. That kind of behavior was mostly for 'hippies', and I was not raised by hippies by any stretch of the imagination. But, I was raised by the core value of money (that is, we hadn't much - and had to make things last) and basic common sense. Since then, we have all come to learn that what's good for the Earth can also be what's good for our wallets. It just takes the ability to adapt and maintain better habits.

My environmental conscience is strong. This kind of thinking makes perfect sense. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for people to be prepared with their own totebag when they go shopping.  I use totebags to shop at every opportunity. I am not the only one. I will note, 'hippies' may have taken over the consumer conscience and we're better off. The term 'hippie' today has a broad spectrum - it's mostly a personality trait. Perhaps if more people were hippie-esque, it would mean 'hippie grass root efforts' are practiced by more people. To give credit where credit is due, iIt's not just the 'hippie' type of person making grass root efforts. I see many elderly people with canvas shopping bags at check-out, too (it pleases my heart).    

Stores have to provide a shopping bag for their customers, no fault there, I am glad they do, but, if ninety percent of those bags are improperly disposed, we have a serious waste situation. Fortunately, there's an easy solution. Even if fifty percent of the shoppers carried their purchases around in ther own bags, there is significant cost savings opportunity and a reduction in consumer waste. Many stores are selling bags for less than a dollar, or better yet, they are giving them away during promotions.  If they didn't have to buy as many shopping bags to provide the shopper, their costs go down, and (ideally) passed along to the customer (usually in the form of store improvements, not necessarilly as a rebate, but ultimately for the shopping experience). Consumer behavior is powerful.  

The term, 'grass roots' means 'people or society at a local level rather than at the center of a political organization'. It means it may take more personal effort to achieve long-term results. And so it does.

Get used to carrying totebags. It's for the 'greater good'. When people act independently for the 'greater good', they are enriching their soul, and the souls of those they inspire. (We could all benefit from soul-enrichment) Perhaps a strong eco-conscience is achieved by simply choosing to become self-sustaining when shopping. A totebag is a universal item with so many practical uses. It's hard to measure the value of a simple totebag. 

If you need to figure things out, look no further than your laundry. The decisions made in the process of doing laundry tell us all we need to know about our overall approach to life. We sort, wash, dry, sort again, fold and put away our laundry, much the same way we manage our lives. If we are to maintain our lives using the same principles of maintaining our laundry, theoretically, we can simplify our complex lives quite methodically. 

Laundry is a never-ending task. An efficient system is critical. Like life, you are never actually 'done with laundry', that is, until you die, but then you're reincarnated and have to do it all over again (This same theory could apply to doing dishes, personal grooming, grocery shopping, etc.). Perhaps we should give these menial things more careful consideration. If our daily systems of operation - the very things that keep us functioning - are a mess, then, perhaps we can fix the large-scale things from the very core of our operation. If your system is well-maintained, and life is going as it should, then there is no need to reform it. If you leave your 'laundry' pile up, it may be an indication of how you maintain your life, as well. 

Often overlooked, laundry is considered a low-grade, yet necessary part of life. Everyone, including Presidents and Queens, Donald Trump, et al of that caliber, need a functioning system of laundering their personal belongings. Albeit, Presidents, Queens and Donald Trump do not actually 'do their own' laundry, they too have a need for a functioning system. For those of us in the larger class of world citizens, we simply must tend to our own baskets of laundry.

First, we sort. Sorting our lives can be like sorting laundry. We put things in categories and sub-categories. Family, home, work, friends, etc, for example. I have a system of separating my laundry; bleach whites, heavy duty bleach whites, cold bright colors, cold dark colors, khakis and medium colors, delicate fabric and urgency of speed of return. I personally prefer cold water washing because not only is it energy efficient, but because it is overall cleaner. A friend once had an exterminator to her house for an insect problem. He gave us sound advice; nothing (meaning, creepy crawlies thingies) can thrive in the cold water. Most everything washes away in cold water. I adhere to that advice and think of that conversation to this day. So, the biggest pile usually goes first, barring the need for a speedy return on any particular item. Water temperature - the very basis of the entire process - can be a fateful decision.  

Now, consider the 'detergents' you use in the laundry process. Detergents give you cleansing power. Is it the proper chemical composition for your needs? What about the 'chemicals' and choices in you life. Do you know their long and short-term effects? What are you adding to the water? Adding detergent is another critical step in the laundering process. Are you practicing environmentally and personally safe habits? Before you add detergent and close the lid, ask yourself those questions.

In life, we deal with 'high maintenance' people or situations from time to time. Things occasionally require our special attention. They remain separate from the rest of life's pile. Certain laundry items, for example, must never go into a heated dryer. We must be mindful of our actions. Once things are properly dried, we need to fold, or perhaps iron before we put anything away. We can't just leave things strewn about, now, can we?

We all have standards. They may be defined by the manner in which we simply do our laundry. Those standards are decided when we sort, wash, dry, iron  (or not), put away and ultimately wear what it is we launder. Do we respect and care for our things? Do we leave it up to someone else? Do we tend to things too much - perhaps not enough? Are we satisfied to wear whatever is within reach, merely for the sake of convenience? Or are we more particular about decisions?

My mother says, if you earn a degree, trophy or medal to be proud of, hang it in the laundry room where you'll always see it. She's right. We spend so much time doing laundry, why not make it a place of pride and efficiency? Incidently, she has several ribbons of acheivement which she hangs over the washer. They serve as a personal reminder in recognition of outstanding performance and tireless efforts. 

If we take the time to do something right, it is time well spent. Even if it is as menial a task as laundry.