I want an easy life. I want to spend a minimum amount of time doing things things that I don't like doing (cleaning, sweating, being hungry, arguing) and a maximum amount of time doing things that I do like doing (relaxing, smiling, laughing). Much of what we consider progress today involves a move toward greater convenience + efficiency. Refrigeration, electricity, central heating, air-conditioning, microwave ovens, one-stop shopping, automobiles, drive-thru, computers, cell phones...all convenient + amazing!
Moving toward a zero-waste lifestyle, however, can involve stepping outside of convenience. It is a direction in which we are not often inclined to move...we are used to looking for tips + tricks that move us toward convenience. It will take motivation to move in the other direction. My motivation is caring for God's creation, leaving it better than I found it, promoting its flourishing so that it can in turn nurture my children and all human, creature, and plant life today + tomorrow. With this motivation at the forefront of my mind, it is easier to align my actions.
One place I see this principle at work is in my relationship to food. In order to move toward zero-waste, we have to examine this relationship. The Slow Food movement promotes enhancing our relationship with our food by stepping outside the convenience of the supermarket and stepping into relationship with farmers at the farmer's market + stepping into our own growing spaces. We might grow herbs on a windowsill, join a community garden, or devote our own patches of dirt to food production.
Specifically, I am willing to step outside the convenience of buying a plastic bag of frozen french fries + to get chopping on some organically grown potatoes...and even to grow some organic potatoes of my own (this year's crop shown above). :) My motivation proves stronger than the pull of convenience. As convenience falls away, the connections between soil, sunshine, rain, shovel, my own back + hands, cutting board, + plate deepens.
I want an easy life...but more than that, I want a meaningful life. One choice at a time.
Love,
Jane
Moving toward a zero-waste lifestyle, however, can involve stepping outside of convenience. It is a direction in which we are not often inclined to move...we are used to looking for tips + tricks that move us toward convenience. It will take motivation to move in the other direction. My motivation is caring for God's creation, leaving it better than I found it, promoting its flourishing so that it can in turn nurture my children and all human, creature, and plant life today + tomorrow. With this motivation at the forefront of my mind, it is easier to align my actions.
One place I see this principle at work is in my relationship to food. In order to move toward zero-waste, we have to examine this relationship. The Slow Food movement promotes enhancing our relationship with our food by stepping outside the convenience of the supermarket and stepping into relationship with farmers at the farmer's market + stepping into our own growing spaces. We might grow herbs on a windowsill, join a community garden, or devote our own patches of dirt to food production.
Specifically, I am willing to step outside the convenience of buying a plastic bag of frozen french fries + to get chopping on some organically grown potatoes...and even to grow some organic potatoes of my own (this year's crop shown above). :) My motivation proves stronger than the pull of convenience. As convenience falls away, the connections between soil, sunshine, rain, shovel, my own back + hands, cutting board, + plate deepens.
I want an easy life...but more than that, I want a meaningful life. One choice at a time.
Love,
Jane
