One/Change

I am hoping that you all get that this isn’t about bread specifically. The bread is only a specific example of a general idea…now that you are more in-tune with the waste you produce, where has your thinking led you?

My thoughts led me to what people did before our obsession with putting preservatives in and packaging everything. (It’s like we are always preparing for some huge disaster and living in fear that things are going to be taken away from us and we aren’t going to have enough.) They either made it themselves or bought it directly from the person(s) that did make it. Food may not have stayed fresh as long, so, people bought what they needed as they needed it. (I know that it wasn’t as always as rosy as this sounds, but I am trying to get at a general idea and not at a full historical account of consumerism.) It may sound strange but, this realization has made a big impact on my thinking. Part of me didn’t understand why this hadn’t occurred to me before since community, connection, and interaction are so important to me. Yet, I also understand that there is a timing to things and when we are ready and the time is right, things will settle in and take root just as they should. In the same way that I feel the need to know the people producing my fruits and vegetables and the land where they are being grown, I need to know those baking my bread and even bringing as much of that into my own home as I can. I have been baking my own bread for about 3 months now and love it. There are times where I love it less and it feels like a chore, but I love baking it in my home and then breaking bread with family and friends. I no longer have to throw out packaging (woohoo!) and when I bought a special loaf of delicious peasant bread, it was from a small, local bakery called The Monkey Tree.

My challenge to you is to begin to find creative ways to reduce the trash you create. Whether it is baking your own bread, buying it from a friend who loves to bake, make your own household cleaners, find a health food/natural remedies/body products store that sells shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc. in bulk (You can reuse the containers you have and you pay by the once.), buy used clothing or recycled clothing, etc. Basically, begin to rethink and find solutions for what you regularly (or not so regularly) buy and the trash you are creating in the process.

I would love to hear any ideas you come up with!

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Environment, General, On a personal note, One/Change tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.