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Category: New me

Heirloom GardensBlogNew me
13 Feb 2012
2 Comments By valarie New me

My kids are environmentally conscious, despite me

I started having kids at a very young age. At the time, I had the mistaken idea that money could make people happy. As such, I thought nothing was too good for my kids. Examples of my indulgences include: piles of presents for birthdays and holidays, expensive, well-made clothes and shoes, cars when they turned 16 (more or less), boats, skiing (both snow and water), lessons of all types (musical instruments, languages, art, sports, etc.), trips for competitions, trips for swim and track meets, family trips abroad, Pottery Barn furniture in their individual bedrooms with private baths, swing sets, hot tubs, steam showers, surround sound movies and video games, birthday parties every year, one year I even rented a limo for my 7-year-old daughter’s birthday!

 

In my defense, I never really considered that my/our gluttony was at the expense of anyone (or anything). Of course, I now understand that it is. I understand that when we allow ourselves to live in an unsustainable manner, using massive amounts of non-renewable resources for our own luxurious living, that comes at a price. Other cultures, both now and in the future, are not or will not be able to have the same luxuries. We share this earth with 6.8 billion human beings and not all of us can own cars, can take our families across the ocean on trips, can have six TVs with premium cable, can eat until we need surgery so we don’t kill ourselves, can live in four bedroom houses with two air conditioning units and a den. It just is not possible.

So I have decided to try to change my life, to stop the madness from where I am and in the ways that I can. But what about my kids? No matter what I do myself, there are three of them and they are off on their own, a bit late for me to instill more well-grounded ideals in them!

The good news is – they came through it okay. I can’t say they are perfect, but at least they are open to critiquing commonly-held ideals and they are confident enough to step away when they see something they don’t believe is right. In fact, it was my daughter who inspired me to challenge my long-held attitudes about social and environmental responsibility. She went off to college and transformed. I was amazed to watch her turn into a tree-hugging, vegetarian, academic willing to sacrifice many common comforts for what she believes is right. I am proud of her and happy to report that she has helped me to make some fundamental changes that can and will help me begin my own transformation.

But each day that our kids see us abusing the earth, and people from other cultures, and future generations, they are learning that we, that they and their own kids, are more valuable than others and we continue the cycle of damage. I am proud of my kids, their accomplishments, and especially their open-minded, forward-thinking attitudes. But I am ashamed of the indulgent way I raised them. I would guess that they would say many of the indulgences were unnecessary and perhaps even confusing. I wish I could take it back but I can’t. I just have to start where I am.

 

06 Feb 2012
2 Comments By valarie Featured Posts, New me

I Love Reno

Okay, I’m just gonna say it:  all of us in Reno are feeling distraught by the state of economic affairs here. It has been crushing to our real estate and building industries, drying up sources of spending and forcing many small businesses to shutter. And now every time we are in the news, it seems like our home goes down a notch in the eyes of the rest of the world;  think motorcycle shootings, raging wildfires, gunfire at the IHOP, and plane crashes into our already waning tourism industry. It’s enough to make a Northern Nevadan cry and then shrug wondering, what can I do?

 

Well there is something I can do. And it’s really not a huge sacrifice on my part. I will try to spend my money (which is meager, but it’s all I have) at businesses that are locally owned. This one action can have huge impacts locally. The owners of the businesses will be more likely to stay in business, allowing me to have choices beyond big box stores. Those same owners will then spend their profits locally rather than taking them to the other cities where the owners and stock-holders of Schiels, Costco, Pet Smart, Wine and More, Starbucks, etc, live. And then, those newly-empowered purchasers might use some of their money at my business, allowing me to stay in business myself.

I found an online directory of locally-owned businesses.  I would like to do more research and create a more complete list myself in the future. But I can tell you this, every dollar you spend at Wal-Mart is a vote for corporate America and vote against Reno and its economy. Our dollars are important. Every time we spend one, we are sending a message to those controlling things. The easy cop-outs for me have been; ‘I can’t really make a difference, I’m just one person,” or “I need to buy it there because it is cheaper and I am on a budget.” But we can make a difference. And I know that always starts with me.

The thing about making a difference in the world is that if it doesn’t require any sacrifice on our parts, it probably won’t really make a difference. There will always be a million excuses for why I shouldn’t do something, mainly about money; I can get my organic onions from Costco. They will be less expensive. They might even be better looking. But that sends money out of Reno. If I get them from the Food Co-op, they are locally raised. They are only transported a few miles. They do not come in plastic packaging. And the money stays in Reno, where we really need it. It is a sacrifice, but Reno needs us to quit waiting for something to happen. We all need to support each other because nobody is going to come bail us out. We are in this alone from the rest of the country, but together with each other. We need to come together as a community, hunker down, make sacrifices for each other. And this is a way we can do it together, as a community, as neighbors and friends. Not charity, but foresight. And I know I can make a difference. I support you Reno in both my heart and my actions from here on out.

 

Photo credit: Downtown Reno and Java Jungle by Morgan Holmgren  from Flickr via Creative Commons license.

03 Jan 2012
0 Comments By valarie New me

Christmas is colorful, but costly

I just went through all of my Christmas stuff from my past life. I’m talking boxes and boxes – of lights, of ornaments, of plastic stuff shaped like holly and Santa Clause and snowmen. It is embarrassing. Most of it is junk, even though it may have been expensive. Junk that had to be manufactured, mostly from fossil fuels, and then shipped from Asia mostly, then transported to the retailer, then I brought it home, and now most of it needs to go into the land fill.

 And honestly, at the time, I convinced myself that buying these things would make Christmas better somehow.

Now that I have a 10-year-old stepson, we got it out and made a little Christmas. We gave or threw the rest away. We have a bunch of outside lights too… maybe next year. Looking at it all got me to thinking about Christmas and the way it has become so commercial. Why do I even want to put up outside lights? It seems like Christmas itself has become a celebration of consumerism. However, I do like the way they look. They make the house feel festive and they add light and warmth to the neighborhood. And I suppose if I was Christian, I might think they remind us of the purpose of Christmas. That 2000 years ago, man was headed in the wrong direction and it took the son of God to die on a cross for us to realize the error of our ways and to get back on the right track. I’m still not sure how much the lights on our house are related to the savior of humankind. Or better yet, if we really like the lights, and they are reminding us of beauty and warmth and love-of-fellow man, then why not leave them up all the time? And let’s face it, some of those displays are absurd, with thousands of bulbs, and blow up stuff, and articulating reindeer, and stereo sound playing carols. That type of display is unsustainable.

When I was in the thick of trying to impress people with superficial stuff, about five years ago, I had a huge house and I actually considered paying someone to put the lights up. But my husband at that time was not so much into Christmas and vetoed that decision (thank goodness!).

So, now that I am re-thinking all of my ideas about what is valuable and what is harmful, how do I plan to deal with the whole idea of Christmas? For one, I have enough Christmas decorations to last the rest of my life even after loads of purging. Therefore, I vow not to buy anything plastic that was made in Asia and shipped across the world to decorate for Christmas. I will try to find ways to create light and warmth and that wonderful Christmas glow using my own creativity or that of others. Money cannot possibly buy true love and that is what Christmas is about.

 

Photo credit: Christmas Lights by Paul J. Everett and These people went all out by VSsmoothe  from Flickr via Creative Commons license.