Vote With Your Dollars...a Greentabulous Pep Talk

It can be daunting, this Green Journey.  It's overwhelming at times when you realize how many things are wrong today and how much would have to be done to right the ship.  It can also be overwhelming thinking of all of the ways that you can change your daily life to be more Green.  You can eat organically, get rid of a lot of the chemicals you're using in your home, plant a garden, start recycling...there are so many options!  Don't get overwhelmed.  Just pick somewhere to start and dive in.  There is a phrase in Spanish that I love - "paso a paso".  Step by step.  One step at a time.  Every little bit counts.

And just because you make some changes doesn't mean that you have to change everything.  You can still eat fast food.  You can still fertilize your lawn.  Micah and I still do a lot of things that aren't Green.  We try to find alternatives whenever possible (when we have the motivation), but we don't beat ourselves up about it in the meantime.  And there may be things that you never want to give up or change.  That's ok!  Even changing one little thing will help.

Unfortunately, living clean and healthy doesn't in any way come with a guarantee.  Your friend who eats McDonald's every single day of her life might end up living a longer, healthier life than you do.  The world is a crazy place, and God is mysterious, so there are no guarantees.  Ever.  But that doesn't mean that you should choose to eat McDonald's every day of your life.   It's not about a guarantee.  It's about feeling better today.  Making choices about how you want to live today.  Do your best with the information that you have.  Make the best decision possible.

If you want to make some changes, do it because it feels good to make them, knowing that you are doing your part to make your home and your planet and your body a better place.  Do it because you like working toward something good.  Do it because you can make a difference and that feels empowering.

It's not easy - ever.  It pretty much always costs more, takes more work, or is more difficult to make this choice.  Hopefully this won't always be the case.  Hopefully one day we will go back to how it was 50 years ago, when fruits and vegetables were cheaper than the new-fangled junk food was.  Find options that work for your budget - if eating organically isn't an option financially, then maybe start with making your own non-toxic cleaning supplies to decrease the burden you're putting on your body and the environment (post coming soon).  Or start with just a few organic foods.  Again, just start somewhere.  I intend to continue to post ideas about options for Going Green for those of you who need some brain-storming help.

A yoga teacher named Judith Lasater said this at a workshop a couple years ago, and it totally stuck with me: "Vote with your dollars".  Remember that every time you buy something you are voting for the existence of that thing.  You are telling the makers of that thing that you like it and are willing to spend your hard-earned money on it.  Vote for something life-giving and good.  When I'm paying way more for organic produce or something local, I remind myself "I'm voting with my dollars."  And it's worth it.  This is the biggest way that I can stand up and make a difference in this broken system of ours.

And if any of you reading this are thinking, "Oh, great, more hippie-dippie Go Green propaganda", I want to encourage you to reconsider.  In my experience in church growing up, I came away with the sentiment (not that this was overt, but somehow this is what I perceived) that the whole idea of taking care of the planet was a "New Age" idea that was somehow bad.  Isn't that strange?  Isn't it backward?  I mean, if I believe that God created all of this, then why wouldn't I also believe that he wants me to honor and respect the earth, taking care of what he blessed all of us with?

Vote with your dollars, people.  You have a voice.  Use it.