The thing is, I moved into the city. Living in an urban setting, especially in the North East is a big change and challenge for me. I have been here for a few years and had pretty much given up on trying to grow a 'good' garden. this year I was unable to plant what I had planned on, but I did get some peas in. So we will be hitting the local Farmer's Market and my dehydrator will get to see some use again.
I miss living on the farm. It was so great to just run to the garden if I needed a few extra onions, tomatoes, a head of cabbage, or even okra. The garden was next to the creek which would flood in the spring and fall, enriching the soil. I have some pictures around of it. If I can find them, I'll scan them and post. My heat came from a wood stove, a hundred year old cookstove that saw a lot of use in the fall, winter, and early spring. Our meat was raised by me, though I did have help when it came to loading them up for market or to be buthered. Chickens I took care of myself from hatching to cooking.
I seriously doubt the city would allow me to have a cow or pig on my little lot, though. Ha! We plan to move to the country eventually, though in this climate, living close enough to walk to the store makes sense. We save on gas and get exercise, so it isn't all bad, not at all.
I frequent 'green' blogs, though I have become very disenchanted with most of them lately. They all focus on products. Buy this and you'll be greener! Buy this and you'll save the planet! Buy this and you'll support this person in Whatevertheheckistan.
Sorry, but that isn't green. The greenest thing you can do is try to become as self suffficient as possible. Reduce your consumption of as many products as possible. I respect Freegans and it is a lifestyle I would love to emulate. While I am not able to fully live in the Freegan style, I have decided to change my lifestyle as much as I can to reduce my footprint. This isn't in response to the oil crisis, cost of livingg, or anything like that. This is just something I have been wanting to do before any of this became a popular issue.
So, I've made a small list of changes I will be implementing in July. If you'd like, follow along with me on your own blog, if you have one. If you don't, just post something in the comments here when I make updates.
Changes To Make:
- Get rid of one thing I do not use a day.
- Change all bulbs to compact fluorescent (4 down!)
- Compost
- Recycle everything possible (already doing!)
- Line dry clothing (time for a new line)
- Grow more vegetables
- Utilize Farmers' Market every time I shop
- Use reusable bags every trip out
- Recycle the plastic bags we have
- Prohibit in laws from bringing in more plastic bags
Well, there it is. My list of changes. Some things I already do, but not enough, others I fell slack on this year. With the recycling I found a very informative list on my city's website on where I can recycle items not picked up in the normal recycling bin the city provided. Turns out that the hardware store right up the street recycles all batteries! Nice!
I did find a new blog that I fell in love with this morning. You might want to check it out if you are into green living or homesteading. It is called Urban Homesteader and has all kinds of great info.
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