Sustainable Living

I attended a workshop on "sustainable" living on a budget this evening in Portland. Not sure what I thought it would entail exactly but I knew I would be interested in it. And I was. The workshop host covered a wide variety of topics--how to eliminate plastics in your kitchen, how and why to grind your own grains (and even how to make your own flour), why to avoid major box stores and chains (Starbucks, in particular, OUCH! hmmm.... I prefer to stay blissfully ignorant on that one), how to avoid packaging by buying bulk, etc... Much of it I was already familiar with--Nina Plank's book Real Food opened my eyes wide to these issues a year ago. But some of it was unfamiliar and some of it just needed to be reinforced in my brain.
I am still very new to this anti-consumerist world. After all, I was raised in Texas where my entire weekend entertainment consisted of consuming. We could hit three or four malls in a weekend and still have more to buy. And, I get some comfort (albeit short term) in retail therapy. So, I am trying to take things pretty gradually--so gradually that I will never get to that last item on the list--kicking my Starbucks habit. In all seriousness though, there are some things that I want to change (and need to change) like purifying our home, eliminating plastics, gardening, composting, etc.. and there are some things that I just do not want to change. Clothes, for instance. I love beautiful clothes and I get a tremendous amount of joy out of wearing them (of course, most of my life is lived in sweats these days, but STILL). And really, I am ok with this Brian, too, will never take public transportation. One of those things that won't change. We are on this journey together though, finding our way, fumbling around, deciding on what is right for us.