Sustainable Living

It's a simple concept: live in such a way that your impact is not so huge that it threatens living into the future. It's the golden rule applied to the environment around us. And, it's not a new concept. Farmers understand this and have been practicing this way of living throughout time. They new that their actions today were related to what had happened in the past, and had an impact on the future.

Yet, somewhere along the way, we as Americans have begun to believe that our actions don't have consequences. Actually, I'm not saying we've made a choice to destroy our future. It has been a gradual shift in thinking and living. I would say that it is through not thinking that has gotten us to where we are. Thinking takes effort. Thinking about every little detail takes a lot of effort! Yet, every action we take, whether it is thought out or not, has a ripple effect on everything going forward.

This morning, I've been reading about No Impact Man, which is a book & film being made about a guy and his family in NY that chose to live a year with absolutely no impact on the environment. Yes, this is a little extreme...or actually A LOT extreme and not practical for most people. Yet, there are choices that we make every single day that we could do differently. Actually, those choices occur every single hour, minute, and maybe even every second.

Recycling is something big that AEC works on. It's very hands-on, deliberate, and quantifiable. But without the first 2 R's, we've missed something. Reducing comes first and is all about the choice. Reduce our consumption by choosing bulk over individual servings, choosing to carpool or bike instead of drive alone, choosing to give up beef for one day or meal a week, can save over 1,000 pounds green house gas in a year. Reusing is as simple as not throwing away the shoebox but using it to hold something else after shoes, shopping at thrift stores for clothing that is perfectly good, picking up that perfectly good 2X4 from your neighbors project that can be used in your project. (guilty too many times!) Then comes recycling.

I'm attempting to make different choices and hope you will commit with me.