Monday, October 15, 2007

I thought I would actually participate in this today. Blog Action Day, all bloggers uniting to write about one topic - the environment. Now, for regular readers, you know I will not be getting on a political soap box to tell you what you and others ought to be doing.

What I will do is talk about my own experience. In 1990, I was just married to a crop duster. Earth Day came around and I realized that I was married to a person who judged to be doing terrible things to the environment. As a former flower child, I found this extremely disconcerting. I decided to take a different approach so I wouldn't feel so guilty about this. I decided to do whatever I could do to impact my own environment.

I cannot change other people, but I can change my own actions (with the help of God.) So instead of worrying about factories belching toxic fumes, I can worry about my own consumption of fossil fuels - yes, that means my very own car! In Denver, we have virtually no factories, but we have a terrible air pollution problem. It is caused almost entirely by automobiles. (and I bet if you asked the driver of the SUV who is commuting 50 miles each way to work if he/she cares about the environment, they would say YES! And I wish the Government would do something!) I can limit the number of trips I take. I can drive a car that doesn't use a lot of fuel. I can take public transportation. I can ride my bicycle!

How many plastic bottles am I drinking from and throwing away every day? Can I use my own bottle and fill it with water or stuff and then wash the bottle and reuse it? Yes, that is what I do.

Do I own a dorky grocery bags to use instead of plastic shopping bags? Yes. I use cloth napkins instead of paper. I actually use dish cloths to wash dishes. I clean with rags! And then I wash them all and use them again! They are so much nicer than paper towels and napkins.

My point is - that I do what I can. In AA, I have learned to sweep my own side of the street instead of standing in my own garbage complaining about yours.

Now, if you have read all of this, thank you. This is as close to political that I will ever get. And if you haven't read about my half-marathon, scroll down and read about it - it was fabulous!!!

"We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do." -- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 77-78