"Candles" by Jupiter Firelyte
My resolutions for the new year all involve small changes that I hope will add up to a large change over the course of my lifetime. Slowly but surely, I am replacing products and ways of doing things with more sustainable and eco-friendly versions of the same. This is one of the most important aspects–if not THE most important aspect–of my spiritual practice. Honoring the Earth and our gods and goddesses with words, candles, and incense is all well and good, but actions speak louder than words, as they say.
This year, specifically, I want to:
- Buy local produce and other food whenever possible
- Switch to all-natural body and hygiene products
- Replace harsh chemical cleaners with more environmentally friendly ones
- Minimize use of big box retailers, especially for food
If I stop and think too long about how my life–all our lives–impacts the planet, the weight of destruction makes it hard for me to want to do anything. I start to feel that even by turning on a light I’m killing habitats and animals and ecosystems that we’ll never get back. I start to follow the path of human destruction to the very end, where we’ve poisoned the planet so thoroughly we have to start eating dead human corpses alá Soylent Green, or worse, we can’t live on it all.
I don’t want to live in that world. I don’t want to eat genetically engineered crops. I don’t want to put poison into my body through pesticides and dioxins used to bleach my feminine hygiene products. (Dioxin, by the way, being the same thing used in Agent Orange in Vietnam.) I do not want to breathe in smog and drink heavy metals.
So I am changing.
"Human Intervention" by Kelly Lynn Thomas
This process began in earnest in March when I needed to lose weight. After some research, I came to the conclusion that following an organic diet full of vegetables, fruit and healthy proteins and whole grains was the best and easiest way to accomplish my goals. Three months later and 25 pounds lighter, I knew I’d been right. In addition to losing the weight, I also felt amazing. My body was functioning at a level of efficiency I’d never experienced before. I had more energy and felt better than I ever had. Even my daily migraines (yes, daily) had diminished to once a week. Their severity was such that I barely noticed them.
I started paying attention. Everything I’ve learned would fill several books, but the crux of my knowledge is this: to survive, we need biodiversity in all things.
As a Pagan, I take my cues from the “natural” world. (I almost hate to call it this, because that word has been co-opted and is used in marketing campaigns for things that aren’t even remotely natural–also, things like oil are natural, but that doesn’t mean I want them in my body products or in my food!) The Earth got along swimmingly before humans evolved, and I trust that she’s thought of most everything already. Rather than re-invent the wheel or try to control anything, I look to the, let’s call it more-than-human world, for guidance. A healthy forest has many different kinds of trees; a healthy community, therefore, should also have many different kinds of people.
I’ve already made a lot of great progress on many of these resolutions. Earlier this month, we joined a local CSA. I’ve already bought a new bottle of natural shampoo. We replaced our dish and laundry detergent with vegetable-based ones over the summer. But there are many more changes we want to make. I hope to discuss them and the brands and stores we use here, under the category “The Sustainable Life” throughout the year. I’ll tag each post with “sustainablelife2012″, too.