What’s Gotta Stay

My view on the world and my life in it works better with a coating of humor. And in my almost half century of life I have also found that like the old saying, “You catch more flies with honey…” any issue no matter how bitter goes down better with a laugh. So, saying that I will now on this “Environmental Blog Action Day” share how I am trying to do my part to save this precious planet.

I can sympathize with Mother Earth as I too have reached that plateau in my lifecycle where my body has turned on me. Like George Burns once said, “If I had known I’d live this long…I’d have taken better care of myself.” I am at that point…years of neglect…so is Mother Earth. But only so much can I blame on natural effects of aging I must be held accountable for a lot of the lack of upkeep on my part. Dear Mother Earth too counted on me…us to be her caretaker. As a Mother I can so relate to, “Clean up after yourself!” Somewhere along the line we forgot.

This month as I stared my 49^th birthday in the face with temperatures reaching record breaking highs I thought what a cruel joke. Wasn’t it bad enough that I was now stepping ankle deep into the accelerated aging process but that the Green House Effect was making it impossible to even find a cooling breeze? And this is when it hit me…I WAS making a difference. I had become environmental smart without even being fully aware. I was doing my part to conserve…let me share how I have turned “Green” and maybe some of my ideas might suit your lifestyle.

~Hot Flashes have made it unbearable to stand over a hot stove cooking meals. After about a month or two of my family’s complaining of starving pains I came up with a plan. Casseroles! I can get all my cooking done at one time…freeze, store and reheat at a later date. Saves on energy (mine and the earth’s) and less waste then take-out food.

~Memory Loss associated with the change of life has made me able to save the trees…how? Well I only need to have one book to read as I have no memory of the 1^st chapters once I’ve finished the book. One book…saves paper…saves trees.

~Weight Gain is a not so pleasant by-product. Seems once a women’s body decides to “cut back on production” the opposite of downsizing takes place. But this made me donate all my clothing that doesn’t fit me to a local charity. And I refuse to purchase more and accept I am in a larger size than I was 9 months pregnant. One can find many ways to dress up or down a pair of black sweat pants. I am recycling my clothing…a good thing as Martha would say…I should try another type of “cycle”.

~Paper or Plastic? These tie in with the issue of Hot Flashes…I cook less. And what I cook has become simplified with less use of pre-packaged foods because I am counting fat grams, sugar content, cholesterol, salt, carbohydrates and I have no patience for standing in a grocery store isle reading every box. I find fresh produce and receipts from scratch (or better yet just tossing stuff into a crock-pot) better suits my current situation.

~Energy Wise is easy as I drive less. I have nothing to wear so I have no place to go. Saves on gas. The only thing getting smaller on meis my global foot print.

I will get semi-serious for a moment (which is hard for me) and say my family is truly trying to be more Environmental Conscious. We carrying canvas bags to shop, we recycle paper, glass and plastic in our community. We combine any errands into one trip and the smaller of our cars to save on emissions. My husband keeps our car engines running well. And he uses mass transit (train, light rail) to get to and from work. We have changed out lights in our house into the compact fluorescent bulbs (less bright light but it is a plus when not wanting wrinkles to show). We have our water heaters turned down and set on timers. I do not run a half full washer or dishwasher. We turned down our thermostat in the winter and run less air conditioning in the summer.

All these really were simple and non-life changing to accomplish. We also have raised our daughter to take care of Mother Nature not abuse her. She is very active in her school Green Team and plants native plants, recycles and thinks of the future…her future and her children’s future.

I’ll end with a Native American quote I have always found very meaningful:

“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children.”

Tags: blog action day, environment, menopause