The hard way.

I am really trying to do things by hand whenever I can. It's a process, and I know that. Changing just a little bit at a time makes it easier to manage, and one day you wake up realize you are much closer to your ideal than you ever though you could be and it doesn't feel like it was hard to do.

I've never believed that you can convince people through words...of anything. I've always thought the best way to convince people of something is by example. I don't bother much with political debate among my friends; it doesn't really interest me. That's not to say I don't care about the state of the world, or issues at hand, but I think the best thing I can do with my life is to make my life the best it can be and have my life live up to the ideals I believe in. And in that, I hope that those around me will see that it's not so hard.

I never thought I could run. I just assumed it was something I couldn't do and no amount of talk could convince me otherwise. That was until I saw a friend of mine run a marathon and my mind was changed through her example. If she can run a marathon, I thought, I can certainly run a 5k. And I did. And another since, plus a 10k and a marathon relay!

I hope that others who don't think it's possible to cook from scratch every night, bake your own bread, grow your own food, make your own soil, knit your own clothes and live without a car will see me and realize it's not so hard. If I can do it, anyone can. I'm just trying to add more and more things to my list that make my life more sustainable, happier and healthier.

I'm having a little BBQ get-together this weekend, and I'm baking all my own buns and rolls and I'm making my own veggie burgers. I went to the store to get everything I needed the other day and went to get some paper plates because I don't have enough dishes to cover everyone and it would just be so much easier to be able to throw away plates than have to clean everything three times over during the day. But I got to the paper plate aisle and my options were either non-biodegradable plates for $3.50 or biodegradable plates for $5.00. I just couldn't do it. It wasn't worth it to me to spend that money on something I know is bad for the environment or spending even more on something that's better but still not good when I could just work a tiny bit harder and wash people's plates as we go. So, I didn't buy them. I went to buy bread crumbs too, which I need for the veggie patties, and I looked at the ingredient list in the pre-packaged bread crumbs and it was about a mile long. It's just supposed to be bread! So, I didn't buy it. I just have to make a tiny bit more effort now to set aside some of my homemade bread to toast and use for bread crumbs.

I bought yarn to make a blanket that came in a skien. Normally, at the yarn store they will wind it for you on a machine so it's ready to use when you get home. But, for some reason they didn't ask and I forgot. So, I had to figure out how to do it without a machine. And, granted, this isn't some environmental issue; I'm sure the yarn-winder isn't that bad for the environment, but it turns out it's really easy to do on your own. It's something that takes an extra five to ten minutes before you sit down to knit and it was actually kind of fun. It was so satisfying to make the little center-pull ball of yarn – all on my own! With my own two hands!

So, little by little I'm trying to incorporate more things that do on my own and not rely on pre-made things. Sure, it's a little harder, it takes a little more time. But, what else would I do? Watch TV? That's just boring (aside from The Office and 30 Rock....and Breaking Bad).