So I’ve finally decided to start a blog and share my individuality, just like everyone else. No, I’m really doing this because I think people are unaware of who I really am or are in disbelief about some of my morals or things that I claim to do in my spare time. I think this will give me the time and space I need to set my priorities straight and to focus on things that are really important to me. It would be really awesome if this can open doors to new places and maybe I can meet people who share the same thought processes, and I hope this helps me better understand opinions that are different from my own.
To start off, I finally came up with a few belated New Year’s Resolutions which I would like to keep for not only this year, but to carry them through the years to come.
1. Live “Green”-
Since last summer, I’ve made my own bath and body products or found natural products in stores like Kroger and Publix because I love crafty things, saving money, and knowing that I’m not putting harmful stuff on or into my body. The issue is now… getting my family to let me do these things at home. I’ve moved back home for the time being to save up money for a house and to get my finances in order, and things that were a big concern in Athens just aren’t important here. For instance, I recycled probably 70% of what we used in the apartment by composting, recycling and reusing. At my mom’s house, we throw away 70% of everything even though we have a recycling bin (why do they have to be so tiny?) I’m trying to weasel my way in by making laundry detergent and setting up my own recycling station so that I can take cardboard and other excess recyclables to a recycling bin somewhere… but these things keep ending up in the trash. They also avoid the Organic label like the plague, and we throw out a lot of food once or twice a week.
I am trying to teach my family the “less is more” mentality because they seem to love shopping and buying products, yet they aren’t so concerned with the amount they use, and even less with the amount that ends up in a landfill. Right now I’m fighting over keeping a plastic bin in the kitchen for fruit and veggie peelings and coffee/tea grounds to use as compost in the garden and telling my mom that just because my laundry detergent is made with only 4 ingredients it actually works BETTER than the store bought brands; also trying to show her that she uses WAY too much dish detergent liquid to wash the dishes (we go through a 30 ounce bottle every 2-3 weeks,) and that that bottle of Seventh Generation dish detergent in the back of the cupboard is not going to bite.
Once, I was obsessed with buying everything from clothes to shoes gently worn or made of recycled materials. I bought clothes at the thrift store, mainly due to a lack of another type of “green” in my pocket, but also because I like the idea of getting extra mileage out of things we buy. I love Cillie’s in downtown Athens for jeans and dresses, yet since I became a senior in college I’ve gotten lazy and just bought new shoes and dresses when I’d completely worn my old ones out. I am going to start going to Goodwill more and I’ve even found a store that claims to have sandals made from 100% recycled paper and shoes from recycled tires! Right now I’m mostly wearing all those expensive ($10 is a LOT to me…) t-shirts I bought in high school for student groups or cross country and track meets. They are lasting a lot longer than I thought, but I need to start dressing my age and more “girly” at some point.
2. Going Vegan-
I’ve tried out a few different vegetarian in the past 3 years, including the extreme raw vegan diet for a few days, and I feel a bit disappointed in myself for simply being “vegetarian”. I claim that I believe in animal welfare and rights, yet for the sake of convenience I still buy traditional cheese that is most likely made with rennet or other animal enzymes. I went vegan for a few months, and since then have opted for vegan items only when I feel like it. I still bake vegan cookies and try to eat things like beans and noodles with nutritional yeast, garlic and olive oil, yet I’ve slacked off as far as cheese and dairy is concerned. Now that I’ve moved outside of Athens, finding alternative food choices is extremely challenging. It’s even impossible to order mac n’ cheese at a restaurant because I’m forced to argue over taking the chicken and bacon out, which is impossible because “it comes that way…” Things like Silk creamer and Tofurkey have disappeared off the face of the Earth. And Soyatoo, Tofutti, or Follow Your Heart? Ha!
I’m hoping to get a job in Watkinsville, which would be a shorter drive to EarthFare and Trader Joe’s, but if that falls through I am going to have to find other ways of getting my vegan fix. Things like vegan sandwich meat and frozen “Chik’n” nuggets are easy to locate, but my quest for vegan mayo and creamer has yet to be completed. Every “Health Food” in the area sells nothing but vitamins, and mostly non-vegan types at that.
3. Finding an eco-friendly, sustainable, or non-profit job-
Lately people have told me that my expectations for a job are WAY too high because I’m looking at the actual job output rather than my salary. They say I just need to find a job making $20,000 or more a year, regardless of what the job is or where. I really don’t want to stay at Papa John’s driving for the rest of my life because I hate using all that gas, and I don’t want a job just to pay the bills. I always grew up believing that your job has a direct correlation with your personality, and that you had to choose carefully what you wanted to be when you “grew up” because you should stick with it. When I am searching for a job, I actually research the company I am potentially applying for because I want to know if they meet MY standards. After losing my dad over a year ago, I’ve decided that my personal happiness is more important than the money I make and the clothes I wear. And the thing that makes me happy the most is living guilt-free. Why would I work for a company that cheats its customers and expect them to treat me any different? Or why should I work for a laboratory that tests on animals just for the sake of making $30,000 a year? Would it really make me happy to make a lot of money doing something I despise? Do people really think that even though I would do horrible things at work that my good deeds outside of work would make up for it?
I want to be selective about jobs and absolutely refuse to give up my search for a job that won’t weigh down my conscience. We cannot expect the world to be a better place if we don’t take the initiative to start the movement ourselves. Remember learning that little jingle, “Treat others as you wish to be treated,” in elementary school? If you don’t follow through with your beliefs, how can you expect others to accept them?
These are a few things that have been on my mind lately, and I look forward to posting more in the future. Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for reading! (^..^)~
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