Sometime in the middle of last month I discovered, via the website for Mothering magazine, the One Small Change Challenge. The idea is to make one new change in your life each month between now and Earth Day that will have some kind of a positive green impact. Well of course I got all caught up in the idea of just what that change should be, rather than actually just doing something for the rest of January. I already did a lot of the things on their suggested list of changes - use cloth diapers, reusable shopping bags, recycle, eat and buy locally, support my local farms, use a low-flow showerhead (not to give myself too many pats on the back, but you know...). So I was determined to find something new and interesting to do. The idea that came to mind was a packaging-free month for February - not buying anything that didn't come in bulk or in reusable containers and use that as a way to start thinking about ways to reduce our output of trash generally.
Well, February 1 rolled around and I found myself in the middle of making a recipe that called for 2 things that only came packaged, and I didn't already have any at home. A quick trip (on foot) to the closest grocery store and two packages later...Day 1 and I was already failing my challenge. So I abandoned that project in favor of finding some new and interesting challenge (maybe I'll take this one up again next month?).
So where am I going with this? In the middle of last week Cassidy and I were visiting a friend and her kids. Even though it was still muddy outside from all the rain, the sun was out and we soon gravitated into the yard. The kids were digging in the mud and mixing it with grass and flower petals in plastic containers to make "soap". Cassidy was crawling around the yard too, making her own version in a tiny bowl - a single blade of grass and a couple spoonfuls of dirt. I looked over and she had dirt on her lips too (clearly she'd been doing some taste tests as well...). Brant stopped by on his way home from work and we all biked home together. As we rode home, Cassidy was so peaceful and happy and I felt the same way. When I was thinking about it later, I realized that was the change this month should be about: doing more of what matters. Spending time with others or in activities that are simple, free, good for us and good for the earth.
I've heard from other stay-at-home moms who say they find themselves spending too much money shopping for different random stuff. I know how they feel. I too have sometimes found myself randomly cruising the aisles of Grocery Outlet looking for new bargains (half-price packs of Newman-O's anyone?) - shopping out of a sense of bored isolation. It's like shopping fills in those gaps when you go through your day as an isolated mother-child pair. An unsatisfying consumerism that isn't good for us or the earth. So the rest of the month will be about finding new fun ways to fill our time with the things that matter, the things that leave us with the peaceful and happy feeling at the end of the day, and that reduce the needless consumerism that has such an impact on the earth. It may be activities with others or it may be just the two of us, but I look forward to finding out. I think what I really like about it is that it's a change that gets me excited about what we can do - not what we can't.
Here's are some pictures of a recent fun excursion:
