Today’s thankful: That “X” thingy in the upper right-hand corner that closes a window

I have been trying for the past year and some months to eat more locally and have less impact on the environment. The eating locally is going pretty well, and I have made some progress with baby steps toward being more environmentally friendly. Here is the weird part. The more right things I do, the more I learn about things that I am doing wrong or could be doing better. For example, I don’t eat out much anymore, mostly because there aren’t many places which serve honest to God meat raised naturally on a farm with grass and bugs and I just don’t care for the other kind anymore. But when I do go out, it never occurs to me to have the server keep the straw. I learned that tiny tip on greenpieceindy today.

While I was poking around on the web reading blogs from people who are trying to make positive changes, I came across a blogger at thenonconsumeradvocate who is trying to live by the motto, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” Wow, talk about having less impact on the environment. I am so not there yet. And I’m not honestly sure I want to go that far. For the past year I have tried to be more conscious of what I buy and only buy what is necessary, but I have still been known to put things in my virtual shopping cart and hit the checkout button. One item of note, I have found that it is somewhat satisfying to put things in the cart that I want, and then when it is time to checkout, close my eyes and hit the “X” in the upper right-hand corner. This exercise gives me the happy pursuit of consuming without having to pay for it or justify myself to that nasty, judgmental witch in the mirror each night.