Mulling over how I might “improve constantly” this Lent
Updated 2/10: I’m going to leave the following “mullings” as they are for now. because they give a background to my recent thought processes. But I’ve kind of decided what I want to do for Lent this year. It’s basically an overhaul in my way of life and consumer choices, which may or may not last beyond Lent.
1) On the spiritual side, I joined a listserv, which has many resources that are worth reading. One that particularly interests me, that I’d like to do something with this Lent, is about how to write a Rule of Life. I’m going to try to get back to a more intentional prayer life, among other things.
2) On the dietary side, besides adhering to a vegan diet (other than sugar and whatever beer & wine might be filtered with), I’m trying to trend toward “bulk” food, as opposed to packaged or prepared; organic, especially if I want to buy something from “The Dirty Dozen” list; and using what I have, instead of buying prepared food (including pet food and dog biscuits).
3) On the traditional fasting side, I’ve never really fasted before. I’ve abstained automatically since becoming a veg’n about 8 years ago. But this time, I’m also looking at quantity. There are other things besides food that I should fast from. One thing is spending less time on the computer. I may work on that.
4) On the fast from credit card side, I decided to allocate $100.00 per week for gas, food, and other weekly expenses, and try to live on that, using cash.
5) On the environmental side, I am trying to be conscious of all the plastic we acquire whenever we shop, and bringing my own tote bags or asking for paper bags, buying loose items when available or feasable, buying food in glass or cans instead of food in plastic, when possible. I have put eco-friendly light bulbs in the two lamps by my computer, which I use most often, and also on in my front hallway (so far). And I’m limiting myself to eco-friendly personal care products, detergent, dish soap and other cleaners. I’m still using plastic containers that I have. But I am not buying any more plastic wrap, and I am not buying food in my cafeteria at work, because all they have is plastic & styrofoam for our food. (I already recycle, but I want to get away from adding to the demand for plastic products as much as possible.)
6) On the fasting from consumerism side, besides deciding that I might like to pay cash for things instead of using my credit card (hoping to get out of credit card debt a little faster, and getting used to getting by on less), I’ve decided that I will not buy anything besides the weekly necessities.
7) On the charitable side, I’m not sure. I don’t plan on making any additional donations at this time, but will continue to tilt at windmills, when it comes to people promoting charities that contribute to animal suffering, since there are alternatives that we could support just as easily — whether they are promoting “find a cure” charities, or “give a cow to a poor family” charities. But I’ll have to be charitable about how I try to do that….
I’m going to spend more time with my pets. My dog is noticeably bored, and deserves so much more.
9) I am not planning to give up chocolate! I have some great-tasting Wax Orchard (vegan, natural, and diabetic-friendly) chocolate sauce that recommends eating with a spoon. If I want chocolate, I’ll follow that recommendation, since most good-tasting chocolate is not vegan.
10) Last but not least (as I just noticing my Christmas tree in the front room), like every year, it is my goal to pack away all my Christmas stuff before Easter!
Why am I telling this to the world, instead of keeping it private, like we’re supposed to do? Partly because I’m “thinking out loud” in what feels like the privacy of my living room. And partly because I want to give visitors different ideas of what they might like to do, just as (some of) the Church of England bishops are promoting a Carbon Fast, the NCC is promoting A Lenten Fast from Violence, groups like Restoring Eden and others are advocating a Green Lent, and EGR & ERD are promoting support of the MDG’s. These are things I want or need to do. If anyone else wants to, too, great!
Original post:
I’ve been thinking about what I want to do for Lent this year.
First, even though I claim to be a vegan, I cheat on desserts and foufou coffees once in a while. So during Lent, I choose to go the whole time without cheating.
Second, I want to get “back to basics”. So I’ll be using Margie’s shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, detergent, moisturizer & lip balm, (she gives a discount, if people return their plastic bottles) before I use anything that is “organic” but probably contains some chemicals. I have some eco-friendly dish soap and household cleaners, which I’ll use instead of whatever is under the sink and in the cleaning closet.
Third, I hate plastic, but can’t get away from it. (Yeah, sure, I can recycle. But that just goes into more plastic products. And our mounds of plastic will be an eternal testament to human progress — all that is left to remember our species by, hundreds of thousands of years after humans go extinct. I’d rather focus on glass, metal, ceramic, or wood.) I’ll use what I have, but won’t add to it beyond what is necessary. I’ll take my own tote bags when I shop, or will ask for paper instead of plastic. If something like peanut butter or juice or cooking oil, etc., comes in glass jars or bottles, I’ll choose the brands that come in glass. I’ll try to buy bulk fruits and veggies, unless they are from the “Dirty Dozen” list, or unless there is no option but to buy wrapped or packed things like berries or salad greens. I’ll bend for buying the 10 pound bag of carrots for $4.99, for my dog, because I can use the bag for garbage when it’s empty, and can save it until after Easter, if I really don’t want to use even used food bags for garbage. But I plan to make my own granola, and may even try my luck at baking bread. I may stock up on things before Lent, like beans for soups, etc., because they are always in plastic bags. I’ll buy things like pasta or pet food that comes in boxes or cans, so I won’t end up with more plastic containers — or I’ll make dog biscuits, and maybe even kibble. I’ll just see how much I can do in that area. But I won’t buy lunches at work, because all they have is styrofoam and plastic to put the food in. So I’ll have to bring my food to work.
I plan to “compost”. I already throw out my peelings, etc. But because it’s winter, I don’t bury it. It’s there for the squirrels and bunnies.
As for “buying local”, I’ve been boycotting products made in China since the pet food recall. (I’m also boycotting, because of the Pigs of God, and dog bludgeonings I’ve read about.) Besides, most of what I’d be tempted to buy is made out of plastic. So I want food and other things that have been made at least on this hemisphere, if not in this country. And that means I won’t be living on Indian food like I did last year during Lent. But I’ll eat what I have, I just won’t buy more for a while. Other what I need for my mom, or for my pets, I plan not to spend any money at all, except on bills and weekly expenses. I may even stop using my credit card as part of that plastic thing. (But I’m not promising.)
If I order anything from Vegan Essentials, I should do it before Lent, because they tend to wrap things like my favorite Wax Orchards chocolate sauce jars in plastic bubble wrap. You can see that even if I’m vegan, I don’t plan to give up chocolate for Lent!
I should just go shopping between now and Shrove Tuesday, for 6 weeks’ worth of food, and then not shop during Lent. That way, I won’t have to worry if my dried beans or whatever come in plastic bags.
Still thinking about that, and haven’t even gotten to what I might do around the house, or to keep healthy. I should probably limit the time I sit at the computer, so I can take care of those things that I let go.
I almost titled this page “The Pros and Cons of Everything”. It seems that it wouldn’t matter if I use plastic, as long as I recycle it. But trees are renewable. It seems better to buy organic than conventionally raised produce. But ironically, organic tends more likely to be wrapped in plastic, and the organic juices I’ve seen seem to come in plastic bottles. I have to pay “top dollar” to get organic peanut butter in a glass jar. I tend to want to “clean house” during Lent, like tossing stuff from the attic or basement. But if what I want to toss isn’t environmentally friendly (like polyester), I should forget about it untill after Easter. If I need clothes, and want them made in America, or want natural fabric (besides wool), I may have to go to a second hand store, where my purchases of man-made products won’t add to the junk pile or to the people who decide how much of anything they should make.
Added Shrove Tuesday: As I type on my plastic keyboard….
Well. I’m taking the morning off today, to run a couple of errands before I vote and head toward the next winter storm. I spent a little time going through the plastic in my house, and am wondering what to do with it all. Should I reuse the plastic bags I have? Should I recycle them? Should I save them for the next time I have a yard sale? Should I just store them away until after Lent? I can’t get away from it, except to limit future plastic as much as I can.
As a vegan who wants to avoid wool, what do I do about rugs? My old carpet is from the mid ’60’s. Should I replace it with some sort of polyester material? Should I get the hardwood floor sanded down and coated with polyurethane (plastic), to protect it from my pets? What would I want for any future carpets, rugs, furniture, etc? Will I just keep what I have until I die, and leave it for my kids to “Freecycle” or trash? I’ve decided that I’m pretty much limited to cotton, linen, hemp, or whatever, if I don’t want synthetic or anything made from animals. So, I’ve decided that, although it would be nice to have new stuff someday, the alternative would be to shop at second hand stores, to avoid contributing to demand for more man-made products, and to avoid contributing to the non-biodegradable garbage dumps. (The sad thing about second hand stuff is that I don’t feel like I have anything of “my own” — nothing worth passing along as having any value.) By the way, I found the “no impact man’” blogsite last weekend, which was timely. I’d like to do most of what he did, at least during Lent:
http://noimpactman.typepad.com. I might also like to do what a friend did for a year(?), and not buy anything other than weekly expenses like groceries, etc. (including no non-consumable items.) Here’s her article: http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/13Draper.html . Still wondering what to do, and how to do it…. I just think that humankind, who likes to consider our species to be created in the image of God, should have more to show for ourselves than heaps of plastic shipped back and forth across the ocean, and other toxic and non-biodegradable garbage. And I don’t consider myself an environmentalist.
(Today’s post bumped information about the Bali conference, articles about meat and Global Warming, and a link to a HSUS Press Release that mentions the Episcopal church from the home page.)