Lean, Mean, Green Machine

Lately, I've been interested in becoming more "green." The notion of living a more sustainable lifestyle, reducing/reusing/recycling, and cherishing today's resources to ensure they will be there tomorrow, well, all of those goals are really conducive with my desire to have a simpler, less materialistic, more grounded lifestyle. However, like the famed philosopher Kermit the Frog once said, "It's not easy being green." For starters, recycling...sure, in theory it seems easy, but there's sorting all of the trash, figuring out what can be taken to the local recycling center, which only takes certain items/plastics and not others. Then, there's keeping my kids out of the bins. See, my kids view the recycling bins like they would ball pits at Chuck E. Cheese--which means I sort out the items again and again. After that, it's getting the recyclables to the center, which is a 30 minute drive, one way, from our house, with children in tow. So, needless to say, our recycling endeavors have hit a roadblock.

Then, there's the desire to buy humanely produced, organic, local foods...the hope to fulfill as many of those labels as I can when I purchase an item at the grocery store. But, there's a lot involved. Sometimes, we as consumers have no idea whether or not an animal has been humanely treated in order to give us our eggs or our milk. How do we know if a worker has adequate working/safety conditions producing our crops/coffee/what have you? A lot of organic foods cost more--a lot more. Some people don't have access to inexpensive, locally produced meats and produce. Making informed food choices is not so easy, either.
 There's SO MUCH that can be done--using less water/electricity, buying used items whenever possible, cloth diapering instead of using disposables, growing your own food, writing to congressional representatives over pertinent environmental issues close to our hearts, riding bikes or driving fuel efficient cars instead of taking big SUVs everywhere, buying fair trade coffee and chocolates and produce...as mere individuals/families, it is SO easy to get bogged down with feeling like we need to do it all. I applied to become a Mom Ambassador for Moms Meet, a group of several hundred thousand moms who meet in small, local groups to discuss eco-aspects of parenting, families, pet-raising, and the like. I so desperately want to be more "green," but I think to myself, "Ugh, I'm such a fraud. We aren't even recycling, for God's sake. I'm not green at ALL."
But, the thing is--it's not about doing it all. It's about doing the little things. Little changes add up to something majorly big. I try to buy more used items, or to donate and give away what we don't want/use anymore to compensate for the new things we buy. We are trying to make more informed choices regarding what we eat. We buy more organic foods, we're eating less dairy, I have vowed to either buy locally raised farm eggs or cage-free organic eggs from the store from now on. We make more of an effort to become more involved in our community, to appreciate the outdoors more. Doing the little things is better than nothing at all. One little thing leads to another, which leads to another, and maybe it inspires someone to make a change in their own life, which leads to MORE changes, and suddenly, one little thing turns into something BIG. Little things can change the world. Even if we're not recycling.

You Reap What You Sow

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the concept of karma.
I was watching a rerun of Wifeswap this afternoon (don't judge me), and the episode featured a Rastafarian dad who had very little money in his bank account, but kept saying he was putting his savings away in a "karma bank," and that it would be Karma/God (or "Jah," as he referred to a higher power) who would provide, instead of an actual monetary savings account. 
While this man was, throughout most of the episode, one wild Froot Loop, the notion of building up good deeds, kindness, charity, selflessness, and so forth, in a sort of "karma bank" intrigued me, and isn't too far removed from what most people believe in, whether it be in religious form or simple human decency.
I'm a big believer in the idea of karma.  For me, it's a very simple concept--you treat others as you want to be treated, and in general, they will reciprocate.  It's not entirely perfect because others have free will/agency, but as a rule, it's very true. 
Today, the hubby and I had the opportunity to take the Goob to McDonald's for a one on one dinner (yeah, I know, we've been eating out...I so failed at my challenge), and we observed two very noisy teenaged girls, who seemed hellbent on making fun of everyone and everything.  Whether it be the workers, or people who went in and out, nothing was out of bounds.  A very mentally disabled young man came in to enjoy some milkshakes with his grandmother, and I assumed that these girls would have the common sense and decency to spare him their taunts, but he received the worst of them.  They mocked his walk, his voice, his grandmother, his shyness--you name it.  I watched in horror as his face burned in shame, as his grandmother blushed in embarrassment and sadness for her loved one.  She tried to gently scold the girls when they left, and they simply laughed in her face.
I looked at Goob, and I thought to myself that, foibles and all as a parent, that I instill this basic notion of simple kindness and common sense into him.  I was also embarrassed that I didn't speak up, instead choosing to watch in pity and disgust. 
I know it sounds awful, but as they say, karma is a real you-know-what, and I hope that sooner rather than later, these girls will be clobbered by the karma train.  I firmly believe that we reap what we sow, and, as my aunt said to me, karma has a way of providing a "punishment" or "reality check" far better than we ever can.  How sad that we sit there instead of doing something about these situations.  How I wish I had told those girls a thing or two.  But, I sat there.  Did sitting there add anything worthwhile to my "karma bank?"