Change: Slow to Immaterialize

My newbie posts to-date have been primarily preparation and inspiration. The actuality so far is much more incremental than I hoped. But since it's all in my control, why is it slower than I'd like? --Life happens. Company arrived, I fell sick with flu, and time marched on. I'm still not back to my pre-flu health, but the company has departed and I am again becoming excited about taking the next steps in establishing my less than wasteful routines.

And since this lifestyle isn't a fad, and beating myself up for not doing it well enough just yet isn't a healthy motivator (though of course I don't enjoy the feeling that I am not measuring up to living what are my standards for a less wasteful life), I consider it a step in the right direction just that my eyes are open, and change is in progress. It's not an if or when, it's happening! --Just slower than I'd dramatized inside and out.  I wonder whether I would have the wherewithal to be so stick-to-it-like were I otherwise fully employed and creatively and energetically spent? Worse. I wonder whether the desire would even have taken hold in such a regular lassitude. I honestly don't know. But don't get me wrong, I enjoy working...but until I have my house in order, I'm not ready to squeeze all of my juiciest energy anywhere else.

I also know it would be infinitely more difficult to set up the foundation of this or any new lifestyle while otherwise engaged (in work) in my life. So I'm grateful for my present homemaker station. Okay, homemaker isn't the right word, but I don't yet know what the right word is. Unemployed is far from right. I'm in search mode, the search to establish and create my home life to be the way I believe it should be, instead of continuing to exist in it the way I had bygone, due simply to the lack of available energy to make it any other way. So what will the week bring in changes...I certainly don't know and I honestly can't wait to find out.

Letters to Retailers - Use Sustainable Packaging---and I'll buy from You!

Write your retailers. Create the demand.  
(Bea Johnson taught me well)

I find that writing to retailers/wholesalers takes very little time, and for the tiny investment, I receive quite a compensation: the feeling that I am using my voice, shaping and promoting a sustainable demand, and living by design. The very act of writing a quick email infuses me with the resolve needed NOT to fall prey to consuming non-sustainable (or non-sustainably packaged) products.

I started with GlassLock and Dwellsmart. GlassLock...because they neglect to mention that their lids are made of polypropylene (for all I knew they were made completely from a type of silicone).

So, I vow to write my retailers whenever a product I wish to purchase is available only in non-sustainable materials or packaging. For now, I'm applying this to my repeat offenders, items I consume on a regular basis, such as foods, cleaning items, and other supplies that I know I'll need to purchase again and again. One-time buys such as computers are off the hook...for now. But if we who care create enough of a stir with the everyday goods, these one-off ticket items won't be far behind.

Someone's on our side. Check out GreenBlue and their project, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Recommend them to your retailers?!?!

Have you written your retailers...or, are you inspired to give it a try the next time you notice that one of them isn't packaging responsibly?
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May 25, 2011

Dear DwellSmart,

You have a very nice site. It's visually appealing; I want to shop here! But I have a problem. I noticed that while you sell Soap Flakes, you do not sell the product in its sustainably packaged form (cardboard), rather you sell it in the plastic bag. Both are available in 1-lb quantities, so I'm curious as to why you've chosen the plastic version. I also wish to encourage you to switch to the earth-friendlier packaging upon restocking. If you do, I'd certainly buy from you!

Best,

Stephanie in Berkeley
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