It’s the second week of Science and Sustainability month, and this time we want to know what you have done to lead a more sustainable life. Be as specific or as general as you want. Do you reuse items that you’d normally throw away, bike instead of drive, compost your trash? Have you made dramatic changes to your lifestyle in order to live more sustainably? What is your rationale behind these changes?
And more importantly, have you tried to make changes that ultimately failed, either because it was too expensive, too much extra work, or just stopped making sense? Are there changes you want to make that you can’t? How do you balance the sustainability ethic against the pressures and conveniences of modern living?
Three years ago we left the comfort zone of city life. We purchased an old house and land in the gorgeous Kickapoo Valley of Southwest Wisconsin and have turned it into a green homestead bed and breakfast. We feature local, organic fare, including what we grow in our own garden. We make our own soap for the rooms, laundry detergent and cleaning products. Laundry is line dried (except for those very rare times when clouds and stars misalign). Organic Valley is just down to road, so taking advantage of dairy products produced locally is easy. We have kept our fuel efficient vehicles, which are both nearing two decades old now. We installed solar hot water and improved insulation in the house. We have chosen to do many things ourselves, especially after learning what we liked and did not like from the pros. At the end of the day, we find that there is tremendous satisfaction in doing things for oneself, for the planet and saving money to boot. This has been an amazing lifestyle improvement that I would not trade for anything.
Comments from the Facebook Fan Page:
I don’t do as much as I could or should. My excuse is that I spend all of my free time playing with my two little ones, an endeavor I currently prioritize above nearly all others. However, I am slowly taking sustainability measures as my kids grow old enough to participate. Our vegetable garden gets a little bigger (and more frequently weeded) each year, and this summer we’ll be building a compost container together.
If I had established a sustainable lifestyle before having kids, I would be doing better now. Hopefully, I can raise these two to do better than I did!