I like the green life. And that means both the eco-friendly stuff and being a total tightwad.
My favorite is when the two intersect.
I call it a venn diagram occurrence.
Examples include:
- Buying only used clothing for my family.
- Concocting meals from odd ingredients in the fridge.
- Biking or walking for errands.
- Being an excessive library patron.
- Stay-cationing.
- Only giving used gifts.
- Hanging dry my laundry.
There are certainly situations where choosing a greener option means spending more money. And yes, I am choosing that option more than ever.
So, if my one year of high school math taught me anything, (yes, you heard me right. Four years of tap dancing, and one year of math!) when in doubt use math to describe everything.
What other venn diagram Non-Consumerisms can you think of? Tell us about in in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m all about triage for the garbage. For some reason garbage and recycling collection in my rural neighborhood is a luxury service. Any extra bags beyond your dinky regulation container and you are in violation. So I have three containers (aside from recycling): compost, burnable paper and true garbage. True garbage, if you are dilligent, can fit in a shopping bag at the end of the week.
Now comes the beauty part. My neighbor is also a garbage triager. We have gone in on one garbage account and could probably invite a third neighbor to split the ever increasing fee if we can find someone as particular about garbage as ourselves. I’d say we’re in the Venn sweet spot.
You probably shouldn’t be burning paper. If it’s safe to burn it’s more than likely good to compost.
I think it’s very interesting how often virtues overlap. Things that save money are often also good for the earth and good for you, and I love that because then I’m not in a spot where I have to choose one over the other.
I love the diagram! There definitely is a lot of overlap, especially in my own life and on the sites I read often. In fact, the frugal wiki site I started, FruWiki.com, has had a good percentage of members who are clearly eco-conscious and have helped with pages on repurposing items and conserving water and electricty.
Even so, sometimes I feel tugged more one way or another and I have to find the right balance or I can drive myself crazy. And I’m far from perfect, though I try to keep going in the right direction, at least.
It’s even harder perhaps since I’m visually oriented. I like to have nice looking things like nice clothes. I try to shop smart, look for great bargains, and only buy stuff I really, really like so that I’ll wear it longer. Even I laugh at myself sometimes, though, like earlier today when I tossed on some rain boots to go feed my chickens and check on my organic garden while wearing a nice skirt and blouse.