Is That the Best I Can Do?
Bar Soap? Is that the best I can do?
I am barely a month into this journey and I already feel easily discouraged. I want to make all of these changes over night. I want them to happen quickly…not one bar of soap at a time.
However, I am trying to make changes only as I am able to write about them. Writing paces me and helps me process the impact of each change. Writing forces me to go slowly even though it may feel frustrating. I hope a slower pace will allow me to maintain each change.
In the meantime, I thought it would help if I wrote out a list of things I would like to accomplish this year as I learn to live like Grandma. This is not an exhaustive list but a start. Yikes!
Adopt a general attitude of “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Can or freeze and store as much food as possible
Eat seasonally, eat locally
Maintain my garden and prepare for next year
Compost
No eating out or ordering in
Make homemade versions of our favorites - pizza dough, bread, tortillas, etc.
Cloth napkins - no paper towel
Find a coffee percolator
No microwave
Use fewer small appliances in general
Save and reuse as much as possible
Learn to fix broken items
Hang dry my clothes all year
Cloth diapers
No new clothes for me or my hubby
Buy clothes from resale shops for my kids
Use hankies for cold and flu season
Homemade laundry soap
Homemade cleaners
Homemade hair and beauty products
Safety razor or straight razors for shaving
No make-up or less with minimal packaging
No nail polish or other chemical based products
No hair dryer or straight iron
Use less water and use leftover water
Use less toilet paper
Follow the rule, “If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.”
Use a Diva cup - not disposable tampons or pads
Gas free lawn care
Paint my walls with low or no VOC paint
No movies or TV (for me)
Choose quiet over the radio
Walk more
Drive less
Some of you may already do many of the things listed above, some of you may do a few and some may do none at all. If you already do something, then teach me how to do it, if you want to learn something new, try it with me, and if you are too overwhelmed, think about things you can do in the future. No judgment here. This is a movement toward a more sustainable and simple lifestyle. I do not think I will ever declare that I have arrived. I hope I will always be moving forward no matter how slow - two steps forward, one step back.
I am reading a book by Anne Lamott called, Bird by Bird. It is a how-to book on writing but I think the following words really relate to my Grandma journey:
“E.L. Doctorow once said that ‘writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice about writing, or life, I have ever heard.”
And that is how my journey feels. I feel like I am driving in the dark. But if I steadily move forward I know I will cover significant distance over the coming year. I hope I will be surprised at how far I have come when I look back.
Do you have any suggestions? Is there anything you think I should learn to do like Grandma (or Grandpa)?
[...] How Healthy Are You? - Review the Facts Healthy is the Best wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIs That the Best I Can Do? Published by April Hadley on July 28, 2008 under Grandma Challenges, Initial list of challenges Bar Soap? Is that the best I can do? I am barely a month into this journey and I already feel easily discouraged. I want to make all of these changes over night. I want them to happen quickly…not one bar of soap at a time. However, I am trying to make changes only as I am able to write about them. Writing paces me and helps me to process the full impact of each [...]
April, the object is to live well. If you want to be totally frugal you could become Amish and renounce the world. I think you will be happier if you are a little selective in your choices.
We use a french press and it makes the best coffee!! =)
Also, I have much experience in the realm of cloth diapers and am more than tickled to share knowledge!
I too will second the french press as being awesome - and frugal! only making one cup at a time helps me cut down on waste. I would advise you though to research the microwave…depending on the alternative method you choose for cooking, the microwave might actually be the greener option. Just food for thought
Hey April,
I started on a similar journey a few years ago, though for somewhat different reasons. We do a lot of the things you’ve discussed but my main priority has not always been to be “green”. It started as trying to make healthier choices for my family as well being more ecologically conscious. Now I am really focusing on having a simpler lifestyle. So I do have comments and suggestions from experience and I figured I’d say hi first.
My parents sent me a link to your blog and I’ve been following. I decided it was time to comment
We are in Ft Worth TX now…. so some things are easier to do here and some harder. My biggest advice is that if you try to make too many big changes at once, they will not stick. You really have to “own” what you are doing, believe it is right inside yourself, otherwise you’ll resort to the easier way. Unfortunately our culture makes things so easy even when they aren’t the ecologically or healthwise best choice.
Changing to cloth napkins is a relatively easy change. It was one of our firsts. I have a drawer of different size napkins as well as a stack of washcloths, for hands/faces/counters/table. I rarely use paper in the kitchen however I do have a few paper napkins that I save from eating out so that if I need to use something for a greasy mess I have those. When the washcloths become nasty, I use them for cleaning rags. I have a small hamper on my dryer that holds dirty kitchen cloths and then I throw them in with the towel laundry.
More later I guess, don’t want to overwhelm your blog
Leah (Frye) Schwedler
April,
My sister LJ forwarded me your blog. I’ve been following it avidly because I have been feeling the same things as you and wanted to see how you were going to tackle it all. A couple items on your list I was confused about because I wasn’t sure what they are: Is a coffee percolator something different from a regular coffee maker? Also, what is a safety razor, I am assuming something different from a disposable razor?
My husband and I have been trying to garden/compost, air dry our laundry and use our bikes or walk more often in an effort to be less wasteful. I have found you have to think ahead more and be willing to plan, but I have actually been enjoying it. Good luck to you!!
Hey there, I’m on the road with you. It is a journey. I love teh approach you have taken because I think so often about my frugal grandparents who had 3 little kids as the Great Depression hit.
Just as an aside there have been posts on several blogs lately about judgment we who are living this way get. Some judge for the attempt, others judge the lack of green prefection.
So, I wonder then (without judgment) what is main emphasis for you? Is it being green, a return to simpler times, frugality…. I know for me it is a combination of things - often folks thing green is the main driving point - and for me it really isn’t - it’s the way of life which includes the green stuff. That would be my question about the mircowave - lower energy may not be the 1st priority.
We still have left over paper products and liquid soap that we’re using up before going without. However, we have always used cloth napkins (face cloths work geat here) and cloth wash rags. I have some that were a fundraiser for our local IPL. We used cloth diapers of the velcro variety. I strongly suggest the diaper liners that you can lift solid mess out of.
I also: line dry, make my own laundry soap, bake bread, grow a garden, raise chickens, quilt….
On the other hand, I’ve been known to shop at walmart or IKEA, get new clothes, eat meat, use fertalizer…. though less than those who don’t think about it.
I’d like to be Amish, myself.
Love the idea of a list. So simple but I haven’t done that yet. I’m still new to the green changes, too, and I’ve been haphazard about what changes I make. And I’m eager to make them all at once, too
I have a friend who has a theme. One month it was reduce waste. She switched to gDiapers and started recycling. Another month it was energy: CFL bulbs and adjusting the thermostat. I think the organization would be helpful, but I haven’t attempted it yet, b/c I want to change everything at once.
It is funny, I was talking to my grandmother this morning telling her that I’m thinking about planting more edibles, even in the front yard. I said that it is becoming a trend and that a lot of people are planting their own food these days. “Well, they should,” she says. She and my grandfather are about 80 and they’ve always had a garden, some blueberry bushes and I don’t know what all. She cans tomatoes and beans every year. I have always taken it for granted. Now I’m calling her to ask about my feeble attempts to grow food!
Love your header illustration, by the way!
April I have to say that I have only browsed your page but I know that I will frequent it when time allows. This is so wonderful. You have done a wonderful job. Keep going.
diva cup rocks. I got mine from a friend at http://www.mom4life.com. she’s the best.
cloth diapers are really easier than most people think. have used both the “luxury” kind and the chinese pre-folds. I actually thought the basic chinese pre-folds were my favorites because of there simplicity. we also used the rice liners that made the messy clean up a bit better. we use a cloth pull-up for Amira who still has a hard time staying dry at night. I think it’s called the Nikky diaper.
I agree that you shouldn’t try to change too much too fast. We just sent our short term volunteers home from Nigeria and warned them to try to produce a mango at a time rather than the entire tree in the first month home. With that said, it’s really amazing how many little things we can do that add up to big differences in our life and the environment.
I was listening to Jack Johnson’s “three r’s” song today as I cleaned and thought of you, my green friend. Keep on driving.
Hm. Please forgive me if these have already been acted on, blogged about, or commented on in a later post. You did mention that we should let you know if we thought any of your ideas are crazy.
Honestly, the only rule in your list that I think is crazy is the yellow-brown rule. Yes, that would save water, but even our grandparents didn’t/don’t do that. Plus, it smells, and is unsanitary. 
You mentioned going without a microwave, and small appliances in general. I would like to note that toaster ovens are a wonderful alternative to the regular oven because they use less heat, electricity, and energy overall to cook food. I don’t mean that you use a lower temperature setting, but rather that it gives off less heat to the kitchen. I love using mine for muffins and biscuits and my husband uses it to broil hot dogs.
Painting the walls - rather than using a low/no-VOC paint, why not go without painting them at all? Unless they need it, that is. A friend made a great point to me lately when we were talking about eco-friendly cars and houses: it is often more wasteful to throw away something that we already have in order to buy a new eco-friendly replacement, than it would be to keep using what we already have.
Finally, I must admit that I admire that you are going to try to go without going out to eat, use a safety razor, and use a Diva cup. These are things I could not change about myself, and I admire those who can. (Though I do need to eat out *less,* and I have a re-useable razor so I’m only buying new blades, and I use OB tampons, which have the least-possible packaging, I think.) Actually, really and truly, I admire you for going through all of these changes. 
I hope that many of them stick for you even after your year is over.
And I thank you for putting up with my flood of comments as I make my way through your blog. I like it when people ask what I think, so please let me know if I’m getting too overwhelming.
