Living a green life isn't easy but there are some days that are so rewarding and you go to bed knowing that you made a difference. Then there are days like today where I stand in the grocery store with my produce free balling it in my cart to avoid using plastic bags and everything around me is in slow motion. Looking down and reading a label...what is in this again? Is it certified 100% organic? Is that a real certification or a fake made up certification? Glance up and I see no one around me in the organic aisle and I realize that I have been alone for awhile. I stood there with my mind going to mush as I tried to find the GMO free products I had on my list. Trying to rationalize in my head that having to spend $5.49 on a jar of GMO free pasta sauce is worth it. Why am I having to pay 400% more for pasta sauce just because it is free from GMO's? How will that ever encourage anyone to pick healthier and safer options of themselves and their families? Is this why I am alone in this aisle?
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As I get to the checkout all I can hear around me is "Do you need plastic bags?" "Yes". I only heard 1 person say No. This is a hard pill to swallow. It makes me wonder if all the work I am doing to live lightly is making any impact at all. In just 1 hour today I saw at least 50 people counteracting the efforts we are making. I'm not giving up. I'm hopefully that the sacrifices, struggles, research and frustrations will make it easier for others to follow the same path. But on days like today I'm saddened that the people behind me in line smirked to one another at my produce rolling around plastic free on the checkout conveyor.
Do you have days like I did today? What gets you through?
I think it depends on where you live. When I lived close to Boulder, Colorado people got the stink eye for not bringing their own bags. EVERYONE brought them. Now that I'm in a small town in Maryland, I'm the only one, and it's disheartening. I have really pretty bags, so I'm hoping I some how become a trend setter. ;)
ReplyDeleteChin up! I'm always alone in those aisles too and that's ok. Sometimes I find 50% off stickers on new things I'd like to try and they are discounted because nobody else wanted them. Score for me! Also, every time I make a good choice, I think that maybe the prices will come down if they sell more. If we keep chipping away at what we're doing and letting people know why we make those choices, the prices surely will come down...supply & demand right? Besides, it's not about anyone else. For me it's all about my family and feeding them the very best that I can. As long as we are healthy and happy that's all that matters. That 400% more spent on pasta sauce will probably equal 1000% less spent on health care when I'm older :) Seems decent to me!
ReplyDeleteJen, I feel like this all the time! I get so frustrated not knowing how to reach out to the people who shop with plastic bags and throw recycling in the garbage. I kill myself trying to research the best possible way (for me and for the environment) to do various things in my everyday life, but when I feel crappy I try to remember that as long as the changes I make are better, rather than perfect, I am making a difference.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah ... I do have those days. I'm really not the kind of person who "looks down" on others because I understand that we're all at different points in our journey ... but ... sometimes I just want to scream out loud "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MINDS???". I actually have a post ready to publish next month on this very subject. Sometimes, all I can do is look at the benefits to me personally. The good news ... tomorrow's another day and just maybe it'll be one of those good days where you see your positive influence.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way, and I rant to my hubby when I get home from grocery stores, etc. But then something great happens - like my dad asking to use my non-GMO seeds (when he had no idea what GMO meant a few months ago). Then I think people are slowly discovering what we're so passionate about!
ReplyDelete@Kim - I completely agree. Sometimes I find it even depends on the day! Other times I have been in the same store and the organic aisles are packed.
ReplyDelete@Anon - I still don't know if I can stomach 400% markup on pasta sauce :)
@greenwake - Love that. Better not perfect.
@SF - so we shouldn't actually yell "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MINDS??" ;)
@Jesse - That is awesome about your Dad!