Personal Musings: Part 1

Hey everyone, Steve here. This blog post is the first in a series of "private" thoughts about where I am in terms of my journey to become more action-oriented towards changing my lifestyle and trying to become more eco-friendly in the everyday things that I do.

I'll be blunt. I find it really difficult. I look at the world and see so many things that are happening that conflicts with any sort of harmony towards the environment such as war, soil degradation, desertification, the chopping down of the Amazon, food waste, and a changing climate that results in droughts and floods more frequent than previously experienced or anticipated, among many other things. 

Then I look at my own home, my own life, and have moments like "damn, another loaf of bread in plastic wrapping, that I'll end up putting in a plastic bin bag...madness.". And yet I don't seem to break my cycle of living to bake my own bread.  I do nothing about it but it pains me every time. 

Then I think about all of those other things I mentioned earlier and think "Don't worry, your actions won't make that much difference anyway", and I'm afraid I'm right.  We are stuck in a way of living that is dictated to us for efficiency, profit, power and greed. We won't break that easily.

We have a pretty good life in the UK when compared to other parts of the world, and I'm incredibly grateful for what I have, but I can do more, and I will try to do more, but I won't feel guilty if I can't.  The way I live may been seen as opulent when compared to the people I met on my travels to Everest Base Camp earlier this year, but my life can also be seen as poor when compared to the rich, or even to someone in the next village who owns a bigger house and a couple of flash cars.  Our lives are relative.  We can only relate based on our experiences and perceptions, and regardless of what this is for us personally or what China is doing, or what Shell Oil are doing, we can do something.  It doesn't have to impact anything.

My aim is to live better for me and my family, and if I can, for my wider family, friends and community, not to have an impact on the planet. That is too big a goal and makes me feel overwhelmed.  I won't buy something just because it's "green", but I won't stop doing something because it makes me feel guilty either.  I will start, and keep doing, things that make me feel good about myself that is right for my environment and the nature within it.  I already have a little patch of strawberries and raspberries in the garden, we're planting more plants, composting some food waste, walk to the shops when possible, don't fly often, encourage wildlife in our garden, buy odd household cleaning bits that are non-toxic or plastic. 

I'm trying.  For what good it will do.  And I'll keep trying.

Steve

For anyone on a similar journey, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  How do you feel?  What do you do?