Living Our Values in the Day-to-Day

It is so very easy to lose sight of the big picture, particularly when it comes to making mundane, daily decisions in an ethical way. Budget, convenience, location, aesthetics, all of these factors have interfered at one time or another with trying to live our lives in a more sustainable way. There's also the fitting-in factor; its not uncommon to see people towing their groceries by bike in the city but it sure is weird out here in the suburbs.

As I reflect on the past few years of our life as a family and focus my energy on the forthcoming year, I find myself feeling sheepish at how much we've slipped away from our intentions. Its an ebb and flow, really, and we're not totally lost. Our ideals are still there, the intentions, the discussions - the foundation is solid. Its in the day-to-day that we really screw up.

I took the trash out two weeks ago and was gobsmacked by how much we had accumulated in one week. We're some of the most "sustainable" people we know and yet we throw out so.much.crap. I stumbled upon zero-waste blogs through an article about a Paris capsule wardrobe and I've gone down the rabbit-hole. I cannot stop thinking about ways to reduce our waste and remove poorly-made, disposable or shortly-lived items out of our lives.

I read somewhere that the practice of sustainability is like a table, held up by concepts like frugality, simplicity and some other good stuff that I cannot remember for the life of me now but I'm sure I agree with. Reading the article, I thought "yesssssss". Gardening, permaculture, and the big picture concepts are what turns Jay's crank when it comes to "greening" our lives. For me, its the smaller details that get me going: buying less and buying with quality in mind, choosing fair trade and ethical products, thinking of how our daily choices impact the earth and other people. That $5 t shirt is a bargain for me, but it sure costs a lot to the earth and the person who made it. Minimalism and simplicity appeal because life with young children is chaotic and my brain naturally hums along at a good clip; I crave space and peace and time not spent consuming or cleaning what has been consumed. Jay and I will each play our part in holding up our sustainability table, by focusing on what we are naturally drawn to. That's a comforting thought.

I've been furiously "Pinning" and scribbling notes in my notebook as I come across ideas, blogs and articles. I've decided to organize my thoughts a little bit. Going forward, here are some of my areas of focus (noting that its all connected, buying less is minimalist but its also frugal and sustainable)

1. Making our upcoming renos more sustainable. Some materials have already been purchased from big-box stores, but other purchases can be made more mindfully while staying in budget.

2. Slowly moving away from plastic and disposable items. We've done without paper towels for a few years now (which people think is SO WEIRD when they come over), but there's so much more we can do. Kiss your Spider-man toothbrush goodbye kids, its going to be bamboo from here on out.

3. Buying less, buying in bulk, buying second-hand and buying items with non-toxic ingredients. Buying only what's needed, repairing what we can, making what cannot be purchased frugally, mindfully or fair-trade.

Daunting? Perhaps. Inspiring? Hells to the yes.

Project 333

Although I tend to jump into new things with both feet, minimalism is something I've been working at slowly. I was initially coming from a place of great excess, spending more than I was earning and using "things" to make me feel better about myself. I didn't see it then, but these days I'm often struck by how far I've come in my approach to consumerism and money. Mind you, I still have a long way to go.  Its not a race, its a process that can take a lifetime and in order to fully learn from the experience, I can't rush through it. So far, the journey has been messy, flawed and full of learning.

One of the areas of minimalism and simplicity that has always been difficult for me is paring down my closet, makeup and accessories. I've always been conflicted about these things; on the one hand, I've loved makeup and fashion since I was a little girl, on the other hand I don't like how important our appearance seems to be, particularly for women. There's two sides of me constantly debating the joys and merits of indulging in this guilty pleasure while recognizing its inherent superficiality. As a result, I've struggled to keep my clothing to a minimum and to truly embrace this aspect of living a simple life.

After grumping around one morning last week, lamenting once again that I had "nothing" to wear, I stumbled on Project 333 again. I've read about this concept before and thought it sounded like a great idea, but I wasn't really interested. Something about it spoke to me this week though, and I decided to give it a shot. Two days ago I picked out 33 items from my closet including clothes and accessories (I didn't include shoes because I love them too much. Baby steps.) I boxed up the rest and vowed to wear only these 33 items (not including outerwear, underwear and gym clothe

s) for the next three months.

Already, I'm amazed at how peaceful I feel looking at my closet, with so much empty space and so few choices. I'm amazed at how many combinations I've already thought of for those few items, and how much easier it is to get dressed in the morning. I'm hoping I'll learn alot over the next few months about what I really like and don't like. I'm hoping I can redefine the word "need" when it comes to clothes, and find a way to embrace both fashion and simplicity.

Reigning in the spending - groceries

Now that we are finally getting settled in the new house and have distributed the profits from the move towards paying off some debt, its time to get started on reigning in the spending. Like most families, we have a rough budget in mind but I think that's the only place the budget really exists - in our minds! We are fortunate to have good incomes and therefore not have to live paycheck to paycheck, however we are spenders rather than savers and we've made some poor choices in the past. We'd like to change that.

Step one was signing up for a budgeting program online - I chose mint.com and so far, I really like it. Its linked to our accounts and does most of the work for me, which is good (I'm lazy and will find any excuse NOT to review our accounts and budget). Another benefit of this program is there's no lying, excuses or fudging - what you've spent is right there in front of you in black and white. And oh boy, there are some surprises to be found.

Groceries are an important part of our budget - we like to eat well, and we like to eat healthy. Couponing has never held much appeal for us as we don't seem to buy most of the products that have coupons. I don't mind spending a good chunk of money on quality food as I believe there are other costs to what you eat beyond your grocery bill - namely your health.  However, I was shocked at the amount we spent this month on groceries - $1500. YIKES. My imaginary budget was about $650.

So how did this get away from me? Part of the problem is that we do our shopping in a few places, namely the farmers market, a typical grocery store, a butcher, Costco, a bulk food store and an organic food co-op. Without keeping track of how much of our weekly budget has been spent in each place, its easy for the costs to spiral out of control. I'm pretty good at sticking to a list but there are times where I"ll buy things on a whim. And, to be honest, I'm not one to look at prices - I buy the best quality I can find because I think its worth it.

So, how to stick to a budget while still eating the healthy foods that are important to us? I have some work ahead of me, so here's my plan:

1. Research prices - if one of us is unable to volunteer one week for the co-op (a condition of membership), I might end up purchasing the items at the bulk store or even the grocery store. To be honest, I'm unsure of how much the prices differ between these options and I need to have a better idea of how much I'm paying at each place.

2. Set a realistic budget - clearly, I'm way off base with my expectations. We are about to add another mouth to the mix, and if kid #1 is any indication, I may as well budget for a grown man right from the get-go.

3. Get creative - I've thought about making my own yogurt for awhile and I definitely need to start making my own chicken stock rather than buying cartons of pre-made stuff. I'm sure there are other ways I can save by not choosing the easiest route.

Ways we already save money?

1. Toiletries (ok these aren't really groceries, but many people  buy them with their groceries) - I use apple cider vinegar for astringent, oatmeal soap from the bulk store, coconut oil for moisturizer and we get our toothpaste from the co-op.

2. No junk or processed food - we don't buy pop, chips, pre-made convenience foods and very little juice.

3. No pre-cut items - we don't buy broccoli florets, cubes of cheese, etc.

I have my work cut out for me, that's for sure. I'll report back when I've devised a new, more realistic budget and a plan for sticking to it!