"Local" is the new organic

I think it's awesome that so many people are taking a look here and getting ideas. It really helps keep me focused, and it re-inspires me when it inspires others to take action.

I have talked to several people about this, and I agree that it can't all be on the individual. Of course our society needs to make big changes. There needs to be new laws, regulations, systems in place. It is incredibly difficult to succeed without an infrastructure to support you. For example, if we want to go to Salem, how are we supposed to do that without driving? You pretty much have to drive. Yes, you can carpool, go less often, buy an efficient car or borrow a flexcar. But taking the train or bus is totally impractical. My brother rode his bike a few weeks ago, but I would probably pass out and die if I tried that. Wouldn't a real commuter train that connected all the cities in the Willamette valley be great? Of course it would. But just because society doesn't support environmentally conscious choices, that doesn't absolve us of personal responsibility. We still need to do what we can. We can't control what other people do, or what our legislators do. All we can control is what WE choose to do. Hopefully it sets an example for others. Making a mindful choice to recognize that we can only control our own actions frees us from comparing ourselves to others, guilt and saying "well, no one else does it, so i guess i won't either."

It is frustrating that our choices are so counter-intuitive. For example, it is cheaper to drive than to take Tri-met most of the time. Its cheaper to buy factory-farmed eggs than local, sustainable ones. Even though factory farming is hideously unsustainable, it is subsidized by the government, by cheap fuel, by the environmental damages that future generations will have to deal with. Still, we have to suck it up and support more expensive sustainable choices. Only by doing so will things eventually reflect their true costs.

If you don't have a CSA in your area, look for farmer's markets. If you don't have a co-op in your area, consider starting a bulk buying club with friends. Buy things in large quantities and then divy it up amongst yourselves. There have been a lot of things lately about local eating. Local is the new organic.
It is almost more important to eat locally and in-season than to eat organic. What good is organic if its shipped 3000 miles? The amount of carbon and pollution from that shipment overshadows the good of it being organic. More and more people are looking for local options.

Ok, back to our goals. Today was my first shopping trip since we have set our goals. For dinners this week I decided on: Spinach pesto from scratch (the sauce, not the pasta), greek bean/rice burritos (with spinach and kalamata olives), ethiopian food (i finally found teff to make the bread! its mostly split peas, lentils, greens and stuff to go on the bread), and nachos.

I went to the co-op. Elsie goes to school Monday AMs and i was torn about driving. Its about a mile and a half. Since Jay is working longer (10 hour) days this week, he is driving. Its sad that a 15 minute car ride takes an hour on the bus. It makes it so hard if he works late because it would mean he gets home at 8:00 instead of 7:00. Ok, so he was already driving. As I said before, I can't put Emmett in a bike trailer yet, so its either walk or drive (or bus). It takes me about 40 minutes to walk that, about 4 to drive. I reconciled this by grouping it with a shopping trip to the co-op (as i said, i'm not ready to bus to the grocery store with kids or kid in tow). I brought my cloth shopping bags, my own tupperware, my own used plastic bags (bread bags, already used produce/bulk bags, etc.). I got everything in bulk, even tofu. The thing i love about the co-op is you can buy half and half or milk in glass and then bring the glass back and they re-use it. I think its the only place in town that does that.

I struggled with the local option. That is going to be the hardest, and probably going to require me to revise the goal of "nothing more than 1000 miles away". first of all, because you just don't know where some stuff comes from. The product might be made in california, or even oregon, but where was the flour or sesame seeds its made of grown? There is really no way to know that. The biggest thing that i changed my mind about was dried mangos, because they were from mexico. So i bought dried apples from washington state instead. The yogurt and half and half were local. The co-op lets you borrow or leave plastic containers for re-use, too. They even have bulk corn chips. The main dilemma was about tortillas. One was made in New York, but had more reusable packaging. The other was made in Eugene, OR. SO i went with the local. You can reuse that packaging, its just not the zip-lock kind of resealable tortilla package (know what i mean?).

The other choices I made today were taking my own coffee cup (we were out this morning, so i got some at the co-op.), also the temperature has dropped today and it was in the 50s last night so when i got up the house was 61 degrees. I was tempted to turn on the heat, which has been off for 3 weeks, but then i just put on a bunch of clothes. Its hard for me because i hate being cold. but 61 isn't TOO cold to just put on 3 layers. RIght now, while i'm changing habits, i have to think about almost every single choice i make. Should i buy this? is it sustainable? do i need the heat on? what impact does action X have? i think the longer we get into sustainable habits, it starts to require less thought and diligence.

Last thought of the day: have you noticed that things that are good for the environment, are also good for community? For example, you interact with your neighbors when you are out line-drying your clothes or gardening. You talk to people on the bus. You share supplies to help decrease waste with others at the co-op. You don't talk to people when you drive or sit in your house and watch TV.