Quote

For some reason, I'm in the mood for quotes this week.  Here is one I found on Crunchy Minimalist:


“Normal is getting dressed in clothes you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it.” ~Ellen Goodman

Quote

"We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power.  Then will our world know the blessings of peace."

~William Ewart Gladstone

Quote for the Day

"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit.  What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

~Rev. Tony Campolo

Silly Saturday

Making a Difference

I read a lot of blogs on a variety of topics.  I find myself going through phases with the types of blogs I read.  Lately, I've been most interested in reading Quaker blogs and blogs that support my four basic Quaker testimonies:  simplicity, nonviolence, equality, and integrity.  For me, part of living with integrity is being aware of the consequences of my actions and trying to make a difference in the world.


One blog I've added to my regular reading is Be More With Less:  Life on Purpose.  Recently, Courtney, the author of this blog, talked about her Starbucks addiction and how, over the course of a month, she discovered that she had spent a whopping $225 there!  She felt that this spending was not matching her desire to live "life on purpose" and so, the next month, chose to spend that exact amount in a way that would line up with her values and would make a difference in the lives of others.  I recommend you go here to read about what she did with her money.  And maybe it will inspire the rest of us to do something similar.

Stuff We Don't Need

This morning I spent a little bit (okay,a lot) of time catching up on blog reading.  One blog post in particular made me do a double take.  Serena at the Everyday Minimalist had a post titled "Americans buy a trillion more than they need each year."  A trillion dollars?  She had a link to a Wall Street Journal article that you can find here.  It seems this spending frenzy began in the 1970s and we haven't looked back.  In addition, the article points out that this estimate is probably low due to what is considered "essential."  


I'm still reeling over this number and all that it means.  Americans have gotten to where we have so much money that we have to find ways to waste it.  That's just wrong, especially when you think of how 1.2 billion people lack clean drinking water; 5,000,000 people starve to death each year; 656,000 individuals in the US are homeless; and 1,345 million people live on less than $1.25 a day.  (And I'm sure these are very conservative numbers.)  It seems to me that once our basic needs are met, we should be searching for a way to ensure that the basic needs of others are met, as well.  Having some luxuries is fine - but over $1 trillion?  


Last night I attended a planning meeting for our local CROP Hunger Walk that will take place October 2.  We had two representatives from Church World Service, the sponsoring organization.  One of the reps, Mary Catherine, told us a story about visiting Bolivia and how $200 raised through CROP Hunger Walk's made a tremendous difference in a small village.  This money was used to purchase seeds, tools, etc. to begin a community garden and food cooperative.  After the meeting, another member and I were talking about this and I commented that the average America wastes $200 on a trip to Wal-Mart.  Seeing the blog post and article just confirms my observation.


Americans need to learn to distinguish between our wants and our needs.  Since so many in the world lack basic needs - food, water, shelter, and medical care - spending $1  trillion seems morally wrong to me.


P.S.  After I wrote this blog post, I found this article entitled "Nearly Half of Americans Are 'Financially Fragile'" from the Wall Street Journal.  In a survey, Americans were asked  “If you were to face a $2,000 unexpected expense in the next month, how would you get the funds you need?” In the U.S., 24.9% of respondents reported being certainly able, 25.1% probably able, 22.2% probably unable and 27.9% certainly unable."  So, according to these articles, half of Americans are on financially shaky ground yet are still able to spend over $1 trillion on nonessentials.  Go figure.

Wellness Wednesday

Two weeks ago I mentioned Michale Pollan's advice on eating.  The three main things to do are: 

1. Eat [real] food.
2. Not too much.
3. Mostly plants.

In follow up to yesterday's discussion where I mentioned the environmental causes of cancer, I realized that this advice has health benefits that extend beyond just eating the food.  

When we eat real food, we avoid the processing and packaging that creates the chemicals that ooze into both our bodies and the environment.  Processed and snack foods always come in brightly colored boxes and bags.  A variety of chemicals go into making this packaging.  In addition, the process of turning the items from real food into food that can be patented also creates chemicals that must be released into our environment.

Reducing the amount of food also contributes to a reduction in processing and packaging, thus helping to save our environment and keeping more chemicals out of it.  Eliminating snacking and seconds means fewer packages.  Fewer packages means less output by factories

In our modern society, in order to produce large amounts of meat, companies must concentrate the animals into small areas to save time and money.  Eating mostly plants means fewer concentrated feeding operations that cause at least two problems:  1) Increased use of antibiotics to prevent the illnesses that result from overcrowding.  These antibiotics are released into the environment via the animals' waste and create antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  2) The creation of "waste lagoons" that are at risk of spilling into our environment and polluting our water sources.  

The above photo (courtesy of the Sierra Club) is a picture of a concentrated feeding operation. Those bodies of water are not what you think they are.  They are some of the waste lagoons I just mentioned and I believe the name is self explanatory.  Given the flooding and tornadoes we've experienced throughout the United States, these lagoons are not safe, no matter how many precautions are taken.  (Read more about these lagoons here.)


Ultimately, good health is more than what we eat.  It's about our environment, as well.  Making personal choices to reduce chemical and other pollution in our world is essential to our well-being.




(Photo credit:  http://www.sierraclub.org/communities/factoryfarms/)