Living green vs. convenience

We are asked all the time 'how do you, a five person family with teenagers, live on one modest income?' Well... um, frugally, duh. I keep a strict budget and we follow it. For the most part, you have to give up, what some might call, luxuries. We were amazed at how rich we felt, having more free time. That was, with 3 teenagers, the thing we wanted the most. Time goes by fast, we wanted to enjoy as much as possible.

Well, how do you live green on one budget? I have been thinking about this question alot and the answer is really very simple. It's like going back in time. I remember when I was young we always hung our clothes out to dry, now it's a rarity and is considered 'being green'. We have been very fortunate and prosperous in the past years and virtually everyone has a dryer nowadays. So being green is really a question of how convenient do I want my life to be? Living on one income, I have a lot of time on my hands and a strict budget. This allows me to hang my laundry to dry, to garden, and bike to the farmer's market. All green things to do, but if you think about it ,that's the way life was way back when. A simple way of life is sometimes a green way of life as well. Being green is about responsibility, how will we leave this Earth for the next generation? Will we continue to ravage it until all of our natural resources are gone? Or is it time to give up some of our conveniences to try and save a little bit for our children and theirs?

I challenge you to try and give up just one convenience, and see how easy it is.

Recycle, stop using paper towels and buy some cloth napkins, can you ride your bike to work, the store? Borrow books from the library instead of buying them, stop junk mail from coming to your house, and if some sneaks in turn it over and use the back for your grocery lists. There are a million and one things you could do right now. What will you choose?

p.s. if you want a "convenient" way of getting rid of that junk mail you can pay greendimes to do it for you, $20 a year and they even plant some trees when you sign up.