Over the past few days I’ve been slowly emerging myself into the au naturale lifestyle. And by slowly I mean r-e-alllllllllly slowly. I bought organic flour to bake a pie for my Dad’s birthday. I bought and used natural peanut butter and loved it. I also started reading Harriet Fasenfest’s A Householder’s Guide to the Universe. Oh, and I dropped my thermostat down eight degrees, making my husband’s nose cold and nearly killing my goldfish in the process.
That’s when I realized that I needed some rules.
Although I realize that this whole process is going to be trial and error, I know that I’m the kind of person who needs to establish some simple ground rules in order to make this work. See, I’m a little prone to fleeting fantasies and grand, overwrought measures. Right after college I made a super-simple screenprinted t-shirt and for about two days I thought I’d reinvented the wheel and could mass-produce my silly little t-shirts for a living. Before I’d even made my second shirt I was researching the cost of shipping and calling about leasing a warehouse in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey.
Needless to say, I eventually realized that my fantasy was a little ridiculous and my t-shirt wasn’t really that awesome. I also eventually realized that I hated New Jersey, moved home to Delaware, and never really thought about that very brief (albeit intense) dream until now. The problem is that I see a little bit of that dramatic sense of urgency coming out again now. I’m less than a week into exploring a natural lifestyle and I spent my lunchbreak yesterday researching the price of a tankless water heater and places I could buy redworms for a vermicompost pile. Still full of whatever frenzy possesses me in times like these, I came home and cranked down the old thermostat to 60 degrees, on a night that was below freezing. By bedtime the fish were barely swimming in their bowl and my husband was claiming his toes were blue. Oh, me.
So here are the rules, the ones that I think will work best for me. Your mileage may vary, but I think this is a good start.
1. No extremes. There will be a day where a tankless water heater, a hybrid car, and homemade soap won’t be extremes, but right now they’re more than I can handle. Start small, keep calm, and carry on.
2. No buying into the hype. Even in the short amount of time I’ve been researching natural living, I’ve found that there are a lot of myths, trends, and opinions. I’ve learned that organic doesn’t always mean better for me or the environment, and that sometimes locally grown non-organic food is the better way to go. I’m vowing not to become a victim of misinformation and to really research things and learn everything I can before jumping in.
3. My budget shall not be murdered. I’ve read that organic brands can be 50-100% more expensive than non-organic. I know that energy-efficient appliances can have a higher upfront cost. One thing I can’t do is overextend myself – instead I’ll look for ways to stay within my budget and still life in an environmentally conscious way.
4. We’re gonna need a bigger boat. Or at least a better plan. I can’t do this totally willy-nilly. I need to make a list of long-term and short-term changes I want to make. I’m envisioning a list for personal products, one for household products, another for home improvements and items I’d like to add and subtract from my life. I’m strangely excited to get cracking on these lists – but then again, I’m a Virgo.
5. Repeat after me: to each their own. I’m not here to preach or to judge, and I don’t want anyone to employ either one with me. I’m not trying to become the world’s foremost expert on a sustainable lifestyle or natural living. There are enough of those in the word. What I’m here to do is change the way I live in ways that I think are important. I’m going to make mistakes. I’m going to post about how proud I am to eat natural peanut butter, knowing full well that there are people who grow and roast and grind their own peanuts into butter. The point is, that for me, just making that tiny little step is progress. This entire year may just be trial and error, taking one step at a time. It’s about what works for me.
6. Waste not, want not. Although tempting, I can’t just go buckwild through my house throwing out healf-empty bottles of shampoo and newly-bought processed foods. I’m not replacing anything until I use it up, otherwise I’d really be defeating the purpose of this exercise. The only exception to this rule might come when I explore the cabinets under my sink and (safely) get rid of all the cleaners I haven’t used in months or years. Which brings me to my last rule…
7. It’s okay to bend and break the rules every once in awhile. Seriously. I’m not going to deprive myself of my nephew’s birthday cake just because it’s not organic. I’m not going to swear off hot chocolate from the packet with dehydrated marshmallows on a snowy night or promise I’ll never snag a bottle of synthetic vitamin conditioner on sale and slather my hair with it a couple of times after it gets dried out from the pool. What I can promise is that these events will be few and far between – or as few and far between as I can manage.
So, there you have it. I feel a lot more focused just having thought out those very rough, rather non-specific guidelines. As time goes on, I might find that I naturally start following more specific guidelines as to what products I’ll use, which ones I’ll avoid, and how I want to do things, but for now this is all I need. Anything more might border on breaking my cardinal rule and before you know it I’ll have turned the heater off and the goldfish bowl will look like Lake Minnetonka in January.
Oh, and in case you were worried about the goldfish (Carter and Richards) you can sleep well tonight. I cranked it up a few more degrees and they’re doing just fine. See?
The Fish are Alright
just act naturally 