I love the history of my country. I love learning about the many great men who put it together and helped form it in it's infancy. I know we are a young country compared to all the others, but that doesn't stop me from loving our short history.
I love my country's flag. I love the diversity of the peoples and the lands that make up my country. I appreciate the men and women who fight for this land I love, who help protect these freedoms I treasure.
Lately, however, I have begun to worry about my country. Without overly bashing our President, I will say that I do not agree with much (possibly all) that he has done and is trying to do. From bailouts to health care to the canelation of NASA's Constellation Program, to the leadership he has nominated, and even how the oil spill has been addressed. I see people losing jobs, losing their homes, worrying about insurance, mortgage payments, car payments, and taxes.
I not only worry about the freedoms I could lose and the state of the economy, but the state of our beautiful land itself. I worry that the land I have grown to love so much will not be the same land for future children, for my niece and nephew.
I don't want to sit around and worry, however. So here's what I'm going to do. And if you, my reader, have an idea I haven't mentioned, PLEASE SHARE!
1. I'm recycling. Cliche? So? I know not everyone can do this very easily, but in Madison, they will give you free recycle bins and provide pick-up as well. Maybe we do end up paying for these services through taxes, but that is one tax I approve.
2. I'm praying. Maybe this one should be in front of recycling, but this list is not in order of importance. I believe God is bigger than ALL of the things about which I am concerned and it is my prayer that he will protect this country from itself if need be.
3. I'm bringing my own grocery bags. I have a TON from races (it seems to be the new race packet and I love it), and so I have them all in a pile on my back seat. Sure, sometimes I get the plastic bags to use them for poop-picker-uppers in the back yard. But I don't need many.
4. I'm staying aware and voting. This is not something I have always done, but come November, I believe our votes are vital to the direction of this country in the next two years.
5. I'm buying American. Yes, I own a Toyota. I also own clothes made in China, and I think my toothbrush might be as well. But this article clued me in to some things and so I am challenging myself to BUY AMERICAN and protect the jobs of my countrymen and women.
So those are only five things and I KNOW there are more. Tell me what they are. Share with me your ideas and let's challenge ourselves to do all we can for this land we love!
Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteI have picked up some pretty good ideas about ways to lessen our impact on the environment and simplify in general off of these 2 websites:
http://zenhabits.net/
http://mnmlist.com/
A few others that I make a habit of...
I own about 10 one gallon jugs and I refill them at Earth Fare for a mere 39 cents, and then fill up Nalgene-type bottles daily to take with me. Sooo much cheaper than buying cases of smaller water bottles, and there's nothing to throw away (or recycle).
Same goes for my Starbucks habit... I bought a reusable tumbler and almost never use a paper cup anymore. I shudder to think how many I threw away!!
I typically eat a sandwich for lunch everyday, and a long time ago I decided it was wasteful to put 2 slices of bread into a sandwich bag for about 4 hrs and then throw it away (I make the sandwich at work). So now I use the same sandwich bag for a week! Same goes for any chips/pretzels I take with me, or any other non-messy or non-perishable snack.
If you are into cycling... try riding your bike to work one day a week. It conserves resources and is great exercise... and lots more fun than driving a car!
Give away stuff that hasn't seen the light of day in years. If you haven't missed it, then you probably don't need it! It's refreshing, means less to clean and maintain, and it could be the treasure that someone is looking for. I've given away lots of stuff the past year or so.
Thank you for all the great input! Those are AWESOME ideas!!!!!
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