Crescent Shadows
On-Line Newsletter of the Hudson Valley Pagan Network, Inc.

Walking the Walk

Most of us follow a path where we honor the Earth and its living things. In our prayers and rituals we ask the spirits of nature to join us, and many of our deities are closely tied with the natural world.  However, how many of us invite this love of nature into our daily lives and do what we can to care for our Mother?  There are quite a few of us who live in urban areas or have lifestyles that make “voluntary simplicity” difficult, but there are a few minor things we can do that make a difference that wouldn’t disrupt our lives. The key is to change one thing at a time.  If we look at those who have succeeded in complete voluntary simplicity and strive to be like them when we don’t have the will to do so, we set ourselves up for failure from the very beginning because we will simply feel inadequate and not keep up the changes.  I have come up with some minor suggestions for small things we can do, starting only one or two at a time until they become part of our lifestyles.
  1. Cleaning products:  We are using so many nasty things to clean our dishes, clothing, bodies, toilets, and floors.  There are environmentally safe products that are also better for our health! I use Sun and Earth for clothes and dishes, available at Price Chopper.  There are also non-toxic cleaners for dishwashers, toilets, glass, and floors, but most of those you will have to go to the health food store for—a trip that is well worth your time!
  2. Buying habits:  Be aware of all your purchases.  Ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” Avoid excessively packages items.  For example, instead of buying yourself the bag of fun sized packages of M&M’s, get yourself a pound bag and use small Rubbermaid style containers to take some to work. It’s more economical, and saves you from wasting resources.
  3. Pet ownership:  Be responsible!  Get your animal spayed or neutered, use environmentally-friendly litters, and feed quality foods that aren’t stuffed with filler that simply gets passed through the animal’s system and wasted.
  4. Personal behavior:  Recycle, don’t litter, and if you smoke, carry an ashtray with you instead of throwing the butts on the ground. Nothing annoys me more than people who think the right to smoke includes the right to litter!
  5. Foods:  As much as possible, pick up organically grown foods, including dairy products.  You could be protecting YOUR health in doing so as well as the environment!  Eat as low on the food chain as possible.  This doesn’t mean “become a vegetarian,” but it is important to remember the cause and effect of what you eat.  Cattle ranching in South America is destroying the rain forests.  The poultry industry is inhumane.  Seek out responsible sources for meat (free-range chickens, legally hunted deer, organic beef).
Don’t go all-organic at once, or you’ll experience culture shock and burn out.  If you make a couple of changes and that seems like all you can handle, feel glad that you at least made those changes!  Not everyone has the right lifestyle to do it all, but everyone has the ability to change one or two things to make the world a better place.  These are just a few suggestions for living simply.  If we lessen the impact we make on the Earth, maybe the next few generations can turn around the damage we’ve done in the past century!

Gekko

Gekko is an ADF druid and HVPN member living in Schenectady.


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Last Updated: January 30, 2002
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