When TV Dinners first hit the market, I pleaded with my mother to buy me one, and she ultimately relented. I remember the thrill I felt when she pulled the foil-encased, five-course meal out of the oven and set it on my TV tray just before “The Wonderful World of Disney.” At last, the magical sectioned-off meal sat before me, a serving of meat, creamed potatoes and gravy, a modest portion of corn, a little roll, and a small square of cobbler, the perfect, modern meal. I felt as chic as only a six-year-old with a TV dinner watching Sunday night TV can.
My grandmother made the most amazing creamed corn. Using fresh ears from her garden and a sharp knife, she would cut the kernels into a bowl in long, narrow sections. She circled the cob until, best I could tell, she had extracted every bit of the juicy yellow ear. But then she made a second pass, scraping out what was left behind into the mixing bowl. This, she said, was where the goody lay, the tastiest part of the corn kernel. And the results were nothing short of divine.
When I think about the delicious homemade foods of my early years, I struggle to understand how I could have relished the contents of my TV Dinner. But then, of course, we know the answer; the marketing of convenience.
Fast forward some 60 years and modern society has come to rely on it. As our lives get busier, the lure of easy, affordable, and immediate solutions becomes more seductive. But these options aren’t serving us. The devastating agricultural practices required to provide low-cost food choices, and the tremendous amount of plastic used in packaging these sub-par products inspire me to look for a better way.
Living sustainably tends to conjure up images of toil and hardship, all too difficult for the modern, busy family. Let’s face it, sometimes, we all do need a little convenience. But what if living sustainably was convenient?
My goal is to uncover just that, to present practices, projects, and recipes that use common sense and healthy processes in simple, accessible ways, and all the while having a great time doing it.
Sustainable, it’s the new convenient!
Trees – can’t live without ’em
Consider a tree. It sprouts from seed and somehow makes its way to adulthood. Every day, it draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and breathes out good old oxygen.
It may bear fruit, and it will undoubtedly offer shelter for many life forms. It sheds leaves every year, which decompose and feed the soil.
This tree might live for a decade or for centuries. And when it finally succumbs after a valiant long life, it provides food and shelter for a host of other varied species as it returns to the dirt. The new inhabitants do their excellent work. They gnaw and tunnel and assist in breaking down what is left of our lovely tree. And thus, the ground beneath receives back the very nutrients the tree consumed. Perfect.
The story above illustrates a sustainable business model. And it could have been about a beaver or plankton or a garden spider—the beautiful, perfect, unified workings of our beautiful, perfect planet.
All of our Earth’s life systems are interconnected. The thriving of one group is in the best interest of the flourishing of another. We humans, along with our fellow air-breathing, carbon dioxide exhaling planet-mates, are all part of a delicate balance. But I’d like to think we can add more value because what we currently give back is not in balance with what we take. We can be better stewards. We must because credit always comes due.
Just pick one thing
It sometimes seems like too much. There are so many hard things to think about right now. But what if we all vowed to modify one behavior toward sustainability? Just pick one thing. Make it no sweat. It’s like an act of faith in our future.
- Put away the chemical lawn fertilizer and mulch your grass clippings instead.
- Compost your kitchen scraps.
- Gather fallen leaves to create leaf mould compost.
- Use an old, torn shirt for dust cloths.
- Wash and recycle zip-lock bags.
- Catch rainfall for watering the garden.
- Combine dryer lint, orange peels, and old candle wax for fire starters.
- Make croutons from stale bread and smoothies from soft bananas.
- Use paper products deemed trash for projects around the house.
- Ride a bike to the store.
- Buy coir instead of peat moss.
- Pee twice before you flush.
- Wear your jeans and sweaters twice before washing.
And once that one little thing is second nature, maybe, just maybe we could pick one more.
