I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic lately, and thinking about the legacy we will leave behind has really impacted my purchase decision making. I see so much “disposable” “affordable” and “quantity” everywhere I turn. Pink plastic surrounds me as I step down the toy isle and cheap polyester clothing filled with sergered stitching made in a distant land nearly busts off each rack at the store. In the habit of consuming all that is convenient, cheaper, and single-use is what is filling our trash barrel twice a week and it all makes my heart feel heavy.

I am drawn to the lower prices, the “more-for-your-dollar” promise in the stores. I am nearly hypnotized with the convenience, bigger-is-better, and disposable lifestyle advertised everywhere I turn. But what is this doing to the future life I am creating and hope to leave behind for our children? I fear I will only leave water contaminated with pharmaceuticals because it is easier to toss expired pills in the trash than bring them back to the pharmacy. I worry that I will leave behind polluted toxic air because I live in an area where we always spend time stopped in traffic, idling, pushing fumes into our precious atmosphere. I lament that I may leave huge landfills that will never decompose, solid waste in the waterways and oceans, and plastic in the bellies of the animals that don’t survive near these areas.

And I am scared that there will not be any earth for my children and their children.

If I am worried about all of these things, why do I simply reach for that next plastic snack bag? Because it is easy. Because that is what society has conditioned me to do, and it is not easy (though certainly not impossible) to change habit, convenience, and routine. And because I am not a perfect mom of two toddlers with limited energy, longing to scrap together a few moments to do something for just me.

Where do I go from here? I have started making small decisions here and there. And I am always battling my perfectionism repeatedly telling myself, being a conscience consumer isn’t black or white. A little is better than none.

I am focusing on making better, more earth-friendly choices regarding  toys, food, and crafting.

I guess in these areas I spend most of my time. What am I buying for my children? Where did that toy come from, what is it’s lifespan likely to be in my home? A couple of weeks? A couple of generations? Or a couple of hours? How will my child play with that toy? Will he/she make believe wild car races with plenty of obstacles or a proper tea party afternoon complete with a musical interlude?

Where did this grapefruit come from? Certainly not northern Virginia where it is freezing. How far did it come? How much fuel did it take to get it to me? How much packaging does this product require? What chemicals might be in the packaging? Where will the packaging end up after I consume it? Recycled? The landfill? In my craft bin?

What material is this? Is it from natural sources? Is it from a renewable resource like bamboo? Did it require chemicals to produce? Did that skein of yarn take a 3 hour van ride to get to me? Or was it’s trip more like a 13 hour plane ride from a land far, far away?

I have found quality over quantity generally costs you. Handmade over mass produced usually costs a bit more as well. I have always wondered how we might be able to afford a $2,000 dresser made of solid wood with beautiful dovetail jointing, or even a $400 solid pine doll house that might be passed down for generations. Perhaps if I stop buying the 20 cheaper, never going to play with, never going to last, plastic toys and save to buy my daughter that wonderful dollhouse her daughter may play with too, well, we could afford it. Or, perhaps in place of those easy particle board, falls apart furniture, we could save our money and buy that beautiful dress piece that can one day furnish our children’s home. It is an investment in our future. Our children’s future and their children’s future. It is an investment in keeping our environment healthy, and our bodies healthy.

In someways it is such a radical perspective shift. Less costs more?? Definitely not what the stores advertise here in America. It is hard to change, hard to purge those plastic products that hold your food and belongings.  What keeps me going is my children. I want them to live in a clean environment. I want them to make earth-friendly decisions, and embrace that they are not the only ones on this small plant of ours. I want my children to consume responsibly, considerately, and with soul and love. But I am doing a little at a time. Baby steps, taking a few steps backward at times. Nevertheless, I guess the biggest step is just to open your eyes and ears and well…step off.