In my last column I wrote about plans for programs in accordance with this year’s theme, “Sustainable Living.” I indicated that I planned to take a “three pronged approach to advance sustainable living: raising consciousness, challenging the status quo, and promoting remediating actions.” Here’s an update on some of those plans:

Of late I have been making efforts to raise my consciousness by looking for articles related to sustainable living in newspapers and magazines, listening attentively to NPR radio broadcasts, and reviewing some of the multitude of web sites that address the topic.

These efforts have been interesting but not terribly effective in and of themselves. Reading about composting while sipping bourbon and eating Cheetos may help my mind develop (though even that is questionable given the snack) but won’t do much for the planet—unless you count keeping me home rather than behind the wheel a comparative benefit.
Better on the effectiveness front has been the voluntary recruitment of my wife, Ruthanne, who has taken to the challenges of sustainable living with gusto.

After our trip to the Science Barge in the summer, she and Martha visited a farm upstate to learn about composting and came back with composting bins. It wasn’t long before composting became part of the Sunday school Middle Form’s curriculum and a black plastic compost bin became part of the ECSW landscape.

And at about the same time, a plastic container appeared on the kitchen counter in our house with a sign “Compost—DO NOT THROW OUT.” Clearly a challenge to our status quo, this new venture provides a daily reminder to the people who use our kitchen that what we eat and use can have additional uses. It also signifies a new consciousness about where our food comes from and about the kind of foods we eat.

And now that she is well into reading Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma Ruthanne’s trips to the local farmer’s market and to ShopRite have brought significant changes to the dinner table. If you don’t believe me you can ask the two less-willing volunteers associated with the household (no, not the dogs. They’ll eat just about anything)—our sons, who are wondering about the meatless black bean chili and absence of highly sweetened energy drinks.

Though price and flavor are still important criteria for food purchases, so are nutrition, humane treatment of life forms and minimal environmental impact. So far I’ve noticed a considerable mix of feelings attending these efforts at reform. On the one hand, it’s a relief to face up to what I see as my responsibility to live lightly on the planet. On the other hand there’s the guilt about years of not paying attention, and the yearning and loss that accompanies giving up familiar comforts (Cheetos, so far, and I’m still “researching” the bourbon.)

Even so, on the whole I feel a bit lighter on my feet—and not just because of the loss of three pounds. Perhaps it’s just the reduced fat content in my diet, but I actually feel less weighed down by what I’ve eaten. And too, it takes more creativity and planning to make a “good” meal (in an ethical sense) than it does to reach into the freezer for a manufactured entre. On the whole, it’s refreshing to have more healthy thoughts on my mind and more healthy food in my stomach.