Veg

A few months ago, when i was really beginning to do research on more things i could do to lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle, i kept stumbling upon eating less meat and/or going vegetarian/vegan as one of the top ways you could lessen your impact on the environment. I found this really intriguing. I really didn't understand what the connection was. so, i began doing what all curious people do - i google searched. then, i checked this book out from the library: Diet for a New America by John Robbins. i haven't eaten meat or drank milk in about 3 months. all this research has completely revolutionized the way that i think about food, health and consumerism. so, i just couldn't help but share some of this little journey with you. Colin over at No Impact Man (one of my most favorite blogs) just wrote about the connection between eating less meat and helping the environment. Here are some of the facts he cited from a recent report from the UN :
- 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock (more than from transportation).
- 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon was cleared to pasture cattle.
- Two-thirds (64 percent) of anthropogenic ammonia emissions, which contribute significantly to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems, come from cattle.
- The livestock sector accounts for over 8 percent of global human water use, while 64 percent of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas by 2025.
- The world’s largest source of water pollution is believed to be the livestock sector.
- In the United States, livestock are responsible for a third of the loads of nitrogen and phosphorus into freshwater resources.
- Livestock account for about 20 percent of the total terrestrial animal biomass, and the 30 percent of the earth’s land surface that they now pre-empt was once habitat for wildlife, in an era of unprecedented threats to biodiversity.
- These problems will only get worse as meat production is expected to double by 2050.
So, i always thought that vegetarianism and veganism was for animal rights activists, which i could respect but not totally relate to. (i have never been a huge fan of the animal kingdom, though i am more so now) i had no idea of said implications of the average meat-rich american diet on the environment, nor health for that matter. eating a vegetarian (or even better - vegan) diet greatly lessens your risk of cancer, heart disease, obesity and virtually ever other disease you can think of (especially if you are making sure you get all the nutrients you need :) it's incredible. since eliminating meat and greatly reducing dairy in my diet, i feel so much better. people keep asking me what i've been doing to lose weight and i have to tell them that it was on accident!
even if you're not up for eliminating meat from your diet altogether, just skipping red meat once a week would save the 840 gallons of fresh water it takes to produce a single serving. and don't worry about missing out on things like protein and iron. there are many plant foods that have a much higher content per calorie - like lentils, tofu and spinach. If you do choose to eat meat (and dairy) go for the local, grass-fed free-range organic types. (better yet - find a farm in your area where you know what the animals are fed how they are treated, whether or not they are given a steady diet of antibiotics and hormones, etc.)
So, to top it all off - even though i was never bothered much (not enough to change) by the thought of whatever happens to farm animals, once i did some research (and read Diet for a New America) the thought of how the animals in factory farms and slaughter houses are treated made me ill - and unable to eat meat. i don't think these conditions are what God had in mind when he made us stewards of His beautiful creation. i won't go into detail here, as i do not wish to make anyone ill, but i would encourage anyone reading this to do a little research of your own and consider altering your dietary and grocery shopping habits. After all,vegetarian is the new Prius.

Resources:
Diet for a New America
Eat to Live
www.goveg.com
The Post Punk Kitchen - Vegan Cooking

aaaaaahh!

ok, so i never get stressed and i'm stressed. so many things to sort through and pack and the house is a MESS! i want to get rid of things/give them away, but it's harder than i thought. i find myself rationalizing. on top of that, everything is up in the air and probably will be for months. now that this house is a mess and the boxes are piling up, i am really feeling it. it's CRAZY! we have a lot of things we need to leave behind and i'm not so sure we'll be able to find people that will want to buy/take them as we have less than 2 weeks to have everything packed up and in storage. anyone want anything?! help! as previiously mentioned, we have:
a refridgerator (in great working condition, but definitely not brand new - we haven't had any problems with it)
a burgundy leather recliner (it's been loved, but it's not ancient or falling apart - very comfy)
love seat with pull-out bed
king size mattress (old)
2 twin box springs
children's dresser (needs painting)
clothes clothes clothes!
2 t.v.s
t.v. cart
VCR

move

If you haven't heard already, we're moving!!! it's the opposite of staying, being or feeling stuck, complacent or sedentary. it means change - BIG change. we're excited and a little nervous. we feel that God is calling us to move on, to believe He will take care of us in the midst of this crazy-ness and to dare to dream that life could be different. We're moving to Bellingham, Washington. Ever since we visited the first time - almost three years ago - we've talked and dreamt of living there. from everything we know, we're really excited to become a part of a church plant there called Mosaic (not the same as the one in so cal though). we're really excited to join them and what they're about. check them out here.
other things i love and look forward to:

• the weather - it doesn't get any better than cloudy and rainy for me - doesn't depress me at all. it makes me happy!
• it's absolutely gorgeous, right on the water, green with clear skies (as far as smog goes)
• better air quality (i like this advantage for elena too)
• beautiful downtown and old-town areas. fun for walking.
• lakes in town as well as being on the bay.
• close to seattle and vancouver, b.c.
• safer. i like the idea of taking elena to parks that i know are clean and being able to let her ride her bike in the neighborhood, etc.
• bellingham has ordinances about chain stores and corporations. they have maintained more small shops and locally owned businesses - yay!
• BEAUTIFUL parks
• change - i LOVE change, even though it's hard sometimes
• new surroundings and inputs into our lives.
• walkability - they have some great trails and there are so many gorgeous places there that it just makes me want to be outside!!
• affordability - it has all these benefits and rent is cheaper than modesto!!
• farmer's market - they have a big one
• added bonus: my sister lives there!
• more liberal as a culture - i like that. i like that they are mindful of buying locally and recycling, etc.

i think it will be good for us, for our little family and for our marriage as we journey through this together. we look forward to staying with different people as we are in limbo and brian is looking for a job. although this will be challenging i'm sure, i look forward to the sense of community. i look forward to how it will change me. going through external change tends to foster internal change, ya know? although this has been something we have joked about and dreamt about, we had almost dropped it when we both felt like the lord was bringing it back up - like it was time. i know that might sound weird, but it's true - i really felt like i had let it go when all of the sudden it just seemed right. i think that is God, but i know that "God speaking" means different things to different people. anyway, both brian and i have always felt like we didn't want to stay in modesto forever or raise our family here necessarily, so if we are going to go (which we are!) it'll be good to go while elena is little and not in school or anything yet. so, anyway - let us know if you want any of our stuff (well, maybe not anything) but we are trying to sell a couch, a recliner, a tv cart, a refridgerator and possibly a king-size bed. wish us well! brian leaves on Sept. 19th with the u-haul and elena and i fly out on the 20th. oh and that amazing picture at the top is from last year's trip there. we took it while sitting at the park on the 4th of July, waiting for the fireworks to start.

Simple

Simplicity - It often denotes beauty, purity or clarity. Simple things are usually easier to explain and understand than complicated ones. Simplicity can mean freedom from hardship, effort or confusion. It's something i've been thinking about. it makes me think of contentedness, joy, holiness. it makes me think of great figures in history - gandhi, mother theresa, jesus. it makes me think of people who are/were mocked or misunderstood and labeled as hippies and radicals. and it makes me think of those who consume less and give more, who reject the myth of the american dream that says if you get more, you'll be happy and successful and accepted. but, isn't it better to give than to receive? i don't think most people actually believe that. it's just something they tell their kids when they don't get what they want. but, there's profound truth in that old adage that should shape out lives. it IS better to give than to receive. that's why those who chase after what they may receive (material possessions), die still pursuing more and are never satisfied. in the end, isn't it "the simple things" in life that last and satisfy? For me it's reading, praying, making my daughter laugh, having a cup of coffee on a saturday morning with my husband, a cloudy day or a conversation with my sister. our culture tells us to go in debt in order to have a nice car, a nice house and a nice family with nice things and to spend the rest of our lives in pursuit of more, but i want to live simply.
Simple living (or voluntary simplicity) is defined as a lifestyle in which individuals consciously choose to minimize the pursuit of wealth and consumption. some consider this (or environmentalism for that matter) to be a religion unto itself. therefore, people who already follow a religion (namely christianity) tend to shy away from it. to me this seems sad. if you read through the gospels, doesn't it seem like Jesus was completely counter-culture? he was the one who told us to follow him and take nothing with us, that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom. i think the kingdom of God is the ultimate in simple living. that doesn't make it easy. it's difficult to reconcile His words with my reality. i feel the urge to "have nice things" (like that tv we got a few months ago that i think we are now kind of regretting) in order to prove something, even if it's just to myself. i feel like having nice things proves that we're capable adults or something, which is rediculous. as i look around our house and think about packing it up in the next month, i realize that we have extra. maybe not a lot of extra compared to some people, but extra nonetheless and i want to get rid of it, give it away, live with less, take only my slice of the pie. live simply.

Some Statistics to inspire simple living:

• Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
• The wealthiest nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation.
• 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods.
  Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished.
• According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.” That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year.
• Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
• Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
• Millions of women spending several hours a day just collecting water.
  About 0.13% of the world’s population controlled 25% of the world’s assets in 2004.
  
  photo courtesy of blogrodent on flickr

Generica

Generica - that's what my friend matt sai once called corporate america. it's true. sometimes when i visit a new city, i feel like i might as well have stayed at home. i feel hard pressed to find stores i haven't seen before or don't have in my own town. last weekend, we were in southern california for my cousin's wedding. brian and i asked my mom and grandpa (who both live there) if there were any restaurants in town that we don't have here in modesto that they would recommend. they started listing off restaurants - every single one of them a chain, every single one a place we have here at home. sad. I feel like this just reinforces what i already knew. i need to be more conscious of the companies i buy from - what they stand for, how they treat their workers, if they're taking over the free world, etc. Sometimes my attitude has been something like - well, what am i supposed to do? yeah, all corporations are evil entities, but how can i avoid them? - but i think that's just a lie that keeps me from having to pay attention and make sacrifices. anyway, in the vein of this thinking, brian saw this disturbing article on msn yesterday. i think i've been to wal-mart once in the last three years, as i don't like it and already knew they were evil, but anyway, i thought people should see this article. 51 percent of the world’s 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations. if the western world can't afford to shop at places that don't exploit people, who can?


photo courtesy of justinyc on flickr