tiny little things

Jon's toothbrush has a head that can be replaced. Maybe if my teeth weren't so holy I could say the same for myself. I use an electric. I have to make up ground elsewhere. Sometimes I go to the bathroom with the lights off to settle the score.


Jon also buys these biodegradable sponges. They drive me bonkers, but I do feel a small sense of satisfaction watching them visibly deteriorate before my eyes.

There is a mindset that little things don't make a big enough difference to save the world. I can understand the instinct. Sometimes I fill a canvas bag with groceries and think how futile the act is, in and of itself. It is small and insignificant. But imagine the truckload of bags delivered to the grocery store every week. Imagine that truckload being rendered obsolete by the simple act of people bringing their own bags to the store with them. Imagine the factories that make the billions of bags we mindlessly use every year being shut down. We are conditioned to think of factories shutting down as a bad thing. We are conditioned to think of a lot of things. The biggest danger that we face today is allowing ourselves to be conditioned to think a certain way. My challenge to you is this- think of one thing you do every day. Brush your teeth, wash your hair, shop for groceries, go to work. Anything. Take that one thing and try to do it in such a way that it does less harm. For example, think of washing your hair. Use an earth-friendly shampoo. Wash your hair every other day instead of daily. Turn the water off while you scrub your head. Use your towel for a week before washing it. Refill your shampoo bottle from a bulk container at a neighborhood co-op. Those are 5 ways to wash your hair in a way that does less harm. 5 ways to better one very simple act. And I am by no means an expert. Some of these changes are harder to make than others. Everyone needs to find changes that work for them. It doesn't help to think of these changes as a punishment doled out to us now that the world is falling to shit. Lifestyle is a choice. Be empowered by it.