Inertia

I really haven't made much progress on green living since I started writing here. As you might guess from my lack of posts, I've been very busy. Today's a Sunday and I'm lying on the couch with a cough and a sore throat.

In the last month of working hard and not focusing much on green living, I've noticed something interesting (and perhaps obvious). The chance that one will do what one thinks is the right thing is largely based on the extent to which it has become routine. Yes, we are creatures of habit unless we really try to make a change. The things that we do routinely are fairly easy, even if they would seem difficult to others. Changes that other people think of as fairly easy can be difficult if they haven't yet become standard practice in one's life.

A few examples are in order. One change that we've made in our life that many others would find difficult is giving up our car. We sold our car about 4 years ago. The last time I drove was about a year ago, when I rented a car during a visit to my college friends in a less transit-friendly city. In some ways not having a car isn't easy. It takes me significantly longer to get to work (on the train), but its much more relaxing to sit back and read a book than having to constantly watch the road and trying to avoid killing someone. Still there are times when its raining or I'm sick and really want to go the store to get ice cream (sometimes my beloved husband will get on his bike and buy me some :) ) and the convenience would be nice. The relevant point here is the even though car-freedom has its occaisional disadvantages, it's become standard practice for us. Therefore, it's quite easy even though most of my co-workers find it almost unthinkable.

On the other hand, my hopes of switching to local, organic, and unpackaged food have fallen victim to my busyiness at work and my lazyness. I eat pretty healthfully (lots of salads) but often they come from the cafeteria at our office complex. It's higher quality than most cafeterias, but it still means very little control over where the food comes from. They certainly don't label it with the point of origin. I usually eat my food in the cafeteria, thus no take-out containers; but sometimes I'm so busy that I take it back to my desk. To some people, eating local or organic or un-packaged food might be easier than not driving a car; but not for me. It's not a standard part of my life yet. I hope someday it will be.