Earth Day Musings

Having grown up in New York City, I never had the urge to learn to drive. Didn't need to so I never thought about it. My brother and I don't drive; my other brother and older and younger sisters learned to drive in their 30s because their respective jobs required it. Now that I live in a somewhat suburban area, I sometimes wish I had a car. I can get around fairly easily by bus, but it's a pain. I have to laugh at myself when I think about the many times I fussed and complained about NYC buses or subways being "late". Late in NYC can be 5 - 20 minutes. Late in suburban NJ could mean an hour. The bus schedule here isn't a 'schedule', it's more like a suggestion. Argh. But it is what it is. When the weather is nice, I sometimes walk the mile and a half to the supermarket. Not much to see on the route; houses, grass, trees, and I've often thought I'd be more likely to walk if the landscape changed just a little bit.

In any case, I'm kind of proud of not having succumbed to the car culture even though I currently live smack in the middle of it. I'm not a very proactive tree-hugger but I do what I can. When I buy fruits and vegetables, I try to buy locally. That's pretty easy in south Jersey and they grow some of the best tomatoes I've ever tasted. I buy most of my jewelrymaking supplies from Etsy.com sellers in order to help support small business. I bought a small heater because the house gets chilly during this time of year and I'm determined not to turn up the thermostat. I've already adjusted to having to wear sweats and socks instead of lounging around in my Hanes for Her the way I did in the overheated apartment I used to live in. I buy some of my clothes from the local Goodwill stores and I donate the clothes I've outgrown back to them when I can. And of course, like most of us, I already recycle my bottles, cans and newspapers.

In a perfect world, we'd be able to afford solar panels, our municipalities would build more and wider bike lanes, the local hardware store wouldn't have been driven out of business by the likes of Lowes and Home Depot, and the corner bakery wouldn't have folded under the weight of the shadow of yet another Dunkin' Donuts, built five blocks from the other Dunkin Donuts in the neighborhood.

But this isn't a perfect world. I shop at (the dreaded) Walmart sometimes and I like Dunkin Donuts coffee. But I do what I can.... and if we all just do what we can, we'll all enjoy the beautiful and bountiful fruits of our labors in the end.


Happy Earth Day... today and every day.