M is for Mileage and Mitigation

       I'd like to think I get lot of mileage out of things. Some of my shoes have the soles worn clean off and I still wear them, jackets developing holes, and I refuse to patch them, I can't even count the amount of times I've used some of my cooking equipment or how many of my beloved cookbooks I have attempted to make every recipe from.
     So upon thinking about mileage and getting the most miles out of what I have now, I am going to make the biggest effort possible to live even more cleanly, more effectively and more efficiently. I want to use the miles that all of my stuff has left and in turn leave some miles for earth.
      This is going to be quite a project as well as a thoughtful process now that I think on it more. In addition to applying my new "mileage" system I am also going to live within my means. Taking a cue from a friend who is currently counting her pennies to be able to enjoy a night out with her boy at the movies, I vow to not spend frivolously. So I guess that means I need to cut back on my fascination with impulse buying shoes and sweaters huh?
     Well got to thinking, after making my Halloween costume and discovering how much work it was, how are we able to buy clothes so cheaply?  Then I thought about my garden. My very small vegetable garden yielded a measly 6 eggplants, some 12 or so zucchini, and a so-so crop of tomatoes, oh and least I forget our 2 bell peppers, over the entire summer. This was pretty pathetic. While just the other day at Whole Foods I saw piles and piles of fruits and vegetables, and knew that the same sight could be had at that moment in every grocery store spanning our country. It was at that moment, I was totally impressed with farmers. It is a lot of work, and it seems to me we take it for granted. (Unfortunately much of our fruit and vegetables is shipped from other countries, thus making us season-less.  And most of our "growing" land is now used to grow genetically modified roundup ready corn and soybeans, but yeah, farmers have it tough. See King Corn.)  I also realized after driving across country this past summer just how much trash people produce. So many plastic bottles, receipts alone are ridiculous, those toll booth ticket things they use on the East Coast, all kinds of plastics and wrappers that are not biodegradable or recyclable. And, not to mention all of the cattle farms we saw and the disgusting amount of waste produced there. (I'm not even going to touch poultry, pigs and other animal farms, it is a mute point) But, I have always tried to keep my trash to a minimum, and I realize that most of the country is behind the eight ball.
     Here I was this whole time thinking everyone recycled, ate vegetarian and tried to have a small impact on the earth. Boy am I living in an alternate universe.
    
      Change little things. Think little, then get big. Try to mitigate your effect.  (This is my new mantra, I still chant jai-gu-ru-de-vaa-om occasionally, but unlike John, I do want something to change my world. )
    
      Unplugging appliances when not in use, collecting water that runs down the drain while waiting for it to heat up and using cloth rags instead of paper towels are just a few ways to get more mileage out of the earth, as well as your own money.
       So now I sit staring at a huge pile of clothes that I had planned to donate to the Salvation Army and Veterans Affairs, but now I am thinking about how I can reuse them. Maybe as gifts? Not re-gifting so much as reusing and saving money by making a gift.
      So friends, guess what you'll be getting for Christmas! Thats right, some crappy homemade gift-like-thing made by me!
     I am half joking. But I am going to use some the pile to attempt a few projects. I'm thinking, little dog beds for my friends two new puppies, a blanket for little boy Chase who is soon to arrive. Hell, I could maybe make my next halloween costume or a work ensemble! Either way, I am not just going to let them go without attempting to recycle, reduce and reuse.
     Wait, can you hear the Captain Planet theme music in my room right now too? I think I should make up my own theme song.... I am open to suggestions.
      
      It boils down to the fact that everyone is wasteful to some degree. I am definitely an offender. But it is hard to be constantly thinking about how something could be done better when we have all of these systems set up to assist in us doing wrong.
       Hi system, you are broken. We need to fix you, immediately.
       While I'm on the topic of wastefulness, another bothersome issue for me is sitting idlely by and seeing massive quantities of food get wasted. Just the other night at work I saw over 30 plates of half eaten entrees go back to be thrown away in the trash after a customer had "finished" their food. I realize that yes, portion sizes are large, but maybe your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Why not split the plate?! And now I have to become a part of the problem so as to not get fired from my job because I am strangling you and yelling at the top of my lungs in your face for doing so!
     Why did that animal have to die for you to just throw it away?!  I saw so many ounces of dead cooked animal, which once had a life mind you, that was just thrown in the garbage that evening. And to think, that was just what I witnessed. At one small restaurant, in one city, one night.
     Think about it.   I know.  Gross.
     Not to be preachy or make you ill, but all I see when carrying a plate half covered in the cooked flesh of an animal is how that poor being probably lived a very sad life, and then was frightened and huddled with many others before being slaughtered; only to be cut up, shipped, cooked and served to some unconcerned American who wastefully orders too much for their own good and throws it away. And guess what, you're probably going to have some kind of colon cancer coming to you in the future for doing so. Then, you'll blame the animal, you decided to eat for killing you.  Thanks system, you're working swell.
     This all makes me really sick.  How can there be such a disconnect? Yes, beef was a cow, but now it's a steak? White meat is not just a "broiler" chicken breast. Lamb chops are from a little baby lamb, soft and fluffy, now sad and dead, grilled and served bloody to your liking. They were all breathing and living. What did they do to you?
     Just because you like the taste doesn't mean you need to eat it!  Just because you can, doesn't mean you should do it.  Same as you wouldn't jump off a bridge because everyone else is, you wouldn't order a shot of heroin with a side of crack because you could, right?  Well, maybe some would.  I am sorry, I get carried away on this topic.
    
     There has to be a better way to get more mileage out of the foods we have, and how they can be grown in a more sustainable way. We have the potential to change how foods are grown and how animals are raised. We can change distribution, purchasing, processing, everything, anything to make the system work better. We have to. The earth cant just cross its fingers forever and hope we figure out that we need to start doing the right thing now.
      I would like to take this opportunity and let you think about what can be done to get more mileage out of what you've got now, what you can afford and most importantly what small thing you can change to be a better human to our beautiful planet. Lets make its mileage infinite. For example, I myself will be returning the exorbitant amount of stuff I bought at Target today on impulse. I can live without it and lets face it , all of it would have probably ended up in another pile that I would be sending off to Goodwill in a few years anyway. (Or maybe as a Holiday gift for you.)

     And if you weren't sick of the advocacy yet, I don't care how you do it but you must rent/download/watch/buy Food, Inc... if you haven't already. It is one more excellent and enlightening documentary on the food industry in America and most importantly the sick ways our food is handled and the corporate control over most of the food on the shelves, among other important facts everyone should know and take heed of.