Hidden Turtles and Homesteaders

It can be just as hard to spot a turtle as it can be to see all the people living sustainably around us.

One of the goals of People Making Ripples in the Free Weekly is to make it easier to find like-minded supporters of sustainable living.  Knowing that other people also have a compost pile or use homemade deodorant has a way of making us feel less like aliens on an uninhabitable planet.  This same feeling of being in the minority can make people silent about sharing their special skills or projects that help them live sustainable, healthy lives…a silence that only perpetuates the feeling of alienation in society.  Homesteaders and urban dwellers living a sustainable lifestyle often hide in the grass like this turtle I found in my backyard.  Isn’t he/she beautiful???

Last Tuesday I met someone living without electricity and bicycling into town, happy and content to live with nature and work on a farm close to town.  There are many Northwest Arkansas residents choosing similar lifestyles, but we are so isolated from each other (whether by geographical distance, or fear of being “found out”) that it can sometimes seem that the world is composed exclusively of people who would like to be healthy but don’t take action because being labeled a “tree hugger” would be too much for them to handle. Since we don’t all herd together like wildebeests every year for a great migration*, why not nominate someone you know to be featured in People Making Ripples, or share with us what you’re doing to make the world a better place? Extra points for those who recognize social justice and environmentalism are not mutually exclusive 😉

Send a photo(s) and brief description of what you’re doing to make ripples in the world to: MakeSomeRipples@Gmail.com for a chance to be featured in People Making Ripples!

*Did you know that turtles migrate, too? If you see a turtle walking in one direction across a street or yard, please help them cross to the side they are facing – this is the direction they must travel on their migration, and placing them facing opposite the direction they’re traveling will just make them turn around and risk the dangerous crossing all over again!

Turtle in our backyard, peeking out at me.

Turtle watching me as I’m eaten alive by chiggers in nearby grass.

Crawling away into wildflowers…