How We’re Unsustainable

The Truth Revealed! We’ve got a long way to go.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our journey of improving the world and our lifestyle, that we forget how it can hurt others to feel “not sustainable enough”.  So here’s a tribute to all the ways we screw it up!  Nothing to be proud of, certainly, but something to remind us that the ones who look the most uneducated about sustainability, or who seem to be doing such harm, might actually agree with living sustainably but haven’t expressed it yet.

You could call this our “blooper” reel I guess. Here are some guilty confessions:

1. 

   Snoopy Made Me Do It

   We buy Pizza Hut! Yes we do. And usually once a year on roadtrips we stop into McDonald’s and enjoy a vegetarian-style “fry burger” Happy Meal and play with the toys.

2. Dairy Indulgences. Occasionally, we indulge in non-organic dairy products in large quantities, such as Maggie Moo’s, Noodles, and Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese.
3. Frozen Food Waste. We purchase frozen food packaging that can’t be recycled (we do use these as poop scoop bags for cat litter) such as Quorn products, Mrs. T’s Pierogies, and frozen veggies.
4. Yesterday I bought a totally un-green Peanuts 2012 Planner because it was teal and had Snoopy on it.
5. Meat. Once, I cheated and ate chicken masala at an Indian Buffet (even though I’m vegetarian) because I love Indian food. I threw up afterwards…so no more of that.
6. Ryan got a credit card to buy stuff at Amazon.com, which is bad for workers and local business owners too.
7. At a craft fair, I bought hair feathers even though I was pretty sure they were bad for animal welfare, dyed unsustainably, and degrading to indigenous cultures, and then danced around the living room to Bollywood tunes and Celtic music.

What’s the most un-sustainable thing you do?

C’mon, it feels good to share and acknowledge that we’re not perfect. It’s also the first step in changing something you don’t like about yourself.