The decision is made and now I have to change my entire way of thinking after almost 50 years of life on this planet.  I have decided to adopt a sustainable lifestyle.  My motivation is driven primarily by my recent awareness of how our food is grown and processed and the direct impact this is having on our health and our economy not to mention the horrific treatment of animals in an effort to increase yields and sales.  In addition to the treatment of our food it is very clear that consumers and governments are just pawns in the global markets driven by big corporations focused only on short term profits at the expense of our global resources.

The only weapon I have to fight the emerging corpocracy is my consumerism so in adopting a sustainable lifestyle I will not only improve my health and well being but I will be sending a message to big business that they must change their practices or they will forever lose my business to companies that do practice sustainability and raise and harvest animals in a humane fashion.

So, I am still figuring out what this means to me and how to pull it off. I am starting with my food.  I have donated everything that I now will not eat.  I have started buying organic vegetables, eggs,  and humanely raised chicken.  There is a slightly higher cost which has caused me to buy less to stay within my budget.  So I have smaller portions of better meat and am stretching my meals with more vegetables.  This cannot be a bad thing.  Also, I will not eat at any fast food,  chain restaurants, that cannot claim to sell only sustainably farmed produce and meat.  Needless to say I have not eaten out in weeks and have a lot of research to do before I can go out.  I have also stopped purchasing any processed foods, only natural and organic.

I have also stopped buying bottled water in favor of the tap.  I am filing a bottle to carry with me and large containers to take to work to get me through the week.  I am lucky that we have pretty good water in my city, I am not sure about work though so I bring it in.

I am cheap so I have always kept the fuel bills as low as possible but this house is going on the market for a smaller home that will fit me better and cost less to heat, cool, and maintain overall.

Other things to consider in no particular order; reuse of everything including clothing, shoes, etc., the reduction of all chemical cleaners, and hygiene products.  I have no idea yet how to even start identifying the changes to make here.  Also, planning the garden which last year was a couple beds with tomatoes and peppers but this spring needs to be much more.

I am also starting a list of things I don’t need that I can sell.  This reduces the space I need to keep it and lets it be repurposed by someone that can better use it.  Not to mention it puts a little more money in my pocket to go towards the new house and the retirement plan.  I will be 50 in 3 months so retirement is not far off.  I have not had a plan to retire except to say I would like to golf and fish as much as I can.  Well today I think I have amended this to farming and fishing.   Whole volumes to come on this topic.  I will be starting small in my suburban setting over the next decade so will keep you up to date.

Wish me luck.  I am open to any and all advice and opinion.  Thanks for reading.

Oh, I also signed up to work at the warehouse of the local food-bank while I was dropping off my unwanted food.   I don’t see the  down side to any of the things I am doing with my life right now.