Half

I must admit, with a sigh, that I am probably naturally a glass-half-empty kind of person.  I have a tendency to also be an all-or-nothing type of person.  When I start something new if I don't do it everyday (like exercise) or well (like free-motion quilting) I tend to give up pretty quickly.  I figure I'm not sticking with it, never going to, not cut out for it...   

These features of my personality have hampered my attempts to reduce my impact on the earth.  But of late, I have tried to become more of a glass-half-full girl.  My new mantra is "Half is half." 

Examples:
--While I can't seem to give them up altogether, I've discovered that half a fabric softener dryer sheet works just as well as a full dryer sheet.  And that's half the impact of my compsumption of dryer sheets.  Small beans I know -- but half is half.
--I can't commit to buying only locally grown produce because I have a toddler that likes bananas and blueberries (and no mama tells a veggie-hating toddler "no" when they request out-of-season, out-of-state/country fruit) and I like celery in my soups (Why can't they grow celery in Texas?)...but I can commit to buying at least half of my produce locally -- and half is half.
--I don't use a gray water recyling system or solar water heater, but I can commit to reducing my showering time by half (or taking one half as often-is that gross?) -- and half is half.

This is hardly a revolutionary idea.  But I think that often in the quest for environmental protection and personal change I latch on to always and never and then feel bad when I can't keep up.  I'm trying to remember that half is half and that's something.

Comments

[Emma]

This is a really good reminder that we can't do it all. And even if we could, it would probably take years of practice. A friend of ours was saying that he doesn't buy free-range eggs because they're twice as expensive, and if he bought them, then he'd have to buy free-range chicken, and organic fruit and veg, and organic meat, and etc, etc. That would double his food bill so he just doesn't do it. We felt it was important to buy free-range eggs, so we just started there. Then we moved on to free-range chicken. Now we're buying predominantly organic fruit and veg. When we can we buy organic meat and other groceries. It's taken us almost 2 years to get to this point. Perhaps we have doubled our food bill, but the cost has been absorbed over time and it doesn't seem huge anymore. If we'd tried to do it all at once we probably would have given up. We just had to pick what seemed most important at the time and focus on that until it became second nature. I couldn't contemplate buying cage eggs or non-free-range chicken now.

This has become quite the essay, but I think the point is that halves can become wholes. But if they don't, it's ok, because a half is a half, and that's a lot more than nothing

[teresa c.]

Not a revolution? Imagine half of western world cutting their habits to half.

[Ash]

Don't beat yourself up about not going the whole hog immediately.

It's taken us a year to get the point where we now eat more vegetables and fruits than meat/carb based meals. We eat more organic than non-organic and we eat more local than non-local.

Like you said, the emphasis is on 'more'. More than you used to, more than you have to, more than most people do.

Oh, and we eat bananas too - no way are those something my kids would give up.

[tiel]

love it...whole heartedly. I agree. I am now going to turn my computer off earlier tonight to make a more conscious decision.:)

[amisha]

i really like the half-is-half idea. i tend to be of a very similar mind most of the time about all or nothing, which tends to result in a lot of self-beratement and also stops me from doing what little i can (interesting how exercise always falls into that category!). but the half is half totally makes sense, because it *does* add up over time-- what seems like a little bit makes a difference. i also really liked teresa's comment-- imagine half the western world reducing their impact by half-- this is tremendous to think about.

[Bee]

I can relate to the all-or-nothing approach. I get so discouraged by what I am NOT doing that I want to move my family to a rustic cabin in the woods, heat with wood grown on the land with a wood burning stove, haul water from a river, and go to bed when the sun goes down. Then I feel silly realizing that there are a lot of things I can do without being quite so radical, but it is harder for me to do it incrementally. But I appreciate the reminder that half is half. And there are a lot of ways I am doing that. And I can always add more, a little bit at a time. Thanks!

[Flibbertygibbet]

I'm also an all-or-nothing, if you can't do it well don't bother, sort of person.
I really like the half if half idea.

[monica]

hear hear. I agree with you.

Re the drier sheets... I bought those spikey plastic balls from boots (ok they're pricey, but given they're plastic - evil plastic - they're probably eternal) and they totally work. The stuff comes out soft. Not like creased cardboard like when you don't use anything. Ok they don't have the summer meadow smell of the dryer sheets, but they really really work.

And they cost about the price of three sheet boxes so after that... I'm quids in too.

Does it make sense?

[jennifer]

Great post. Do what you can!

[M]

I feel the same way sometimes. I tend to jump in with both feet but lately find myself taking babysteps. Thanks for your post. It's given me a way to keep things in perspective. :)

[Meg]

nicely put! and you're so right, i don't always do things because i'm not going to do it 100%, but "half is half". thanks for the great reminder!

[Melonie K. (Stop The World)]

I love your "half is half" quote, frankly! I already buy a phosphate-free, fragrance-free, etc etc detergent (my hubby asks what IS in it, if it's free of so much LOL) and I use unscented, un-dyed softener sheets (store brand, bigger box, so they last longer and I spend less), but I hadn't thought of cutting them in half. Great idea!
Having moved from my own home to one owned by someone else, it would be very easy to fall into the "I don't pay the utilities" trap. But I've worked very hard to maintain the standards I had when I paid the bills, including using daylight and moonlight instead of having the lights on in the house; drying and styling my hair only once a week (hey, a wet ponytail works fine when you work from home, and it's more efficient for time too); and the like. Every little thing we do really DOES add up, and in my mind makes up for the little splurges here and there as well.
Now if only they'd get a better recycling program here like I had there...perhaps I'll have to become more outspoken! ;-)

[susaninfrance]

silly suggestion but when i started adding a 1/2 c. arm & hammer to my wash, my clothes came out so much softer...even when i line dry them--which is often now that the weather's nice...just a little tip.

[Madder Rose]

Just stopping by to chime in: showering half as often is not gross. Americans have been trained by cosmetic companies to shower *too* often, resulting in increased consumption of soap and shampoo, and loss of our own body oils, thereby necessitating the purchase of moisturizer. Also, if your toddler still takes baths, you can dip a bucket into the tub before draining and use that to water flowers -- a half-is-half grey water system, if you will. Lastly, tossing a tennis ball into the dryer can have the same effect as dryer sheets, by keeping things fluffy!

[Madder Rose]

Just stopping by to chime in: showering half as often is not gross. Americans have been trained by cosmetic companies to shower *too* often, resulting in increased consumption of soap and shampoo, and loss of our own body oils, thereby necessitating the purchase of moisturizer. Also, if your toddler still takes baths, you can dip a bucket into the tub before draining and use that to water flowers -- a half-is-half grey water system, if you will. Lastly, tossing a tennis ball into the dryer can have the same effect as dryer sheets, by keeping things fluffy!