The Time for Excuses is Over

“I can’t eat sustainable food because I can’t afford it.”

“I can’t recycle because there’s no curbside pickup.”

“I can’t stop shopping at Target until my house is decorated.”

“I’d love to live green, but I’m too [fill in the blank] right now.”

I’m consistently confounded and frustrated by the excuses for not pursuing a greener life. Most people recognize the value in green living but excuse themselves from making the effort to live a greener lifestyle. Instead of taking action they make excuses.

When excuses are boiled down to their essence they usually focus in one of three areas: time, knowledge or money. Yet excuses belaboring lack of time, knowledge or money simply mask the real issue: the lack of effort.

Let’s Talk about Knowledge
“I’d love to make my own environmentally friendly cleaners but I don’t know how.”

So learn. The internet offers an enormous wealth of ecological, green living information. Book after books are being written on the topic of green living and green household management, as are magazine and newspaper articles. The knowledge available to you is easily accessible you just have to put forth the effort to find it.

Instead of sitting down at the end of the day to watch Food Network (lovely as those shows are) read an article or a book whose focus is green or nontoxic living. Learn what is available to you and take it step by step and day by day by trying out what you have learned.

Promise yourself that you will learn to do one thing each week that can better the planet or your family’s lifestyle and then do that thing. This week learn about green cleaners and try your hand at making some. Next week learn the public transportation schedule and take the bus or train instead of driving.

Let’s Talk about Time
“I’d love to volunteer for our local environmental organization but I don’t have the time.”

It is certainly the case that we are living in a society that is pressed for time. Our sleep has suffered as we sleep considerably less than we did a century ago. We’re busy carting children to or from school to extracurricular activities. We’re busy working, surfing the web, driving in traffic or attending seminars and sporting events. It’s no wonder that at the end of all our daily duties we fall to the couch exhausted with only the flickering lights of prime-time television to comfort us through the evening.

Give something up instead of stressing yourself out trying to figure out how to fit a stop at the recycle center in between playgroup and ballet. Simplify. Reduce the hindrances to your pursuing a life that you want to lead. Instead of driving to meet friends for a movie and dinner out, head to an activism meeting. Make the environment a priority in your household and keep it there.

Let’s Talk about Money
“I’d love to eat an environmentally responsible diet but I can’t afford it.”

Money is a hard topic. Unless you’re particularly blessed with a winning lottery ticket or a healthy trust fund chances are that money is an issue for your family. Many families are struggling with house payments, car payments, medical costs, education and retirement savings. It’s no doubt that money is an issue for average families.

It’s an issue but it’s no excuse.

In a consumerist society it’s hard to change your thinking and step outside of the “Buy! Buy! Buy!” mentality. Despite what manufacturers want you to think, green living and consumerism are incompatible. Buy something if you need it but remember to reevaluate your needs. Wants disguise themselves as needs, especially if you watch teevee. You don’t need to buy into eco-chic green consumerism to live green, indeed, you’d be better off without so doing.

Finding the money to pay for pastured, local meat or farmer-direct organic produce is easier when your pocketbook isn’t additionally stressed by credit card payments for your newest purchase. Buy used when you can and soon you’ll find that buying new comes as the alternative.

Seek out creative opportunities to save money so that you can afford to live green. Making your own cleaning products and cosmetics is less expensive and healthier than buying pre-made conventional or environmentally friendly choices. Volunteering at your local farm or for your CSA will earn you steep discounts on food.

Ultimately, it comes down to effort. Make the effort. Every little effort helps when attempting to make a lifestyle change. Change takes repeated effort. Don’t get frustrated or feel guilty for backsliding but arrest the backslide and make new momentum toward completing the change.

The time for excuses is over. It’s time to stop excusing ourselves from action and it’s time to stop excusing ourselves from responsibility. Instead, it’s time to act.

So what are your excuses and how are you going to conquer them?

And don’t forget to checkout Blog Action Day for other participating blogs.

October 15th, 2007