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Across the Fence:  Consumerism Rant  |
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Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 21 2005 : 4:02:49 PM
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Here's a good article that makes one stop and think about what they are using and how. Be prepared to feel like ya need to make some changes!
http://consciouschoice.com/2005/cc1808/backwords1808.html
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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Coffee and a Muffin
Farmgirl in Training
38 Posts
Kim
GA
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2005 : 7:48:24 PM
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Clare, I have been rereading The Tightwad Gazette and her thinking is right in line with this article. We are so incredibly wasteful and ungrateful to boot! We and our children were discussing thankfulness and being content with less this very night. We truly have too much and I'm looking for ways to cut down on our intake of "stuff" and getting rid of our excess so it can benefit someone who really needs it. I'm also reading a book from the library called Scaling Down: Living Large in a Smaller Space:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1594860939/qid=1124678440/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0127630-5178554?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
In it the authors try to help the reader to see the advantages of living with less stuff. It is what I need to hear. I'm tired of having so many choices. I think our lack of contentment is fed by too many choices and the constant "sell" that we'll be happier if we buy just one more thing. Well, we're not happier. In fact, I'd say we're the most unhappy generation yet, and it's because we're so self-centered and spoiled with a me-first mentality which is sold to us through the media daily. I've gotten to where I can't even stand to listen to a commercial or look at a billboard or sign because it makes me so mad that we've become this way as a nation. Okay, I got a bit soapboxish there. And I'm a conservative! We need to be living up to our name! |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2005 : 7:57:49 PM
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I agree with you both on this topic! I read a similar article in our local newspaper last week. This society is faced with too many choices and a bombardment of media, and we have forgotten how to be centered and quiet. We will never hear the answers of our souls if we do not take time to be quiet.
We still have (thank God) the freedom to turn off the TV, and to construct our daily lives in a new way that brings focus on the real needs we have and not the "wants". I believe it can become habit, but will take work. It can be done, and we will be doing a favor for our loved ones and our country. We can only hope that many, many people will begin to feel this way, and then the society will see a change. Remember, we are in control! we are the consumers!
jpbluesky |
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Celticheart
True Blue Farmgirl
811 Posts
Marcia
WA
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2005 : 8:13:41 PM
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Oh I agree!! Here's a website to check out if you haven't before.
(www.simpleliving.net)
Marcia---it's still smokey
"I suppose the pleasure of country life lies really in the eternally renewed evidence of the determination to live." Vita Sackville-West
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FlipFlopFarmer
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Carla
Molalla
Oregon
198 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 09:00:02 AM
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I like what they said about leftovers.... "I prefer to call them encores..."
I have found that the best way for our family to handle meal planning and lessen waste is to go around the dinner table and have each person adds a meal idea to to the list. The dinners/lunches go on the menu board in the kitchen. I make my grocery list from that menu and include an "encore" night or two in there so as not to be wasteful. Having a menu to make the list from keeps me from buying more than I really need to.
Other than keeping waste to a minumum, there are many other benefits as well. It's nice to have a plan as the times that I find we are most wasteful or most tempted to eat out is when I don't have a plan. Having the family making the dinner selections takes the burden off of me. I get bored with cooking the same old things and I've run out of ideas! The kids don't fight about what we're having as they know tonight is brother's dinner and if I don't like it then....tomorrow I get the choice I wanted. It also helps them practice good nutrition choices. Our 4 year old is aware of what a balanced meal looks like and that no, you can't have PBJ & ice cream for dinner!
It is disgusting to live is such a throw-away society and I try with everything I do and every choice I make to make the best decision, not only for now, but as an example to our children. The gazillion choices we have are a result of our willingness to buy them. If we demand good, quality, environmentally friendly items and stop buying every "new and improved" item on the market....only then will the focus change. Also, most of what we buy, we can make...it's just a matter of what we think is convenience. I make my own laundry soap and my Mom asked me where on earth I find the time to make it. It takes me much less time to make and large batch of laundry soap that will last me for months than it does to drive to Costco and buy it. It also costs much less and I don't have to drive 1/2hr to get there. It's WAY more convenient for me to make it myself.
Carla
Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly. |
Edited by - FlipFlopFarmer on Aug 24 2005 11:18:06 AM |
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lareyna
True Blue Farmgirl
242 Posts
Arlene
Valley Ford
Ca
USA
242 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 09:13:06 AM
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| wow, how do you make laundry soap? |
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Celticheart
True Blue Farmgirl
811 Posts
Marcia
WA
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 11:52:01 AM
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Carla,
The way you do menus and shopping lists is almost the exact same way I've done it for years.
I started out doing it that way to make my shopping easier and more organized. I too found that we would order out more often if I didn't have 'a plan.' I always post the menu for the week so everbody know what's for dinner and they can start it for me if I'm not home yet. I keep samples of my menus to refer back to and even helped a couple of friends of mine get started with this idea by sitting down with them and planning their menus for several weeks until they got the hang of it. Now if I could just be this organized with the rest of my life.............
Have you ever visited the either of these websites?
(www.organizedhome.com) and (www.once-a-month-cookingworld.com)
Yes, how DO you make that laundry soap?
Marcia
"I suppose the pleasure of country life lies really in the eternally renewed evidence of the determination to live." Vita Sackville-West
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FlipFlopFarmer
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Carla
Molalla
Oregon
198 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 3:49:08 PM
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The laundry soap recipe I use is a hodge-podge of a few recipes I have found.
Grate 1 bar Fels Naptha in a 5 G bucket.
Add 1 or 2 cups borax & 1 or 2 cups Washing Soda.
Boil a tea kettle of water and pour it in the 5 G bucket. I use my wand mixer to get it all mixed in well. Fill the bucket the rest of the way with water and mix well.
Let this sit for several hours or overnight. After this sits for a while, it will separate. Mix well with wand mixer again. If you don't have a wand mixer, you can also use a drill with a paint mixer wand attached to it.  There's more than one way to use those tools Farm Girls!!!
You can also just leave it in the powder form and sprinkle some in the wash. It's very concentrated so you don't need much.
I don't really care for the smell of Fels Naptha so I am currently looking to purchase or make my own soap.
A 5G bucket lasts our family of 4 a long time and I usually grate several bars at once so it's already done when I need it.
 Carla
Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly. |
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Across the Fence: Consumerism Rant |
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Consumerism Rant
