About 10 months ago we decided to stop paying $90 a month to be advertised to for the better part of an hour. Especially with all the ridiculously inappropriate commercials and programs on during the day. That's right we canceled our cable! We made this decision and it has brought about a change in awareness in our home. It's amazing how immersing yourself in our American culture through the television programming of today can lead to a deadening of the moral senses. You stop thinking about the junk you're bombarded with on TV and you forget that you make a difference in your world because all of the sudden your world is being controlled by the media...and we all know that the American media is like a poisonous snake, it's scary even behind the glass. I could give you examples but instead think of the most sacred person you know and imagine them watching your TV with you.
For me it would be my grandpa Jack. The last time I saw him he was confined to his home, mostly his chair in front of the TV. I watched Jeopardy with him and listen to him talk about his life. Then the news came on. I was so embarrassed to watch the scenes of young girls being pressed in to 'sext-ing' and listening to people loose there minds in a protest over guy rights. Cursing, swearing and obscene gestures. How embarrassing. Then there's my children. Just before we pulled the 'plug' I was lying on the couch with my kids watching one of those home remodeling shows when a commercial came on. Three young beautiful people making out with each other wandering hands all over one another. They were selling a watch. It was only 9am on a Saturday and already it had started.
Now we only have a Netflix instant queue that we load up with movies and shows we think are appropriate for our family. Our old programing is hardly missed. We listen to news radio in the car when the kids are not with us and there is always the internet/i tunes radio news. That being said we love documentaries, history channel shows, etc. and our queue is full of them. We put in a show called EcoTrip from the Sundance channel and it was amazingly candid about some of the ways we waste and consume in ways that are destroying the planet right down to the very food chain. It was all things that could be changed, none of this don't eat meat, live in the woods or mud-hut communities crazy talk (I'm 10+ years vegetarian and slightly hippish btw but sometime crazy is just crazy).
EcoTrip is a good show and each episode is only a half hour, but very informative on ways to change your habits. Also informative about the ways we fool ourselves into thinking were going green, and really, we're not so green when you look at the whole picture. Sending our just to poorer countries is not green. So, we've switched over to cloth dishrags instead of paper towels, safer detergents, and cloth diapers. Yes CLOTH DIAPERS! Talk about crazy ;)
I'm here to tell you that I am a changed woman! It's not nearly as hard as I thought and it is actually cheaper. If you're not ready to go to straight to washing out pads than there are these diapers that biodegrade in 3months. They are compostible! All you do is wash the liner in the washing machine. No Scrubbing! My reason for going on about these things that have you saying "What's wrong with her? Is she trying to save the world or something?" Not at all. Who am I try attempt such a thing? But I'm not afraid to allow my life to be chipped away and smoothed over so that I can be better.
My kids deserve the best and if I can help teach them the value of other people, our planet, and each passing moment, well, that's pretty good. Were going to also start home canning everything we can! Making sure to buy "in season and local". Small things that will add up to a beautiful lifestyle for our family, centered around people, passion and preservation. I'm including some links that are really neat and helpful if you're interested in this type of thing.
http://www.sundancechannel.com/search/?words=ecotrip&x=0&y=0 Said going green show.
http://www.diapersetc.com/content/cloth-diaper-guide.html A little help finding out about cloth diapering.
http://www.pickyourown.org/ph_of_foods.htm For home canning just about everything I can think of.
http://www.decentfilms.com/ Help with movies before you let your kids watch.
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