It's a Trade-off!!!

[rawpriestess]

this is in response to another thread, about a 14 acre urban farm being bulldozed down:

I didn't watch the link because I couldn't get it to work, but if you buy property, you have a right to do what you want with it,

And urban property is very valuable, but why is that?

because people choose to live where they work, which cuts down on fossil fuel usage. (hopefully)

everything is a trade off, if we no longer use coal to heat our homes, then we need to use electricity, or gas, and everything has a trade off,
if we don't want to walk to work, we can ride a bus, which uses fuel, or drive a car which uses fuel, and then we need roads, and we need parking and we need traffic lights, and ambulances which use fossil fuels to pick up the people who have been in an accident, and on it goes.

everything changes, not necessarily for the better of all involved, but it does change.

and right now, I choose to work out of my home, and only drive to town once a week to do all our errands, and to grow my own food, and not allow any truck to deliver my food, so that helps a bit, every little bit helps, everyone, and every little bit can hurt everyone too.

instead of fighting against something, be for the other thing.

Mother Tereasa said, "I will never go to an Anti - War rally, now if you have a Peace rally, call me."

I believe in this fighting against something, only puts massive amounts of emotion and energy into that thing, which fuels it and makes it stronger, and makes it become more and more in your life.

now, focusing on things the way you wish them to be, and having passion for that, will bring that into your life.

So, I say, "focus on what you want, NOT on what you DON'T WANT"

anyway, works for me.
***************
So the real KEY here is what do YOU want?

do you want available food at a decent price? then you are going to have to buy it at a Walmart or something, do you want organic food? then you will have to pay the price?

do you want to have the small farmer stay in business? then you will have to pay the price he wants, which is probably higher than a Walmart, and you will have to go to him or the farmers' market he sells at.

do you want to have clean air? then you will need to NOT drive, or ride a bus and either bike it or hike it

do you want to live in the country? then you will need to drive to town to work, or find a job where you live, or make up a job out of your home

do you want...............?

it just goes on and on, EVERYTHING is a trade off, and everything is your choice, only YOU can make your own choices, but before you make a statment about this or that being an outrage, take a look at the big picture, and see how YOU can help with each purchase you make,

do you drive to the store for one item? do you drive alone to work?
do you use laundry soap? do you wash your clothes after you wear them only once? do you have carpeting? do you use electricity?

probably, just like me I do all of this stuff, but in very limited amounts, and yes, I am impacting the environment, we ALL are, but we can only do what we can do.

so, decide to change one thing today, and make that your passion, like driving to town only once a week, and using your car only so many miles a week/month/year, and sticking to that, when that becomes second nature, add something else, like only using the cotton bags that you bring yourself to the grocery store, then when that becomes second nature, do something else,

and each thing you do, may not immediately stop world hunger, but each thing you do, with love and grace will impact our planet just a bit, and maybe others will see you do these things, and follow suit.

but remember, it is up to YOU, to live harmlessly on our planet, no one else can do this for you, and everything you buy or don't buy, every TV show you don't watch, every electric light you don't turn on, every drop of hot water you don't waste, adds up, each and every day, just like eating raw each and every day adds up to a lifetime of raw eating.

[GlimR]

Abundant blessings ((((rawpriestess))))~
True and wise words~

[NuttyRawMom]

Wow, RP, that is great to hear and so well said!

Since living in Europe, my eyes have been opened to life outside 'my' world. Here, we pay for bags (if you don't bring your own) and bag the groceries ourselves, but mostly we use collapsable plastic crates for the trunk of our car or a foldable bag on wheels if walking. We pay around 1.15 Euro per LITER of gas (a little more than 1/4 gallon). At this time, that would be $1.45 (per quarter gallon!). Coming from Texas originally where driving over an hour is 'just a ways down the road,' the meaning of going somewhere 'far away' has radically changed in my life! We recycle EVERYTHING and it is free. Practically have to since our trash can is only 120 L (around 27 gallons) and is picked up every 4 weeks!! Composting is also a must, with or without a home garden. At least we get a reduced price on an extra same sized container for diapers! Imagine without it! Yikes!

Needless to say, environment is pretty high on the priority list here compared to America. Public transportation is the norm here, with subways and street cars in every major city and buses and trains throughout the country. My husband takes the train 1 hour each way to and from work even though he could drive in half an hour with minimal traffic. Can't afford the gas, besides we choose to own only 1 car. Our first 2 years here we didn't even own one because we lived in the city of Vienna and didn't need it. Now we live in a small town out of the city and, for the first time, have our very own garden!! Yeah!

My husband chooses to work part time to have more time at home with us. At least he only travels 3 days a week or less. As a computer guy, he gets to work from home sometimes. Yes, part time makes a big difference in salary since I don't work, but he works for what we need and we have no big goals in growing rich and wasting it on things we don't need.

Organic items in the grocery stores (expensive chains to discount stores alike) is growing wildly. Organics have become in great demand here. It frustrates me to see someone paying the same price for non-organic something at the more expensive stores when you could go across the street or next door to the discount store and buy it organic at almost the same price! While the selection is most varied in meat, dairy, and bread, I am continually seeing more variety of fresh produce in organic!! Even McDonald's over here advertises how they use so-called healthy products with organic dairy and alpine raised Austrian beef. (Doesn't fool me! )

This is just a dent in how living in another culture can change your view of the world. This was all way before raw or vegetarian for me. I'm not even discussing differences in school, government, ideology and religion, social services, you name it. There is a whole new world in every place in the world and I just wish we could get the greatest thinkers and best ideas from around the world and use them to our global benefit!

Sorry for the long rant, but felt like I needed to share! :)