money

My idea of being responsible with money used to be to simply spend as little as possible (by buying only what was necessary for life and getting as good a deal as possible- even if that means buying saurkraut in 5 gallon containers at Costco) and then putting as much money as possible into savings.  But my ideas are starting to change...

I was reading "In Defense of Food" over the summer and at the end of the book, after arguing the ills of the food industry's over processing food, the author made the excellent point that we are anything but powerless against this corporate problem.  Every time we shop, we are casting our votes for or against real food produced in a sustinable and responsible way.  Sure we don't always have all the information we need, or have unlimited access to alternatives, but there are enough alternatives in farmer's markets, grocery produce sections, CSAs, etc that we can make a difference.  And that has been bouncing around in my little brain ever since.  Somehow the idea that using money responsibly is more than getting a good deal had never occured to me.  But the more I ponder it, the more I love the idea that spending it can be a tool to promote sociatal change and support industries and practices I think are important. 

So in that vein, Jonathan and I went on our first adventure to the local farmer's market on Sunday and it was great.  I think we will join their next CSA season starting in January and start shopping ther more often.  I bought our first case of "green" diapers this week and though I cringed a little when I calculated that I was spending $0.10 more per diaper, I feel good about it.  $0.10 per diaper won't break the bank in our house and supporting environmentally sound manufacturing is important.  If I, as someone who is passionate about the environment and has some disposable income won't support responsible industry- who will?