One Small Change update

Taken from the new site for this drive: http://1smallchangeblog.blogspot.com/

As for February...

Yeah, well, umm....did I mention I don't have sleep apnea?

I'm not a huge fan of February, but given that this year appears to be moving as quickly as last year did for me, I'd like it back, please.

Recycling didn't get off the ground yet in my house, so I'm designating it as March's task, continuing January's task of purging/cleaning, and adding another earth-friendly concept...green grocery bags and a change in diet.

The green grocery bags, I already do, but I occasionally get lazy...and there's seriously no excuse for it, since when I empty the bags, they go on the table in the foyer, which I have to pass to get out in the mornings, so there's no reason I can't grab them and take them back down to the car whenever they pile up there. So no more excuses in that department, because the alternative is buying a fresh bag when I forget, and while they only cost a buck, I've got plenty now, thanks to that system.

The change in diet has been percolating in my head for the last 2 weeks or so...the library books I pulled on small/hobby farming, combined with Web research, have opened my eyes to the there-is-no-pertinent-adjective-to-describe-the-horror that is the US food industry. I'm not necessarily talking about the cases of downer cows and cannibalistic chickens that PETA splashes all over the Web, though that is a concern. It's more about unnecessarily shortening animals' lives. I'm seeing animals in a new light, a sentient light, and it's making it quite difficult to enjoy certain foods now. I get that we're higher up on the food chain, but does that give us the right to shorten dramatically the lives of animals lower than us? I can't rationalize chicken breast anymore, and that sucks, as it's about my favorite meat...but an animal that can live 10 to 15 years, and actually only lives 8 to 12 weeks to end up on my plate, is an animal I think I can do without. Still struggling with it, but the upshot is I'll be eating less meat, going as green as possible on the meat we do buy (without bankrupting us), and studying more as I form my opinions on the subject. I need to get off the red meat anyway...the cardiology appointment was good, but it was also a green light to get the hell healthy before all my small concerns about the ole ticker become actual issues.