@Jennifer Ward-Pelar: Thanks Jennifer; sorry to hear you suffer too. How did you get on with your goal - did you ride downtown or is your bike still gathering dust?

@Kris: Thanks Kris - I appreciate your comment

You do an amazing lot to live green. So much more than the rest of the population. I don’t think using your car is enough to beat yourself up about. You aren’t driving cross-country.

We moved to a small town six months ago and I could ride my bike if I really wanted to. I just don’t. I tell myself, well, I don’t go out very often, it isn’t very far, and I do try to hit all my errands in one trip. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could do them on a bike if I were hard core, and my body would love me for it. (Sigh.)
Goal: To pull the damn bike out of the garage and ride it downtown this weekend. (Downtown is one street that goes for like maybe 3 miles. Case in point.)

Maybe I’ll do a post about it.
You always inspire me.

@Sixty Second Parent: THanks for your support. Oh I can see why nipping into the supermarket is very tempting in your situation; I wonder how you could get over that…

@Small Footprints: That sounds really tough. I think *our* recycling facilities from home are poor, but then I hear of stories like yours and realise just how lucky we are. Yes I have to travel, but it’s ok to combine that with another errand and I have space to store things at home…

@All Natural Katie: That *is* frustrating. When we started out on our recycling challenge, Mr G was NOT interested and I have to admit I gave in. Thankfully he is now on board and it’s so much easier. I guess you have to lead by example over there

@nadine sellers: Nadine, thank you for sharing so much. I really hear you on the ’should’ front; it is hard to keep ones counsel, but we continue to lead by example and just look at how many people you have inspired! That makes me truly happy (and I’m delighted to hear your Husband is now coping with life in a more comfortable way?)

all natural katie: i sympathize with you as i have lived a long time under these conditions. however; baby steps…and i did stumble in reactionary behavior, i hid my conservative ways, i saved good foods in the freezer and all the tricks of the housewife trade…i did try to serve nutritional knowledge with meals and gave science lessons with every energy bill.

mostly i tried to demonstrate conscious living by example–the results are now visible in my children who apply most of these in their lives–and, my formerly OCD and panic attack husband has eventually managed his end of the spectrum and is very satisfied living as green as he can –we shop together; and he includes the items which he wants.

every year brings wonderful realizations, and i am very happy to look back and notice the things we gave up and the ways we have all improved over time, now friends tell me how my lifestyle has helped them in significant ways. thanks to mrs G because i learned from her blogs –i do try not to tell people what ’should’ be done..that’s the road block i have been working on..

My roadblock, right now, is my community. They used to be fabulous at recycling but then, probably because of budget cuts, they took a HUGE step backwards. Now recycling, for those of us who don’t have curb-side pickup, has become nearly impossible. I’ve written letters and made calls but, so far, it’s not working. I won’t give up but it’s really feeling like a lost cause. I continue to try NOT to generate anything which needs recycling but for those few items that do appear, I’m trying to find solutions.