Goodbye Friend

Much to my dismay, one of my most favorite bloggers has decided to call it quits. I realize it happens. Sometimes you just run out of mojo. But Julie, and her blog Towards Sustainability, is not leaving the blogosphere because she ran out of ideas, or because she got too busy. She is calling it quits because she feels dishonest. Whaaaaaa? Dishonest? Lemme 'splain.....

Julie's blog is much like this one and much like the all the ones I have listed on my blogroll. We write about green living, treading lightly on the earth, and sustainability. We are all trying to raise our families to be honest, simple, non-consuming beings who realize what a gift this world is and how important it is that we preserve that. So we write about our experiences, our trials and errors, our victories and successes in hopes of helping one another and inevitably making the world a better place.

But why? Why do we believe in what we do? The reason we garden, we sew, we reap, we harvest, we recycle is because if we don't, we will lose it. All of it. Our planet is in trouble, plain and simple. Not just socially but environmentally too. And for Julie, writing about canning and making soap is only part of the reason she writes. However, when she writes about peak oil or climate change, she loses subscribers and no one leaves any comments. But write a peppy post about making recycled potholders and you'd think she's the queen of the environmental movement.

I get it. I really do. Issues like peak oil and climate change and food shortages are scary to think about. Really scary. But it's real. I love writing and reading about how to prepare yourself "domestically" for real world changes but sometimes, a shot of the sobering truth is necessary. I too have written a couple of posts about peak oil and climate change and no one left a comment. NOT ONE. I even lost a follower and since there are only 53 of you it was noticeable and certainly a little hurtful.

My point is this: if you are trying to live more like me, more like Julie, than you must recognize the big picture. Green and sustainable living do provide a simpler, more fulfilling life. However, that is just one of the million and one reasons to live this way. The big one, the main one, is to preserve what is left of our world. What are we leaving to our children? Yes. I like posts about how to make reusable snack bags. It's light, it's happy, it give me something to do with my scraps. But in the back of my mind, I know the real, deep down reason I want to make my own snack bags is because I cannot bear to see one more plastic bag thrown in the trash. It's like a nail in our environmental coffin...

So to those who abandoned Julie...shame on you. It's your time and you should spend it reading what you choose. But denial will not make it go away. As Julie said " Knowing how to knit will not bring about a timely and efficient transportation system.  Knowing how to cook from scratch will not stop McDonald's from aggressively marketing to my children. And knowing how to make my own cleaning products will not stop big business from controlling government policy." Let me be clear: learning these skills is vitally important. But having a well rounded view of things is essential to living the best life we can.  

I'll miss you Julie....