Green

It's been a bit of a green weekend.

First off, we spent a couple of hours on Saturday at the nearby nature reserve - joining half of Somerset West, one entire church and a good few parts of Cape Town in hanging out on the extensive lawns, following overgrown paths and dabbling in mountain streams. I sent the boys off to explore and play while I chose a secluded bench and simply sat quietly. It's amazing what one sees when one is still. I had 4 different varieties of bird stop by, mere metres away and unafraid (but then again birds aren't scared of me anyway - something to do with my "karma" I think! :) ). The hand-sized frogs started up their chorus in the lake as soon as I'd settled. Dragonflies landed nearby, and I watched a shrike feeding off insects in mid-air. Behind me in the grass, a furtive creature rustled around - perhaps a bird, or a lizard, or something else too timid to show its face. If you think nature is quiet - open your ears to the world filled with birdsong and creature voices. (And if you think you can't get hayfever by simply sitting - think again!)

Sunday morning I made my annual trip to the garden centre to stock up on a car-load of potting soil, kraalmis (cattle poop, sorta) and rose/shrub planting mix. Along with 8x6 tubs of seedlings (lettuce, salad greens, coriander, cherry tomatoes, basil, flat-leaf parsley, golden oregano & rosemary) and packets of seeds (roma tomatoes, round tomatoes, baby marrow, watermelon, peas and bush beans). You see, I'd picked up a few discounted British magazines on Friday afternoon, including Country Living, English Garden and Period & Traditional Homes - all of which have the most wonderful English gardens in them, brimming with flowers, plants, veggies, herbs - and acres of space. I got drooling, and then took a look at my neglected space.... (I also got drooling over 17th century stone houses, wood beams and fire-places, but those are things I can't do anything about). Being unsure as to where we'll be soon, I've decided that we're going potty this season - all our veggies and herbs will be portable, not only to follow the sun, but also to follow US should we move. So I got cracking on planting out goodies in pots yesterday. I love growing things. If I don't get my hands into soil regularly I start to shrivel up inside. And with the price of certain things soaring (tomatoes at nearly 10 bucks a kilo this week!), I look forward to growing my own. There is nothing as delicious as just-picked, warm from the sun, organic tomatoes.

All this plant-related stuff got me thinking about how far I've come in the past few years with regard to the environment. Living in ignorance a while back, I wasted resources of every variety. But now that I know better I've:

1. Started recycling - paper, vegetable matter (compost), whatever is useable or re-useable.
2. Gone off that damaging injection for both my sake and the sake of everything else it affects.
3. Watched my use of electricity (using energy-efficient light bulbs etc.), water (no waste!) and my car (drive only when necessary).
4. Switched to as much natural, organic stuff as I can - growing much of what we can use fresh, and sourcing other bits locally. I still have a ways to go on this one though, as we don't yet eat right and I could be growing a lot more of our food.
5. Cut back on over-packaged goods - buying in bulk where I can, recycling paper packaging.

I'm not going to go join Greenpeace anytime soon, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that I aspire to be more in tune with the world around me. I want to not only live lightly, but make it a better place too. It's a journey of education, of mind-changing and perception adjusting. It's one that you can't turn back on once started.

(Oh - and on a related note, it seems my little business has just gotten a boost. A friend is seeking suppliers of the natural and organic, which is exactly what I'm working on.)

I like the fact that I'm more mindful of my impact on my environment. I enjoy seeing the difference just one person can make, and I hope I can inspire those around me to do it too. Many don't care, but perhaps I can lead by example...