Friends Don't Let Friends be Un-Green

I have a lot of green friends, 'natch. Well, acquaintances. My circle of "friends" is really small... you know, those people who visit you after surgery or that chick you can call to hit the mall with you or some peeps to grab drinks with after work... those people? Not so much around me. I'm a loner. Ask anyone: I don't really like "people". It's true. Which is weird, because quite honestly, I am unfailingly gosh-darn pleasant to everyone. It's kind of sick how nice I am in person. Sick. Nauseating. But I digress.

Back to it: I am lucky to know so many green and aware and awake people. VERY lucky, and I treasure them all. But what about if you have a friend who doesn't so much share your brand of awareness? You may have them in your life... those who just will NOT stop using plastic bags or single-use bottles... those maybe even in your family who think you're a little cray-cray and don't listen to anything you say because they already wrote you off as a tree-hugging Birkenstock-wearing Patchouli-smelling non-showering non-flushing hippie, even though you're really not? Hell, you don't even own a pair of Birkenstocks. Do you keep patient and keep trying? Do you shut down and shut up (funny how those are two such different things, isn't it? LOL)? Do you just not see those people anymore, gently excise them from your life?

Or, let's go even a step further, since we ALL know people who think we're a little over-the-top. Say you have a friend who has a job or business that is completely non-green. Like... bottled-water delivery. Plastic diaper seller. A catering business that uses plastic utensils and Styrofoam. A salon that goes through crazy chemicals or - gods forbid - Brazilian blowouts. What do you do? This is their money, their success, their livelihood... what to do? Stop being friends with them, because they can't/won't change, and you simply can't associate with them any longer? Or do you gently urge them to mend their ways? Or do you nag them enough that they finally shut YOU out?

Some people that know me will actually be afraid to do things around me or will hide something from me that they know I will frown upon. And, you know, I'll take that... because at least they are thinking about it. They are more aware. But, again, I don't have a lot of people like that in my life, because... well, I guess I just don't. Do you? I'm really curious about this one. There can't just be "Us" and "Them". There has to be a "We", right? Apparently, I am the one people just humor if they don't share my concerns. Or they tune me out. That's disheartening. But I know it's true. I can only hope to just be like that tiny, irritating little piece of sand in the oyster, and maybe pearls will follow.

It's all I got.

What say you?

So, My Steamer Breaks...

...no big deal, right? It's just a steamer. They're relatively cheap; I can get another one.
After all, clothing steamers are great. Easier than ironing, keeps clothes from needing to be dry-cleaned as often... and heck, it lasted a few years. Great.

No, not great. It's a GIANT hunk'a'plastic that is now good for NOTHING. A few years??? C'mon!! And I know what's wrong with it - it's not boiling water anymore! This is a quick fix, right?? WRONG! These days, stuff is made so damn cheap that it's far easier - AND less expensive, even - to just junk it and get a new one. I can't even figure out what to do to repurpose it!

Well, woo-hoo, that's good for the economy, right? WRONG! It's good for some 3rd world economy somewhere (not even, really) where the stupid things are made. Cuz they ain't made here in the US. So please tell me what economy we are helping. Bed Bath & Beyond's CEO's personal economy? Here's an idea: how about jobs we used to have, you know, actually FIXING stuff?? Appliances lasted a long time. Decades, even. And if something twitched in them, we took them to the local guy who could fix pretty much anything. Toasters, sewing machines, mixers, vacuums... or when the bigger things went down, he came to the house to fix it. And we kept it. Now, you don't even keep a microwave. Too cheap and easy to get another one. Hand mixers? Like Kleenex. Blenders? Pfft.

 We cry out about jobs all the time. So someone please explain to me how this Planned Obsolescence things is good for our economy. I don't think it's working so well. Could be just me. Can't we just go back to making quality products, and to fixing them and keeping them around? Isn't that better?

In the meantime, forgive my wrinkled clothes. My steamer broke and I haven't been out to replace it with another. Maybe I'll buy two for when the next one breaks. Yeah. That's it.

Just doing my share for the economy.

Why this last thing? O Vanity...

Doing great. Got rid of my shampoo and conditioner. No more petroleum-based stuff in plastic bottles. No more buying deodorant. I still wear make-up, but minimally, and I try to be good about it too. Hair product... well, could be better there but I'm trying. I like my spiky-ness. My "perfume" is essential oil based if I wear it at all. No more hair color. At all. So I'm doing OK. Pretty good. Great?


Nope, NOT an author portrait!

 So, why this one last hold-out? I stopped believing everything all "they" would have us believe about pretty much, well, everything. I do not need their products in my life. We've cut so much "store-bought" crap-chemical products from our life that it's hard to scale back any more. But one thing I kept right on using: Moisturizer.

I've read so many things... our skin does what it needs to do. Yeah OK. If you strip the oils from your skin, it will over-compensate and produce more oil. Yup, sure. Skin naturally will lose elasticity etc. Yes, for certain. Time marches across our faces. Miracle creams abound. All criticize the others for not really working. New ones come out every 2 seconds. (That might be a slight exaggeration. We women all know only mascaras actually come out every 2 seconds. Moisturizers might be every 5 seonds, really.) New, improved, better, this works that doesn't, new technology, new ingredients, better, stronger, gentler, SPACE AGE! I finally stopped to think: almost every other product is full of lies and false promises. Why should I believe the anti-wrinkle people above everyone else I have put to the side?

Hmm. Good question. I have openly embraced my grey hair. In fact, it's not turning white fast enough for me. I've never worn a ton of make-up so I'm OK with keeping to a minimum. So why the continued obsession with moisturizers? Why the worry that if I skip it, I'll burst out into severe wrinkles immediately? I use a very natural soap that doesn't strip the skin of its oils TOO badly... still feels a little dry right after the shower, but all in all, I've discovered that if I skip the stuff, I'm actually still OK - the same - all fine - by the end of the day. I feel no different. It's only been a short time now, and I'm not yet convinced I'm in the clear, but all in all I... cautiously... think I might be just fine. I have not exploded into crow's feet. I don't notice any difference at all. But really, should I care? I'm all for looking as good as I can. For sure, I am blessed with my naturally oily Italian skin that keeps some aging at bay... but really, have I held on to this last social hang-up for no good reason? Do I really care how wrinkled I get? Do I care who knows my age or guesses it or even cares?

I'm trying to get in better shape, I'm eating better, I'm exercising more... I do want to look good. I have sun damage/age spots that I know betray me, and I would like to fade them. They do bug me. I try fade creams. They seem to work. I try to not obsess too much. It is what it is, ya know? I know there are natural products out there, I saw most of them as I wandered through the Natural Products Expo. But I was still left to wondering, do I really NEED this? Might my skin be fine on its own? Unfortunately, only time will tell, and by then it will be too late. But I really am tempted to just STOP. Yeah, again, sure, I may be lucky with my skin type that still grants me zits at an age I thought I would be long past them, but, I really think I can plain old stop. Or cut back, at least. Because, yes, those wonderful all-natural (all EXPENSIVE) products out there may be the tits (and I'm thinking some of my etsy friends out there do have GREAT natural products and not crazy-pricey! You know who you are!! Pipe up in the comment section!), they still lots of them come in plastic containers that I prefer to not have to use in the first place. I want to simplify. I want to STOP.

Can I? Should I? Would you, could you? Meanwhile, I have a lot of soul-searching to do to figure out why I could continue to fall for this one last great lie...