“We don’t need a law against McDonalds or a law against slaughterhouse abuse– we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse.”
~Joel Salatin
I just love this quotation from Joel Salatin, grassbased farmer, author, and speaker extraordinaire from Polyface Farm in Virginia.  I have found over the years that the more I opt out of, the simpler, easier and less stressed my life becomes – not to mention healthier!
Last year I opted out of using plastic or paper bags from the store.  It took me a few months, but I managed to change this habit so that bringing my own store totes is now second nature.   I also switched our household over to biodegradable garbage bags.    Very simple changes both, but what a mound of waste I’ve avoided in just one year!
If we could all opt out of one or two things each year that are bringing nothing but waste, excess, or toxins into our lives and our environment, imagine how much change we could evoke together in just a few years!
What things are you all going to opt out of in 2011 (if anything)?   I would love to hear your fresh ideas!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
I am opting out of buying bottled drinks out. I have plenty of resuable bottles–including BPA free ones, so I really have no excuse for buying water. I usually carry water with me, but get caught out sometimes. Like today when I was rushing out to an appointment.
Save money and the environment.
We opted out of walmart a couple of years ago. That is an awesome feeling to be free of that monster!
We buy a lot of our food locally, but we can’t get it all here (we’re in Alaska). We did buy a half a beef this fall though, and we catch a lot of fish, so the majority of our meat is local/wild/small-farmed already, and hopefully the rest of it will be in the next year or two. 🙂
We’re pretty minimal about processed foods too–making our own pizza/crust, hamburgers/buns, chinese ‘take out’ etc. We still hit fast food occasionally, but I hope to continue reducing that. 🙂
I would like to buy less canned products like beans and tomato paste and make my own.
Most of the stores in Ontario charge for plastic now so I do bring reusable ones. Walmart only does not charge but I should still bring the reusable ones anyways.
The year 2010 has been a year of changes for me – I learned how to make my own pie dough with real butter, make my own pizza dough and lots of other things that I used to buy before.
Everyone in my family is enjoying the changes!
um…compact anyone :wink this is one of my goals for the year…buy used or make do without. (undies being one exception…so i stocked up last month). our goal is to opt out of conventional food as much as possible. we have already done so with milk, cream and eggs. about half of our produce is local…we hope to increase that. i want to garden and stock onions, peppers, squash and green beans to last all next winter/year. another goal is two bags of trash per month. we are at about 3 – 4 right now. that also means i need to compost. ay.
I’ve been opting out, slowly for a couple years now. I’ve been buying canning jars and using them instead of tupperware or those reusable/disposable dishes; mainly use reusable shopping bags, converted to stainless steel cookware/bakeware and silicon mats instead of aluminum foil (just need to find an electric skillet and waffle iron to replace the last “teflon” items in my house – recommendations??). Ziplock type baggies are my worst vice. They just work so well, space wise for so many different things in the freezer/refrigerator! So I need to work on that this year.
I guess I already opted out by choosing to be responsible for my own food supply. As someone who grows a significant portion of my own food, I just don’t generate that much trash. I actually LIKE those plastic bags for the products I have to buy, I reuse them for the trash I do have. 🙂
I love Joe’s quote also and am passing it on. Our small town is on the verge of making those ubiquitous plastic shopping bags illegal. I’m all behind that. I am trying to figure out how to use less of any plastic bags for storage. They have really crept into my life over the years and I’ve become dependent on them. I have the reusable totes, but need to use them more often. I have quit using plastic straws, found some great reusable ones at BB&B and this year I’m getting us off of using Teflon, which of course is very toxic, but also those pans never last and need to be replaced. A good quality stainless steel one would out last many teflon pans, that have gone to the land fills. So, Opting Out En Mass it shall be!
Hi Mikki, great ideas! If you are in the market for some good stainless steel bakeware, by the way, make sure you sign up for the $40 giveaway from one of my sponsor’s (Paula’s Bread) right now. She carries a beautiful line of high quality, stainless pans.
One of the best ways to opt out is to move away from paper currency towards gold and silver related assets (avoiding paper gold, like ETF’s). Dollars, Euro’s and Pounds are backed by nothing and printed from thin air by central banks to fund big government. The central banks also give commercial banks the power to print money from thin air to fund corporate monopolies. This is how Wal-Mart and Monsanto expand, even tho consumers do not want them. This is the opposite of free markets.
So, the more savings we deprive the banks of, the less they can loan out and, given that debt is now collateralized, the more debt we pay down, the less money they have. And, in gold and silver related assets, we benefit from all the inflation they create. We profit from their bailouts in this situation. If everybody did this, they would suddenly start behaving themselves.
– What you should know about inflation: http://mises.org/daily/2914
– The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle:
– Was anybody surprised by the crash:
– The Cultural and Spiritual Legacies of Fiat Inflation:
Philip, I am very much on the same page as you on this one. Having studied Economics in university, it is completely elitist and contrary to free markets in my view what the Fed and central banks around the world are doing by printing money with just a keystroke on the computer. Bernake was on TV a few weeks ago and he said that it was a “rumor” that the Fed was printing money!! Talking out both sides of his mouth, for sure! The Fed may not be actually printing physical money,, but they are printing it just the same by moving money electronically that doesn’t really exist. There has never been a time more important than now to go local with sourcing/buying one’s food and goods.
To reduce waste I guess I don’t have to mention compost, but I have trouble doing it during the winter when snow is covering our compost pile and it is below freezing. So that should be my defi this year: compost in winter as well.
Texmex, I have no such excuse as snow in Florida! I do need to get my act together and do more composting. That is a great idea! I’ve been buying organic fertilizer for my citrus trees etc, but composting would be a better choice.
In Europe the plastic bags are nearly over, and all supermarkets carry special stronger bags that can be purchased for 2-3 dollars. And then you simply carry them around all the time. I have about 20 in my car (from forgetting them or needing one when I don’t have one). It is great and everybody has adapted easily by not finding the plastic bags everywhere. It is a savings for the supermarket and a great action for the environment.
I love your blog and follow it in feedreader from France. 🙂
Hi Texmex, so glad to have you as a reader. I absolutely LOVE France! My husband and I traveled there back before we had kids and I found everyone to be lovely. Even in Paris, folks were so helpful and kind. Americans have this totally wrong view of folks in Paris which is sad. My first taste of duck pate was in Paris and I shall never forget it. I must say that I so miss the crepes. I’ve tried to make them myself but it just isn’t the same as eating them in a little cafe overlooking Notre Dame!!!!