Kermit in a daisy field

It’s not about Kermit the Frog.
A few weeks ago, I wrote one of those Five Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me posts. In it, I confessed with my tail between my legs admitted to not being a re-cycler and feeling guilty about it. We don’t have curbside pick-up, anything we did would require effort, and although I’m not proud to admit it, the path of least resistance won out. We’ve done nothing…outside of me helping each one of my children construct some type of re-cycling class project over the past five years, which produced more mother-guilt, and I think, did more harm than good.
What do I mean by this? Lip service…hypocrisy…not reinforcing at home what was taught in the classroom. In matters of faith, this breeds a false and shallow religion which serves neither God nor man. In matters of life, this breeds a dangerous sort of duplicity, expousing a set of values where there’s no substance or action to support them. If I agree with or believe what’s being taught in the classroom, it’s my role as a parent to reinforce it, to support it; I guess if I don’t agree with it, to explain an alternate point of view and why I think differently. As my older children have entered middle school, I’ve encouraged their freedom to challenge and question subjective material; not to accept opinion as fact. It’s family lore that my grandfather used to say “Don’t believe anything you read or hear and only half of what you see” and my children are beginning to understand what I (he) mean by that.

 

The older I get, the more I appreciate the beauty of creation…the better I understand my role in its stewardship…the more clearly I see the ripple effect of my actions, not just relative to environment, but also to people.

 

For the next 4-8 years, my best opportunity for changing the world is through my influence on my own children. If I “change” them, I’m changing the world. And I think this change begins with ME.

In the comments section of my “Five Things…” post, Swampwitch had this to say:

“I don’t recycle either and I have great guilt about that. I think that will be my new project for 2007. If you’ll do it, I’ll do it… a challenge?”

 

And that’s where change began with me. A fellow blogger throws down the gauntlet, and all of a sudden I’m “in.” And so begins SPEAR 2007Swampy’s and Pensieve’s Excellent Adventure in Recycling.

 

Doing anything with the illustrious Swampwitch will be an adventure…just learning to translate her globberisms has been daunting. Here’s her first post about our challenge; be sure to read this to get a better idea of who I’m in cahoots with! She’s a hoot!

We’re starting SPEAR 2007 early, because heaven forbid if it was a New Year’s Resolution–THOSE are made to be BROKEN! Our goal is longer-term, lifestyle change, to become more aware of our action AND inaction, and to understand how both affect others. If you’re already “green”, thanks for doing your part to take care of Planet Earth. Share your tips and ideas (here and at Swampy’s). Encourage us. Hold us accountable, and if necessary, smack us around;) If you’ve not yet hopped on the bandwagon, there’s plenty of room to join us! Recycling is kind of like dieting or exercise–much more fun with a friend :).

So what are you waiting for? Prizes will be awarded. And there will be LOTS of winners :D.

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