December APLS Carnival Topic: Green Journeys

When people find out that I'm a vegetarian, one of the first questions is always, "How long have you been a vegetarian?" and then "Why did you become a vegetarian?"

Going veggie was my first eco-related lifestyle change, but it took ten years of feet-dragging and a crashing housing market before I finally committed to greening my life about a year and a half ago.

That's a very abbreviated version of the story of my green journey...What's your story?

December is a good month for reflecting on beginnings and endings, where you started and how far you've come. So in that spirit, I'd like to hear about your green journey for this month's APLS Carnival.

• What triggered you to start trying to live a sustainable life?
  
• What are the biggest changes you've made to live sustainably?
  
• How far have you come since you started your green journey?
  
• And what do you feel you still need to work on?

Please email your submissions to consciousshopperblog@gmail.com by December 15. I'll post the carnival on December 18 at my blog The Conscious Shopper.

I'm looking forward to hearing your story!

November APLS Carnival is Live!

The November edition of the APLS Carnival is now live at Sustainable Living and You: November APLS Carnival.

As the holiday rush begins, take some time to relax and read this month's thoughtful entries. They will definitely encourage you to think about all the blessings in your life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November APLS Carnival Topic: Sustainable Living and You

When I began making changes to live a more sustainable life, I frequently thought, "There is no way I'll be able to do that!" when reading descriptions of what others were doing. I was simply overwhelmed at the distance between my lifestyle and theirs. Now I'm doing many of the things from which I initially recoiled and know that they were changes well worth making. I've talked to others who have felt those same feelings so wanted to explore this notion of changing behavior in hopes of encouraging folks to start making changes that currently feel enormous. I know there are some more modifications I have on my list that seem a bit overwhelming right now!

The questions I would like you to consider when writing about this topic include:

What have your efforts to live a more sustainable life taught you about yourself? Have you been able to change a behavior you initially thought you could not? What has surprised you about your own capacity in your efforts to live more sustainably?

If possible, please include specific examples of changes as I think those would be particularly useful to people trying to make those and similar changes in their own lives.

I'm really looking forward to reading what everyone has to say! Please email your submissions to steph@greeningfamilies.com by November 15. I'll post the carnival by November 18 so we can all learn from, and be inspired by, each other!

Thanks much,
Steph @ Greening Families