It’s possible that I’m the only person in the world not living up to her potential, not being consistent and concerned. If so, read this to scoff. If not, maybe there’s something here for you.

If you’ve been following me, you know I was privileged to spend five weeks in Sweden with dear, dear friends. Never has working hard at friendships paid off so insanely well. And really, if you’ve got kids, consider Rotary’s year abroad. It’s no less than life-changing.

One of the many things I really noticed (and if I don’t write them down, how will I remember?) is how different their approach to packaging is. How little they use anti-bacterial soaps. How efficient their household appliances are. Their waters are clean, You stop to pick up the few pieces of litter. You ride a bike or a bus or a train. (If it’s any consolation, they also flunk infrastructure renewal.) Their veterinary practices concerning antibiotics are the gold standard for the world…

Life is cleaner there. And before you start telling me it’s easier because Sweden is smaller… stop. It’s the same size as many of our states, and it seems we compete for worst polluters. Nature and Mother Earth are just as badly affected by our litter and pollution here as they are anywhere. How do we hold the Earth as sacred?

I’m someone who understands at least a bit the results of lackadaisical attention to the world and the climate… and yet, I do things out of laziness. There is no culture that encourages and teaches us (because I don’t believe I’m the only culprit, which isn’t an excuse for my bad behavior, it’s just a reality.) to reduce our use of products/medicines/ that pollute, ok, let’s say damage, our environment.

So I’m going to start, painstakingly, doing it differently… I hope we all will. I’ll let you know how it goes.