If You Slip Don't Give Up The Ship

So, a while back I made a WAG that I could source all of my "needs" "locally". By that I meant: 80% of food, goods, and services to be produced and purchased from within 50 miles, with the remaining 20% produced and purchased from within New England. Furthermore, I said, "I believe that if I cannot locate what I need or the materials with which to make it from within that area, then I don’t really NEED it, and I can live without it." If you have been following along here you know I have had some great successes. It turns out that I live in an area where the local organic food movement is in full swing and I'm able to get delicious nutritious local food year round. 

I have also had some challenges, and by the way the NJ facial tissue experiment was terminated at the request of Hubby who felt it just wasn't up to snuff. So it's back to the drawing board on that one. Anyone got any suggestions?

And well, some failures... Yesterday morning, in a rush, I left the house without a cup of coffee. Locally roasted coffee is already a compromise and yet I succumbed to the temptation of stopping at the drive-through! I know :-( 

My point in sharing this with you is this: if you slip, don't give up the ship. This isn't all or nothing folks. Because if it is we are in big trouble! We each just have to do the best we can, and so...Tomorrow I will go right back to striving for my goal to source my needs locally and I'll think a little harder about just exactly what is a "need". When confronted with the desire to purchase something that is not in keeping with my goals, hopefully I'll resist that temptation.

Now just over a month into this experience and I've had to make some adjustments.  At this point I think 75/20/5(that 5 being from sources outside of New England) is a reasonable goal. 

The reasons behind all of this localization are legion. I want to reduce my carbon footprint to 1.47 acres within 5 years. If you don't know what a challenge that is, please note that the average American's carbon footprint is over 24 acres and even a resident of Ithica's Eco Village is significantly higher than the goal I have set for myself. I want to encourage and promote a strong sustainable local economy and live my life in line with the permaculture principles: earth care, people care, fair share. And that's just for starters. It's going to be a long hard row to hoe, but every step will be worth it when I reach that goal.

Each of us has a goal, something that has motivated us to take the road toward sustainability. For many it is the specter of climate change. For some it is the desire for more self reliance, given the current unsure state of affairs in the world. Whatever it is that has us moving in this direction let's keep our eyes focused on the goal. We can overcome whatever setbacks we may encounter, even if they are of our own making, so long as we keep the goal in sight and keep moving toward the mark.