Slow Down

Interesting article: Why working less is better for the globe

When people work longer hours, they rely increasingly on convenience items such as fast food, disposable diapers, or bottled water. Built-in obsolescence has become standard business practice -- just throw it away and make more -- leaving mountainous landfills in its wake. "Earning more often means spending money in ways that are environmentally detrimental. We're finding that to compensate for lack of time, you actually need more money to work those extra hours," says Monique Tilford, acting executive director of the Centre for a New American Dream, a Maryland group promoting environmentally and socially responsible consumption. "When people are time-starved they don't have enough time to be conscious consumers. The overarching theme of our organization is to remind Americans that every single dollar they spend has a carbon impact, to make the connection."

This is something I've felt but not quite been able to articulate. The need to completely give up my time to earn money... and how much of it do I then spend on things to save me time? One of the things I want to try to do is embrace more of the "slow" movement - slow food, making things by hand, taking more time to smell the roses.

I don't know how far down the road I'll go, but I'm at least starting to take one step at a time.