Purchase Less, Purchase Quality

I frequently pause to be grateful that I grew up on an island—not just any island, but one in the heart of the Puget Sound. I had great schools, a close-knit community, clean water and organic food.

One of my favorite past times is biking. Today I took a trip through Fort Ward Park to the base of Toe Jam Hill on Bainbridge Island. As I looked out at the crisp, clear view of Mount Rainier, I couldn’t help but imagine what this all looked like before civilization speckled the hillsides with houses, the valleys with monoculture farms, and the oceans with large container ships, fishing boats, and ferries. Back when this land was cared for by the Suquamish, Coast Salish, Tulalip, Duwamish, and Stillaguamish peoples. We are all guests here, but today so many of us treat this land like a dumpster.

In these moments, I take time to reflect on the impact all of my choices have, like where and how I purchase goods and where my food comes from. I am vegan, and live by the mantra, “purchase less, purchase quality; buy it once, use it for life.” Buy local. Reduce ordering goods online to reduce carbon in the atmosphere and traffic on roads, in the air, and at sea.

Humans create so much stuff. So much junk. It baffles me that we are not drowning in our own waste today, from plastic Happy Meal toys to single-use plastics, to cheap, synthetic clothing. It amazes me that pristine places like the Pacific Northwest still exist for us to enjoy, but in order to enjoy we must respect where we live, and those around us, and remember that we share this earth with every other living thing, and that we are all connected.