Carbon Fast for Lent: Some Reflections

I’m back from a quick trip to New York over spring break, and in a fog with a bad cold I think I picked up on the flight out. It was disorienting not to have a Carbon Fast post today, but I wanted to look back over the past 40-ish days to reflect. I learned about the Carbon Fast for Lent at about the same time I was feeling in a rut with the blog. I was running out of fresh ideas and I felt the posts were becoming too web oriented. So the timing was perfect — I also knew I would be more likely to do the daily Carbon Fast actions myself if I was also blogging about them.

What I hadn’t anticipated: how many new bloggers and readers I would meet in the process. For all the terrific environmental actions, the human aspects are what really made this the most meaningful for me. Thank you for reading, emailing, and especially posting comments!

Looking back over all the Carbon Fast activities: we accomplished a lot! For me, I’m most excited about kicking the plastic bag habit at the grocery — something that was long overdue but now feels like second nature. I am also very pleased about switching our house to the local utility’s “green energy plan,” something else I’d been meaning to do, and without the Carbon Fast would probably still have on my procrastination list. Still on my To Do list: work on eating more local food and less that’s flown in from far away. I also still have my eye on that indoor composting device. Overall, I do feel I’m more aware of the environmental impact of my daily life decisions — something I hope to take with me through the year.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on this adventure!

Today’s mitzvah: How will you take the spirit of the Carbon Fast into the post-Lent world?

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