Be the Change

This past weekend we went hiking with another couple we know that has a one-year old daughter. Both families packed lunches and we ate on site. We brought chicken salad and bread to make sandwiches. The chicken salad was homemade and the fixings were packed in separate glass Pyrex containers. Bulky, yes, but I am going plastic free in our kitchen and this was the first place I started since it is the most frequently used item, next to cooking utensils.

We also brought mandarin oranges, packed in a reusable snack bag from MamaMade on Etsy. We packed silverware for Mady and a spoon for scooping the salad. I also brought cloth napkins. The lid of one Pyrex container doubled as a plate for Mady, Dave and I didn't need one.

Our friends packed sandwiches for themselves, wrapped in paper towels and sealed in plastic bags. They brought water in plastic bottles. They used paper napkins. It didn't even occur to me until they started unpacking their meal that they wouldn't necessarily be using glass storage and paper napkins. That certainly is a comment on how far we've come!

I'm sure they thought that our lunch seemed rather fussy. There was cleanup involved after, and it was more work assembling the sandwiches on site. But things like dishes and washing cloth napkins are so much a part of our daily lives now that I wonder why I ever thought it was a pain. How many families out there would be encouraged to make a change like that if they only knew how easy it was?

It really encouraged me to keep doing things my way and hoping that it piques the interest of those around me. Like the saying goes, "Be the change you want to see in the world!"