In today’s Oregonian, the headlines rang a different tune. They spoke of hope and frugality instead of fear and another depression. The main headliner, Sure, we want stuff, but do we need it?, interviewed a local woman who runs a blog, Frugal Living. I found this very interesting since Peter & I have been living frugally for months. She is working on getting her budget down to $2,000 a month. So, I checked out her site. She has full disclosure! Talk about accountability! She pares down what she spends, where it goes, the size of her family, and what money is coming in. She describes her desires to live debt-free and her and her husbands goal of owning their own land in 5 years to build their own house. My vote is for Cob, but I haven’t mentioned it to her.

So, on her, site, I sent her a message. Her budget is similar to ours, and we have a similar family size and income. There are gives and takes here in there, but it’s a similar plan. I left her a comment asking her where she shops for food, for I firmly believe knowledge should be shared. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply back just a few hours later.

Several months ago, another sustainabily-inspired mom, was interviewed in the Oregonian. I also wanted to connect with this mom to share ideas on how she did it. Unfortunately, this mom was more interested in getting cash than sharing knowledge, so we have yet to connect.

Sustainability is more than just green building. It’s about building greener lives, inside and out. It’s about shared responsiblity and a desire for change so we can all live in a cleaner, healthier world. One aspect of this is sharing knowledge. No one person has all the answers, we can’t individually. Our world is much too big for one person to understand it all. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and it’s important to connect with others so we can empower our strengths and recognize our weaknesses. But, to do this, we have to share knowledge. It’s understandable in the ways our economy is structured that one would guard and hold their ideas close to their heart, and in many respects we should lest someone take advantage of that we have worked so hard to cultivate. But, if we are truly looking for a more sustainable society, we must open the door and begin bridging with one another so that a true sustainable bond will be made. Let’s set aside fear and depression and raise up frugality so we will have hope for a greener future.