I got a package in the mail!  And really, who among us doesn’t like getting a package and need to share that fact with all three of her readers?

A couple of weeks ago, Kelly Whalen at The Centsible Life, did a giveaway of Sun & Earth cleaning products.

Excuse me for a moment while I wax rhapsodic.  I know some people like to clean, but I am not one of them.  I am also allergic to every chemical in the world.  (Once upon a time, my not-yet-husband came to visit me.  I had just scored a great Craigslisted couch, but it smelled bizarre.  In anticipation of his arrival, I sprayed the couch with some seemingly benign de-scenting spray.  I spent the whole visit covered in hives.)

But Sun & Earth… ah, Sun & Earth.  Not only does it leave my allergies alone, but I find the bright citrus-y scent irresistible.  I wouldn’t say that it makes me want to clean, but it comes pretty close.  Orange groves = yum.

Unfortunately, I had to leave my almost brand new, massive bottle of Sun & Earth with my ex-roomies in DC.  I might have made room for it had I realized that they don’t sell it in Washington!  Sorrow.  So when I saw the Sun & Earth giveaway, I had to try.  Many thanks to the random number generator that chose me as the winner!

Here it is — a stash of cleaning products that will last me well into the winter, which is a good thing, because if I want any more, I have to order them off the internet.  It is also great because it saves me money.  Not a huge amount, but money all the same.  And as much as we would like to think that money doesn’t matter, the fact is that it does, although possibly not for the reason you might think.

People often say that money is power.  I say that money is choices.

You may not notice this phenomenon if you are in control of your finances.  But once things begin to spiral out of control – debt, unemployment, really anything that causes uncomfortable scarcity on the financial front – you can watch your choices disappear.  Big choices, little choices, one by one – until you feel trapped.  (Interestingly, sometimes losing the little choices can be harder than the big ones.  I wouldn’t mind spending my vacation camping rather than going on a cruise, but I would definitely mind eating nothing but ramen for a month.)

A common assertion in the “going green” dialogue is that living, eating, and acting sustainably is a luxury of the financially well-off.  I disagree for many reasons (among them, that minimizing your consumption is one of the greenest things you can do), but the core of the assertion is true.  If you are financially unbalanced, you have fewer choices.  And, more importantly, you feel like you have fewer choices.  Because you feel trapped, you might not even see the options available to you.

Achieving financial balance is important because it allows you to choose what you do with your life.  From how you spend your money to how you spend your time, having choices matters.

Which is why my daily media inputs include a collection of personal finance resources, The Centsible Life among them.  By learning about personal finance, and putting it into practice, I create more choices in my life.  So thanks, Kelly, for the insight.  And thanks for the fun giveaway.

Now, please excuse me while I go find something to clean.

Disclaimer:  In the interest of mocking the FTC’s now-mandatory full disclosure,  no one paid or gave me anything to write this post.  I’m a fangirl for free.

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What makes for a “good week” in sustainability news?  Lots of news?  A week more or less devoid of major crises?  Big breakthroughs in science and technology?  Maybe it’s just a week of active and constructive dialogue about sustainability and the big picture?  This week was definitely the latter.

In Living Sustainably in the City, we heard about the importance of cultivating personal sustainability… personally.  Each of us is different and our solutions will be as unique as we are.  And that’s okay – in fact, it’s a good thing.  Who wants to live in a world where everyone is just like they are?

Michael Renner discussed how social and economic hardship affect environmental choices from the consumer side.  A commenter pulls climate change policy into the discussion as well.

On Monday, I got totally jazzed about this ‘Eco House.’  Wouldn’t it be great if we could head that direction with all new construction?

Then another installment in the debate about the definition of our word of the day:  “Sustainability” As More Than a Political Buzzword (Plus, doesn’t their simulation software look like SimFarm? I loved that game!)

And we had part two of What Are the Barriers to Mass Adoption of Sustainability.  I missed part one back in June, but both are excellent.

Then we had a bunch of news spam regarding the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Annual Review.  Companies moved around.  Moved up.  Moved down.  Press release central.  Greenwash central.

Midweek I fell in love with this baby cow.  Mike Peterson’s story isn’t half bad either.

And finally, we have the will but we lack the skills.  That is, the will to be self-sufficient is held back by a lack of homesteading skills in the UK. I suspect we share that problem here in the U.S.  Except me, because I totally know how to butcher my own cow. (Not really.)

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