Thinking seriousy about holistic living and budgeting

What a powerful meeting with had in October with Diane MacEachern of The Big Green Purse (the website, and the book). We talked a lot about our goals and values. What does it mean to us to "live holistically"? If we think about that -- and throw in some of the insights we gained from the December 2009 meeting on "Creating Balance in Family Life" -- we'll see that coming from a place of clarity about what we value can help us decide what choices to make in a lot of cases.

Diane pointed out that approximately 30% of food that is purchased goes to waste, so when we talk about the high cost of quality food, we can start by re-thinking how we use it. And there are reasons why things cost so much -- no government subsidies for organic farmers, for example.

Throughout her talk, Diane talked about using the power of the purse to effect change. To use our spending power to make statements that show what we value and will eventually force the marketplace to deliver more products that align with our values. We can also demand more of those products by talking with store managers and letting them know this is what we want.

While Diane has plenty of wonderful tips on her website and in her book for how to stretch a dollar, she also wants us all to think about what we do with that dollar and what the impact is of our purchasing decisions.

Thank you for such a provocative talk, Diane! We hope to get more notes written up soon.