About

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” – E.F. Schumacher

Are you trying to live more simply and with a lighter step on this lovely blue planet we call home? Would you like to make a difference in the kind of world you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

Welcome to White Pines Whisper, my little blog about creating a simpler, more sustainable life. I hope you’ll find a home here with other smart, aware, creative folks interested in “greening” their homes, growing fabulous food fit for a gourmand, clearing out all kinds of clutter and learning to live with nature, not apart from it. (And no, you don’t need acres of space to do it. Bloom where you’re planted!)

Yes, the problems we face – potentially catastrophic climate change, a precarious economy, peak oil and more – are serious, but wallowing in fear is not helpful – it’s immobilizing. I’ve found, however, that personal action is empowering, so I’d like to help. Look for at least two posts a week with useful tips and practical inspiration on sustainability topics like creating a more environmentally friendly home, ‘unstuffing’ and money, gardening (with an emphasis on permaculture techniques), and food, plus creative projects and nature art. Won’t you join me?

About the author of White Pines Whisper
My name is Kathy Partridge and I’m an artist. Not a weird artist like you see on television dramas, just the regular kind with a house and a car and a suburban life here in 21st century America. I live in the Mohawk Valley of central New York State (close to Utica), a beautiful part of the country. If you’ve ever driven the New York State Thruway – especially between Syracuse and Albany – you know it’s a region of rolling hills, small farms, open space and old mill towns nestled along the Mohawk River. In addition, I’m about an hour’s drive from the beautiful Adirondack Park, a unique mix of villages, private lands and state-protected wild land and wilderness of some six million total acres.

Growing up in a setting like this, I developed a keen awareness of the surrounding landscape, and over time it became the central focus of my life as well as my art. I can’t go anywhere now without noticing the quality of the light or the color of the clouds or the deer browsing the edge of that field. I guess I see the world through a painter’s eyes.

“How nice”, I hear you saying. But what’s this got to do with simple, sustainable living – the focus of this blog?

Well, I can’t say exactly when the turning point happened, but over the last eight to ten years, I’ve had this nagging awareness that the nature I love so much is in growing jeopardy of being lost or irreparably changed forever. And it’s not just “my” nature that’s in trouble, it’s yours as well. (Not to mention the nature of those folks on the other side of the world.) In short, our nature – our planet, which sustains us all – is showing us unmistakable signs that it’s in trouble.

And of course, I want to fix it. (Who wouldn’t?) Or at least help. But what can one person do? I’m not a trained environmental scientist, economist, or engineer. However, I do possess some common sense and a few critical thinking skills, which suggest that we – the 5% of the world’s population that suck up some 25% or more of its resources – would be wise to start down a different path. I mean, duh.

But how? And isn’t that the job of government? Or…somebody else?

Alas, it’s become painfully obvious that for now at least, government isn’t capable of doing much of anything constructive in this arena. And all those other “somebodys”? Well, friend, they would be us.

Here’s how I look at it: if our current wasteful Western lifestyle has created the problem, then changing how we live will most certainly help solve it (or at least mitigate the damage). If 300 million of us live wastefully, we will get one result – or more of the one we have. However, if we can learn to live more sustainably, it’s inevitable that we’ll get another. So, yes, I believe that one person can make a difference by standing as an example to others who know – in their hearts – that changes are necessary.

(Politicians be damned.)

Our mantra: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
If we lead by living mindfully and locally, purchasing wisely, and eliminating the waste in our lives (and trust me, it’s there – no wonder the “cost of living” is so high!), the rest will follow. I believe we can change the course of things. How we spend our money – collectively – makes a difference, even if none of us is monetarily “rich”. It’s a powerful vote and as such, can be an indirect, but powerful influence of public policy.

Simple sustainability is a journey!
There’s no instruction manual. As we learn more, we do better. I will share what I’ve learned as I work toward my goal of simplifying my life and living more sustainably. (I’ll talk about the mistakes too.) Happily, I have made great strides in the last few years. Here’s a partial list:

• Jumped off the consumer gerbil wheel and got out of debt (October 2007)
• Work fewer hours (I teach art at a community college) than I would have to if I was still in debt
• Paid off the mortgage (October 2009) almost five years early
• Got serious about vegetable gardening
• New Energy Star refrigerator
• New Energy Star freezer
• New Energy Star television
• All purchases paid for with cash
• Gotten really good about unplugging electronic devices I’m not using
• Gotten better about remembering to bring my reusable shopping bags
• Replaced my ten year old car with a model that has lower emissions and gets 22% better gas mileage but still serves my needs (transportation, ground clearance, towing, cargo)
• Put 40% down on said new car
• Now able to save more than 34% of my gross income annually
• Currently living on less than half of my gross income
• Learned the sources that enable me to buy safe, quality, sustainably produced food from local growers and producers
• Have lost 40 pounds and still dropping!
• Have begun to clear out the clutter
• Oh yeah, and I changed my light bulbs to CFLs a long time ago!

(If you’re wondering, I make slightly above the national average in income, and well under six figures.) In the process of all this, I’ve put myself on a more solid footing for the “new normal” that will be life here in the 21^st century. That said, my journey continues.

I’d love it if you’d join me!

Why “White Pines Whisper”?
I wanted a title that encompassed the twin visions of slowing down our frantic, overspent lives and of living mindfully with an awareness of nature. White pines do indeed whisper in the breeze. On a warm summer day, their aroma is lovely too – but you have to slow down enough to notice.

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