This is the first in a series about my story, a little history of the journey to a passion for food, nutrition, and environmentalism.

I am a born conservationist.  Proof of this includes the fact that my 4-year-old son is using the “special” watercolors that I had when I was in third grade.  I took care not to waste them, to the point of hardly using them, apparently.  He would be able to use my fancy-tipped markers from that era, too, if they hadn’t dried out before I got the chance to utilize them.

Are You a Saver?

My tendency to save that which is special and avoid using anything I don’t need to is either genetic or learned at an early age, because I already see it in my little guy.  He will eat all of fun-size package of Skittles but about 4, and “save those for later.”  He got a cookie at his last gymnastics class and saved it, too, long enough that he forgot about it and Mommy got to throw it away (Ha! In your face, processed food!).  He called for me from the bathroom one day to pick up the toilet paper he had dropped.  “Why didn’t you just get another piece?  You can reach the roll right here,” I queried.  “I didn’t want to waste,” he replied, 100% serious.

For Whom do You Save?

There is an element of selfishness in such fervent conservationism, in that I’m rarely saving things for other people, but for myself to use someday.  You are less likely to be filled with generosity when you’re so worried about what you might need at a later date.  Letting go of material things is quite difficult, because it’s easier to talk yourself into keeping something with a chance of getting used in the future than it is to give it away so someone else can get good use out of it in the present.

I’m learning to give things away and become detached.  It’s part of the allure for me of the simple life, and I am often challenged by friends in real life and throughout the blogosphere to live more simply and make good use of what I have.

While I’m fighting my “saver” tendency on one front, I find I can tap into the positive aspect by trying to channel my conservationism into positively affecting the earth by saving that which would otherwise be thrown away.

Saving the Earth

My conservationism may have been with me from birth, but my environmentalism, on the other hand, started in 5^th grade when I received the book 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth.  It was the perfect mission for me, girl who saved everything and hated waste, to throw herself passionately behind the cause of conserving the earth’s resources and protecting it from all kinds of pollution. I memorized the factoids about how much water we wasted leaving the tap on while brushing our teeth, taking long showers and flushing the toilet without a jug in the tank to take up space.  I could tell you all about the plight of dolphins caught in tuna nets and how to attract birds to your backyard.

My conservationism and environmentalism merge nicely with my frugality.  I might use a napkin for two meals instead of throwing them away as the default.  I use a half of piece of paper towel when a whole isn’t necessary, and yes, I even use two squares of toilet paper at a time.  This all feels as natural to me as walking one foot at a time, but I also know consciously that it is helping the earth by preventing waste and helping my budget by only using what I need and no more.

There’s the origin of a Kitchen Steward, I guess. How about you?  Are you a saver?  Do you need to rehab your conservationism?

The rest of the Story:
Part two: What I Learned from my Mother
Part three: What I Learned from my Children
Part four: The Origins of a Book/Time of Insanity
Part five:  More Insanity: Get Out of the Pool!

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If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.

Other Interesting Posts:

• Praying in the Kitchen
• Two Paradigms of Healthy Eating
• Hand Sanitizers in the Home
• Are Canned Foods Necessary for Emergencies?
• Honey, We’re Having a Crudite Platter Tonight!

photos from flickr.com