Slow Death by Rubber Duck

I like to think I lead a simple life.
I'm not a shopoholic. I don't have an iPod (yet). My cell phone looks like it was made in 1995. I like to read books. I'm an anti-packrat. I can happily pass a morning on a ravine walk with my husband and kids. But that does not simplicity make.
I resort to using plastic shopping bags with an increasing frequency. I serve alot of frozen pizza, I still use antiperspirant, I have a car and a mortgage and a ridiculously large collection of half used shampoo bottles. And I find myself regularly freaking out about the state of the environment, chemicals in my home, media messages, consumerism, globalization, factory farming....arghhhhh...see, I'm FREAKIN' OUT!!!! Hence my need for small steps to simplicity.

If I was clever enough to come up with the title Slow Death by Rubber Duck before Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, I would have have used it to name this blog. But alas, I get my best ideas from listening to smart people interviewed on CBC Radio. I heard Smith and Lourie interviewed on CBC on June 12, 2009 in the car. The interview initiated a shift in my thinking in a way I wouldn't have expected. I imagine little pieces of awareness had been building for some time, awareness of the freaky things we were allowing, and even inviting, into our homes and bodies. A friend and cancer survivor had tried to lead me by example to chemical free living, but I just wasn't ready. Somehow, as I listened to the story of Slow Death by Rubber Duck something clicked. I couldn't ignore those little pieces of awareness anymore. As a result, one of my first goals in my simplicity quest is to take little steps reduce my chemical dependence. So far, I'm discovering a new world of good (and bad) alternatives. It's actually kind of fun...but then again, my fun-o-meter has been a bit off lately. I have a two year old and a four year old, so things like dropping pebbles down the sewer or playing "monster's coming" while hiding under the duvet are also considered major fun.