When John and I purchased the Cedar Mountain Canteen, we realized we had just purchased a public home to share with the community.  We have our private home and now we have a public one.  We have one bag of trash a year at our private home and we knew we had to work to have no waste at our public home.

That intention is obvious and others have noticed.

We know first-hand the impact extracting resources to create disposable items has on a community.  We lived the devastation and it is the reason we purchased a home on the Continental Divide.  After seeing a family’s generational clean water well ruined by fracking, we realized how quickly clean water can disappear.  It was beyond our belief that it was lost so that a disposable item could be made.  A family lost their clean drinking water so that I could use something one time and throw it away.  What am I doing?  Since that move we have taken a close look at what our habits have done to other communities.  It is heartbreaking.

We made a pledge to end our part in that cycle and Moving to Conservers was born.  We found others who were interested in evaluating the lifestyle we consider normal.  We lean on this community to help us learn and create a different normal for us, creating the world we want to live in.

The Canteen has given us the opportunity to learn with our community on a more routine basis and the results have been astounding.

Within a year:

  • Cedar Mountain Fire and Rescue has made a pledge to stop wasting.
  • Tin Roof Pizza has stopped using disposable plates at the Canteen.
  • Cedar Mountain Community Center has purchased used plates to replace their disposable ones once they are used up.
  • Studio 276 & Cedar Mountain Moonshine recently held a private event and used dishware from Transylvania Shares.

Reuse is contagious.  Let’s use the cloth napkins and the fine china.  What better way to say to someone how special they are and to let them know we are glad they are here.

It is wonderful to see the change.  One of the best ways to support it is to bring your own reusable items.  It reduces the burden on your host.  It is an act of kindness to so many.