“Do we have a new kitchen yet…?”

Today I had the great fun of presenting this project to an engaged group of adults at ROUTES: A Day of Jewish Learning. It was wonderful to teach about Jewish wisdom on holy use of resources, and share how we’ve tried to put them into practice with our Sustainable Kitchen Project.

As I said to the participants, for me this project is about that moment when you’re making a big purchase and you have a choice about whether to live your values. From an environmental perspective, the biggest purchasing choices are usually the most important ones. I’m trying to do the big thing consistent with my values, and if I inspire others to try to do the same, I’ll have done my job.

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear my presentation at ROUTES!

(I created a Jewish source sheet for ROUTES with more detail than I’ve been able to cover in this blog, and it stimulated an interesting conversation today. If you’d like to see it, please let me know!)

I chose to title this week’s blog post for the cheerful question my youngest child is always asking us. “Do we have a new kitchen yet?” Not yet. He doesn’t seem to mind this answer. He’s a lot more patient than I am!

This week I was planning to write about the processes that make our kitchen project sustainable. However, we just got our electrical and water permits this week, so I don’t have much to describe yet. On the other hand, this week has been a bit tough, so I thought maybe now was the time for a bit of “keeping it real” about a kitchen project.

Caveat: I know these are not only first world problems, but the problems of a family blessed to be getting a new kitchen! I just want to be real about the experience, including the challenges. Obviously, these difficulties are one reason a family might wait to get a new kitchen, and that too can be a sustainable choice.

Here are some things we’ve been dealing with this week:

Dishes, dishes, dishes. I miss my dishwasher so much! My husband is the one who washes the dishes, but it’s exhausting both of us that he spends so much time at that utility sink. Heard in our house this week: “Where did all the spoons go?” “Why don’t we have any clean glasses?” It has gotten so difficult that we’ve had serious conversations about the cost/benefit in switching to paper. We haven’t done it yet, but it’s still on the “table.”

The county had to approve our plumbing and electric, but no safety inspector would approve this dangling wire in the middle of the dining room…

Tripping over everything. Having our kitchen set up in the dining room and living room means there isn’t much room for people. We also tend to use our laptops in the dining room, further cluttering the space. I tripped several times on wires and chairs before finally insisting that we remove the usual leaves we have in to enlarge our dining room table. The table is a lot smaller now, with less room for dishes and computers, and hopefully less tripping.

Some people have to walk miles to get to clean water. I’m grateful we just have to walk to the bathroom sink.

Water. Oh, how I miss our in-sink water filter! We drink a lot of water in our house, but we try to avoid bottled water, since it’s not really a healthy or sustainable choice. So we’re currently filling a Brita with water (poured from a cup) from the kids’ bathroom sink several times a day. I try to fill a few water bottles at the same time, so when the Brita is empty we’re not completely dry. This week, we also had to contend with a night of low water pressure from a local water main break, and on a different night the Brita decided to filter water more than half as slowly as usual. (We still don’t know why that happened.)

We couldn’t have gotten as far as we have without the incredible generosity of our friends. Last week, a neighbor asked if he could help us out. At first, I declined, feeling we were getting by. But this weekend, when I told him things felt more challenging, he eagerly volunteered to cook a meal for us — even though he has plenty of things going on in his own life. This weekend we also ate a delicious Shabbat lunch with friends and didn’t have to cook OR wash any dishes.

It’s this kind of generosity that reminds me life is full of gifts… including new kitchens, and friends who are willing to feed you while you don’t have one… if you are only willing to receive them.

We think we’re about halfway through this journey now. Thanks for listening! I hope by next week, I’ll have some pictures of actual progress to share.