The original natural family living magazine, founded in 1976. Reader-supported
and trusted by thinking people around the world who want positive alternatives
to high cost, high consumption lifestyles for themselves and their families.
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from Natural Life magazine,
November/December 2009
Money is the lifeblood of commerce, giving us the ability to exchange goods and services freely. But our relationship with money and the consumption it creates can bring dissatisfaction and suffering to our lives, harm the way we organize ourselves as societies and damage our Planet. The issues around consumption seem to be so important that we’ve put money on our cover this time. And, in these pages, you’ll find many references to the topic. In “Exiting the Fast Lane”, I write about the huge toll of our pursuit of money takes on ourselves, our families and the environment, and suggest some ways to move out of the fast lane. Naomi Aldort’s column provides parents with advice about helping children learn the responsible use of money. She mentions her refusal to “play the shopping game” with her kids at this time of year, when religious and secular holidays are fraught with decisions about gift giving. And we’ve provided a few suggestions about how to decrease your environmental footprint at this time of year – from eco-friendly gift wrapping to organizing a Nature-focused solstice celebration. This is a great time of year to model non-consumptive behavior because, as columnist Nathanael Schildbach – whose lifelong ethic of community service came from his mother’s role modeling – reminds us, “You never know what your kids are going to take away from what you do with them.” We like to think that Natural Life itself provides a pretty good role model for mindfulness about money. We’re an extremely lean and eco-conscious operation. (You can view our sustainability policy here.) And you may have noticed that Natural Life doesn’t have a lot of ads. (This seems like an appropriate time to acknowledge those companies who do advertise in our pages – some having been with us for decades – and you, our readers, for using their products and services). But since Rolf and I started Natural Life 33 years ago, we haven’t relied primarily on ads to pay the bills. We prefer, instead, to provide solid, unbiased information to our readers – a task which many potential advertisers try to make virtually impossible. Nevertheless, a few years ago, we got caught up in the pursuit of advertising as a way to help pay our increasing publishing bills, which included extra costs for nicer design and FSC-certified paper. The efforts paid off a little, but the practice has been challenged as everyone has cut back due to the fallout from corporate and bank sector greed. These are challenging times for all small, independent book and magazine publishers who are focused on quality rather than commercialism, largely due to the increasing popularity of “free” information on the internet. There is also a lot of doomsday talk in publishing circles. But we believe that some readers want and will support quality. And that has been confirmed by the encouraging number of people who have paid more than the industry norm to subscribe to Natural Life’s online edition, and to the continuing popularity of the print edition with both subscribers and newsstand buyers. Nevertheless, reaching new readers who are willing to pay for well researched, high quality, innovative editorial is an expensive proposition. So while I do not want to encourage mindless consumption, I am asking that if you value Natural Life Magazine and what it stands for, please put your money to work helping us spread the word about green living, natural parenting and life learning. Consider giving gift subscriptions this holiday season and, if you can, renew for a longer term. Thank you. Rolf and I wish you a green, healthy, happy holiday season and a mindful and prosperous 2010.
Natural Life Editor
Wendy Priesnitz |
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Minding
Money
