I Can Mind My Mess

Some people eat with their hands...

Some people never wash their lucky jeans...

Some people never wash their hair!

Some people forget to flush...

Some people don't shower every day...

Some people, they drink...(they drink straight out of the carton)!

 

Yes! Yes, it's true!

I can't even imagine being quite so dirty.

What do you mean it's not that bad?!

What do you mean it's societal norms?

What do you mean it's...Greener?

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You're mad, that's what you are.

What do you mean I should stop pre-rinsing my dishes?

Why would I reuse my glass before putting it in the dishwasher?

My plate and fork, too?

Why wouldn't I put out a full place setting complete with napkins and knives for every meal?

You want me to stop using paper napkins, kleenex, paper towels?

Use cloth ones? Don't those get...icky?

Carry a handkerchief??
You mean you want me to keep my sneezes in my handbag?

What? Stop showering every day?

Start taking cold showers...?

 Take off my shoes indoors? So I don't have to vacuum as much?
Oh, well, maybe that I could...but...

Of course I'm going to keep washing my car every week.
Well, no. No, I do not go off-roading in my SUV. That is not the point...

I Can Think Green

Being green means thinking green,

and thinking green means creatively

applying sustainable idea to your life…

whatever your circumstances.

There are things we can do in our everyday lives to improve ourselves and to make the world a better place. Like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, one solution may be too overwhelming, one may be too inconvenient, but perhaps this one can be just right – for you and your life.

While my life may be greener now than it was a few years ago, it hasn’t always been easy. On my gradual journey (and ongoing struggle) to green my thinking and adapt sustainable habits, I have tried to stay informed and think creatively. Thinking green leads to acting green. And it definitely gets easier over time.

This website is in that spirit of creative thinking, embracing our green selves, and having fun while being conscious of our impact on (and relationship with) the environment. I hope to share stories from my life, resources from other eco-minded folk, and lists of ideas to kickstart green thinking.

Join me. Share your ideas, comments, and stories. I’ll be posting a new topic either once a week or once every other week, so visit this website regularly, subscribe to the RSS feed, or sign up to get email updates. And if you like what you’re reading, spread the word to others who might want a little more green thinking in their lives.

Light the Way

I am a Texan, and I like me my sunshine. Like Superman, who is a veritable solar-powered rechargeable battery, I also feel stronger, fuller, happier, and more uplifted when I get my regular dose of sunshine. I may have a poor track record when it comes to taking daily multivitamins, but I’m rarely lacking in Vitamin D. One of my main hesitations for ever moving to the Pacific Northwest—as lovely as actual seasons, fresh seafood, and respite from the heat sound—is a worry that my body, mind, and soul would handedly reject the cold-hard facts of eight full months of gray clouds and rainy days.

Luckily, my childhood home in Texas contained sliding-glass window-doors that matched my love of sunny skies. Though we drew the blinds during the hottest summer hours, I still relished the shaded comfort of our living room, and it was enough light (by my standards) to read in, relax in, revel in. Now my grandma would usually chide me if she found me reading in the shade or stubbornly reading into the last moments of dusk: “Turn on a light. You’re gonna go blind.” But the mixture of natural sunlight and artificial anylight has always left me slightly uneasy, and I would continue reading unmoved. Sometimes I would inch closer to a window to appease her. In post-college apartments, I would follow the sun throughout the day, inhabiting the east-facing rooms during the daytime and the west-facing ones as dusk’s glow dropped into the horizon.

To this day, one of my key apartment-hunting requirements is good natural light and lots of it. It still surprises me when I stumble across people with their lights on during the daytime. I know not everyone is fortunate enough to reside in a treehouse, such as our current habitations. Even we are having to leave this sunlight-infused treehouse for other, more frugal, and more shaded dwellings. Our new place has north- and south-facing windows, with nothing in between our long living area. I am already having pre-emptive worries about the middle no man’s land of shadow that is bound to eat up what should be a cozy dining area. I shudder to think of a flourescent’s glare across my lunchtime plate when the sun is so high and mighty just a few inches of rooftop away.

So it may be no surprise to you that I have an off-switch compulsion. As my college roommate found out, I couldn’t walk by the trash/laundry room in our dorm hallway without reaching in to turn off the light. My morning rounds at my previous job didn’t include coffee or gossip, but rather systematically turning off lights in the sunny reception area and the two unused conference rooms. I remember once, I was at a housewarming party and during our tour, couldn’t stop myself from backtracking to switch off a light that the hostess (who gave me a raised eyebrow sort of look) had turned on and left on.

Growing up, we automatically switched off the light as we left a room. We did this without thinking and without question. Turns out our frugal upbringing yielded sustainable habits. To think of it another way, being green can also save you money. My love of the sun predisposes me for green habits when it comes to lighting. But to think of it another way, cultivating green habits may just predispose you for a new (or renewed) love of the sun.

I can let there be light

• I can embrace sunshine.
• I can think twice before switching on a light in a sunlit room.
• I can think twice before switching on a light in a partly sunlit room. (I don’t really need the light on to brush my teeth as the sun rises.)
• I can follow the sun from room to room, as the eastern light fades and the western light glows strong.
• I can be aware of the sun rise and the sun set.
• I can turn off lights as I leave a room, even if I’m coming “right back.”
• I can turn off lights in the evening in uninhabited rooms.
• I can use motion-detector nightlights instead of constantly-burning ones.
• I can reconsider lightbulb clusters. Would taking out every other bulb of a 6-bulb lighting strip or a 4-bulb ceiling fan provide enough light?
• I can replace regular lightbulbs with CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs) once the old ones burn out.
• I can properly dispose of burnt-out bulbs. www.earth911.org
• I can reconsider the need for that little lightbulb in the fridge.
• I can explore ways to reduce unused lighting at the office -- such as constantly lit meeting rooms, kitchen areas, bathrooms, hallways, sunny areas, etc.
• I can suggest motion detectors for the lights in high-use common areas of an office, such as the kitchen or the restrooms.
• I can make sure all the lights are off before I leave home.
• I can make sure all the lights are off before I leave work.
• I can remember to switch off lights after meetings or get-togethers in public places, especially if the lights were off when we came in.
• I can remind others to switch off lights in other rooms—particularly before we sit down to long activities, such as dinner or a movie.
• I can huddle in the evenings with my housemates. Can certain activities or bodies be moved into other rooms so that fewer lights are on overall?
• I can redesign the lighting in my home to meet the needs of my lifestyle.
• I can redesign the lighting in my home to be more efficient.
• I can use motion detectors for outdoor lighting.
• I can use candles.
• I can develop an off-switch compulsion at home.
• I can develop an off-switch compulsion in public places.
• I can...