Randomn3ss

Being that yesterday was Earth Hour Day 2008, it inspired me to reflect on what I’ve read recently about climate change and going greener, to look at how I’m doing with going greener, and it made me wonder how others are evolving (or not) into a greener lifestyle.

This is the third article I’ve done on going greener, and another thing that inspired me to write again were a few recent magazine articles. In one, a national magazine who shall remain nameless but that regularly has a lot of articles on going greener and living more naturally, showed a photo of their whole staff and listed what each of them did to to live sustainably every day. I don’t think some understood what that meant really, and some seemed 25 years behind the times. “I turn the heat down when I leave the house.” Wah? Wow. Baffling, but then they’re in the business of making a magazine, not living the magazine every minute, I suppose. Another person listed “returning hangers to the dry cleaners”. Wow. Hmmm. Do we want to burst her bubble about the damage dry cleaners do to the environment and their employees’ health? You don’t need dry cleaners to clean most items that says “dry clean only”. Yes, she could have thrown the hangers away, which isn’t good, but the bigger help to the environment clearly is not to go to dry cleaners. All you have to do is smell the air at the dry cleaners to know it’s not good for anyone’s lungs. Thank goodness there is change happening in the industry and there are green dry cleaners springing up. And, thankfully several of the staff did more significant things like switch to a vegetarian diet, consciously choose a tiny apartment over a McMansion, and bike to work every day.

The other couple articles I read were about scientists who challenged my thinking and green way of living by asserting that the only way to really help the environment is to be politically active constantly, to push for change with manufacturers and politicians. That recycling and buying compact fluorescent light bulbs and using cloth napkins and composting and everything else is pretty “useless” compared to changing policies, industries and government nationally and globally.

Gulp. Blink. Blink blink. Crap.

And I immediately agreed, and disagreed. Yes, we need that kind of massive change, now - just look at recent articles about the massive ice shelf in the Antarctic breaking off - without a doubt. And, we need huge systemic change in every facet of life and industry if we’re going to really affect climate change. But to tell people what they’re doing doesn’t help, misses the point and hurts the progress being made all over the world - everyone has to start with what they can touch and do and know in their daily lives. It makes them CARE. Which then will make them want to do more, which then will hopefully make them see the crucial need for political action. If it’s not personal for them, they won’t do it. The more green you go, the inevitable step after doing all the daily living green things is political action.

Lots of people don’t care, or God forbid, can be inconvenienced with going green, I have learned. If I ask them about it, they usually get a glassy-eyed look and offer a non-explanation for why they don’t make the effort to fill in the blank (recycle, conserve, whatever). I get all kinds of people just shaking their heads at my commitment to it and writing me off, figuratively patting me on the head and saying “that’s nice”, mumbling something about a tree hugger, and then moving on quickly to something that doesn’t make them uncomfortable. I am always saddened, maddened, perplexed or a combination of the three by this. I can even say at times it challenges why I’m friends with some people. That is the hardest part about going green.

I don’t care about their opinion of me ultimately, whether it’s about going green, being vegan, not letting them put down my Midwestern home state with their uninformed assumptions about it, or whatever it may be - you can see I have an opinion about them as well (which I’m not exactly thrilled about; I strive to be non-judgmental and compassionate, but it doesn’t work all the time). We are all entitled to our beliefs. And I understand people have their priorities, difficulties, time and/or money constraints, or whatever it may be in their lives… but it’s the Earth, the air, the water, what allows us to live and breathe and have problems and joys and grief and love that we’re talking about here.

It all serves to inspire me to do more. I have joined more environmental groups, contributed more money, written to the president and senators about national green issues and continued to find more ways to go green on a personal level. I think if I counted my green activities, it would easily number a few dozen. Want to hear a few more? (Read other common, not always easy, and creative green choices in my other articles on Randomn3ss.)

1. I keep empty one-gallon water jugs in the kitchen to fill up with the cold water that comes out of the tap while waiting for the hot water to make it upstairs (second floor) from the basement. I use it to water my plants.

2. I make sure at least one and usually two meals a day are eaten without heating them up.

3. In my city the government doesn’t provide garbage service, so we haul our garbage to the places we go anyway to dump it - at the grocery store, gas station, wherever, saving a private truck from coming to our house and idling while the guy parks, takes his time to pick up the bag and throw it in, and head on to his next stop. (See # 8 below.) We have very little garbage, because…

4. We recycle greeting cards, tissue paper, wrapping paper, magazines and shiny paper like ads and junk mail, newspapers, cardboard, #1-7 plastics, aluminum, glass, office paper, tin and other scrap metal, phone books, and I take a bag of clothes, shoes and other household stuff to a charity thrift store every time I buy new things, to have less stuff for me to manage, and less stuff in the garbage. I also choose items with the least amount of packaging, and even don’t buy some things (gasp!) if the package can’t be recycled.

5. I park my car so that I can drive straight out instead of having to back up to get out. Studies say it saves on gas. It’s certainly easier, and saves time. I also get more exercise because often the only way to do that is park farther away from the entrance of where I’m going.

6. I now shop closer to home to save on gas consumption. It has been easier than I thought it would be, and saves me a lot of time and gas money.

7. I was given over 100 votive candles, so I’m using less electricity for lights.

8. I turn my car off if I’m going to idle for more than 10 seconds after reading that it takes less gas to restart the car, contrary to most people’s belief.

9. I keep glass jars to use for food storage rather than buying those disposable (or not) plastic food containers. Glass can be used for years, and won’t stain and get stinky and sticky like the plastics do - they break down, which means chemicals being released into the food.

10. I never buy note pads. I cut up paper to reuse for a variety of purposes.

11. This year I’m planning to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which is a great way to support local farmers, have great produce, and save money and time: From Local Harvest, “CSA is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become “members” (or “shareholders,” or “subscribers”) of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments… The number of CSAs in the United States was estimated at 50 in 1990, and has since grown to over 1000.”

12. I have a system for washing and rinsing dishes that uses very little water, including, obviously, not letting the water run unnecessarily. We use a natural dish soap, too.

13. We keep a big bucket in the bathroom and when we turn on the shower, we let the bucket fill up with the cold water while waiting for the hot water (see #1 above), and when the bucket is full, use that water to flush the toilet.

I’m going to stop listing things now. When I wrote “want to hear a few more?” above, I didn’t know it would go to thirteen. But I’m not actually surprised: In going through my activities, it’s clear to me it is a real lifestyle. I look for the green opportunity and choice in everything I do, at work, home, traveling and play. When I add the thirteen to those listed in other things I’ve written, it makes me smile, and feel like and know I’m making a difference, even if others continue to believe otherwise. I disagree: It makes a difference to me and to everything I touch.

There is no way to be perfectly 100% green 100% of the time. It’s not possible, though I’ve read about some people in Japan and other places where they have to go to crazy lengths to conserve in ways people in the U.S could never even fathom. But going greener is a great process, and even though you’re never done, you never get to the end, it’s a great journey worth deciding to take for life. I have learned a lot (and, some day I’ll learn to write down my sources every time and add them to the bottom of the articles), about the world, and myself - a double green gift.

I now have to return to compassion and take back my put-down of the person whose green glory is ‘only’ turning down her thermostat when they leave the house. They are on a green journey, too, thankfully. Good luck on yours - don’t stop at Earth Hour, or Earth Day (April 22nd). Commit to “Earth Life”, for the good of the planet, and for your personal world.

Big thanks to Keith for pointing out possibly one of the funniest products to be sold through Amazon that real people actually buy and use. Die-hard BMX riders swear that this stuff is top notch and they wouldn’t use anything else. What is this gloriously funny product? Anti Monkey Butt Powder is designed to help keep you dry, it is a legitimate product with some creative minds behind the brand name. From their own website,

Anti Monkey Butt Powder is specially formulated to absorb excess sweat and reduce frictional skin irritation.

If anyone uses this, please leave a comment. If you don’t use it, go buy a bottle and let me know how it works.

I can’t tell you how many cardboard forts I made as a kid with my friends. The best one ever was when a friend’s family got a new refrigerator the one year and let us go to town with the box, making one of the best forts ever, but sadly I don’t have photos of it. Cardboard boxes are one of those items that everyone seems to have laying around, saving them for something, storing miscellaneous crap in them, like my Mother, or just putting them in the basement or closet to save for wrapping a gift or mailing something out. Point is, we all either have some lying around or can readily get them. Now it is time to put them to use and function, and have some fun doing it with the kids, big and little.

Foldschool.com is a site providing templates for anyone to download and create amazing furniture, all kid sized, but I’m sure with some ingenuity one could make it adult sized as well. The site is 100% add free and asks for donations if you like the site or have downloaded something. Given how cool this site is and the fact that it is ad-free, if you use their templates, throw them a few bucks.

If any readers do indeed make furniture from these templates, I’d love to see them. Please shoot me a message via the contact page; a follow up article featuring the furniture you create would be rad.

Today is Blog Action Day! A day where fourteen thousand blogs will discuss one issue by trying to make an impact on 15 million readers. The topic? Environmentalism.

I feel that a lot of people don’t know what “going green” means. According to Wikipedia it means

…a concern for the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural enviroment, such as the conservation of natural resources, prevention of pollution, and certain land use actions.

The concern I feel most people have is where to begin. There are plenty of simple tips to get yourself started. Every little bit counts whether its taking less time in the shower or changing your light bulbs. A few examples can be found right here on Randomn3ss, “Going More Green“, by Lauren. Or rent the infamous movie by Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth.

However, I digress. My topic is about sex. Now I can imagine the puzzled looks on everyone’s faces. Yes, I wondered myself how anyone can green up their sex life. Well, it can be done. Let’s explore it further.

I got these tips from Treehugger, a website that has a plethora of environmental topics.

1. Sex Toys - Most sex toys contain chemicals called phthalates, a threatening chemical that’s been banned in children’s toys since 2004. It is especially said to be dangerous in sex toys because of the warm and moist places they are deposited in. So, instead of purchasing a unsafe toy it’s suggested to buy a more natural companion. Trying out a toy made of glass, metal, silicone, hard plastics, or elastomers is a safe bet. Instead of wasting batteries look for a rechargeable toy. Fun Factory is a neat place where you’ll find Lily, Lelo & Acuvibe.
2. Lubricant - Looking at the labels helps choosing a more natural lubricant. Avoid using any petroleum (save the fossil fuels), artificial scents, flavors and colors. A good choice is Babeland’s water based lubricant.
3. Condoms - The phrase, “reduce, reuse and recycle” is an angelic symphony to any environmentalists ears. However, this does not apply to condoms. We all know that a baby free environment means using a safe and reliable form of protection. Nothing beats the good ol’ latex condom. However, they are still determining whether or not a latex condom is biodegradable. For a biodegradable option lambskin is an option to protect against conception not STDs. For vegetarians (like me) and vegans a good source is Glyde condoms. Any condom that is polyurethane is not biodegradable so try and stay away from them. Another excellent tip is not to dispose condoms down the toilet, it will clog the pipes, treatment plants and rivers.
4. Green Date - Homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual and asexual are terms we’ve heard of to describe one’s orientation or style. What about ecosexual? They exist and in large numbers. If you’re looking for a companion that doesn’t chomp on animals, recycles and uses organic toothpaste you can find a match on Green Singles, Green Passions and Human 2 Human.
5. Dress Eco Sexy - Looking and feeling sexy can make for some naughty antics. Why not save the environment while you’re at it? There are products for men and women. Peau Ethique has some cute and comfortable undergarments along with Bueno Style, Butta and Green Knickers. My ultimate favorite is Enamore which has gorgeous, sexy clothes and lingerie.

Colors are what make us buy things, look good and convert a house to feel like a home.  There is no secret to the advertising world that the reason McDonalds golden arches and bright red lettering has been successful, they are two of the strongest colors in marketing to catch the eye.  Way back when, White Castle burger joint made the outside and inside of their restaurant stark white, not because they were unimaginative, but because they wanted to show how clean they were.  Nearly every day the company had employees outside painting the building white while the inside was kept meticulously clean and all employees wore white uniforms.  80+ years ago fast food burger joints were thought to be dirty; this was a marketing attempt to show how clean a place could really be.

One of the first things new home owners do is paint the walls.  This turns a blank canvas into a livable space, mending wall colors with drapes and furniture to turn an open space into an inviting home.

Website developers use colors to help convey sites content.  This site for example was done with the current color scheme to make it easy to read and navigate.  My other blog was recently updated in shades of burnt orange and tan to give it a warmer feel, partly to help encourage people to stay longer.

So how does one put together matching color combinations?  Most people can put together two colors and make it work; doing several of them can become difficult.  These complex color palettes are needed for everything from inner office memos and web design to home decorating and product merchandise packaging.  Either some really have a gift for color or they just get a little help.

While reading a blog found from a Google search for information on an article I was writing, I saw a unique ad on the right hand side, it was a block ad that said Color Lovers.  Intrigued by it, I clicked and found the website to be just what it sounded like a bevy of colors in harmony with each other.

Color Lovers isn’t just a static site of colors though, it is dynamic and flowing with the newest trends in color style, a blog showing how to relate color schemes with real life design work and environments and a forum to discuss everything related to color.  To top this off, they have a job board if you are looking for a new career or need to hire someone.

For someone like myself who is color blind and can’t often put two colors together, this is a great resource.

Monday morning started part of my kitchen remolding, something I’ve wanted to do since purchasing my home more then a year and a half ago. It is being done by friends of mine who are top-notch renovators, Highend Construction Inc. We had sat down and talked about what needed to be done back in March, however due to time constraints they weren’t able to fit my house into the schedule until now, no big deal.

The job itself is removing linoleum from the eat in kitchen, pantry, foyer as you enter into the house and transition into the kitchen and a hall closet off the foyer, then installing ceramic tile. A 16×16 tile was chosen and laying it out in a diamond pattern looked the best. In total, the job is about 300 square feet and would require my kitchen be off limits for a few days.

Because of their hectic schedule, I didn’t know the exact start date of the work until this past Saturday, two days prior to install. I had to remove everything from my pantry which is more like a long closet off the kitchen measuring 4 x 17’ in size, do all the dishes and remove them once clean from the dishwasher. All items on the floor in the kitchen needed to be removed as well, such as the trashcan, dog crate, food and water for the dog, etc.

Starting Monday at 8am they moved the refrigerator and range out of the kitchen to remove the linoleum and prep the concrete underneath for the tile. Two hours later it was done, along with the molding from the walls, all in preparation for tile installation.

Lots of progress was done Monday and by the time I got home I was really impressed. I knew I had no access to my kitchen, not a big deal since I made plans earlier to go out to dinner with a friend who was in from out of town.

Tuesday nearly all the tile was installed, but everything needed to set, so again I was restricted from going into the kitchen. Wednesday they couldn’t come to finish the tile and start grout because of another job that was in the way, again no biggie. This morning they are there, doing grout and installing new doors for my coat closet.

Nothing thus far has been a surprise, from what I’ve been told it was a straight forward install and they even did some custom tumbled marble tile work for the threshold leading out of the kitchen and into the pantry, looks really great! I’ve also made the decision to upgrade my dishwasher to a newer one as the one that came with the house has to be at least 20 years old and my pre-washing was about 95% of the work.

What did come, as a surprise was my food bill. Because I did not spend a little extra time moving my microwave out of the kitchen during construction and cooking food over the weekend that I could easily reheat in the microwave, I was forced to eat out nearly every night this week. It adds up, quickly. I don’t mind having my refrigerator in the dining room and the range in my living room, but the microwave could have saved me had I spent a little more time thinking and planning ahead.

With luck, the grout will be done by this afternoon and can set overnight and they can come back tomorrow and install the range and dishwasher and I can get back to cooking myself dinner on a regular basis.

I’ve learned that home renovation costs don’t just include materials and labor, displacement costs need to be factored in. This fall my only bathroom will get gutted and a new one will go in. I’m starting to plan now where I’ll shower and shit for a few days.

About two months ago, I wrote some suggestions for Going Greener, and I now have some more for you to contemplate, chuckle at, and hopefully sprinkle into your life. As in the first article, my theme of saving time and money is as strong as ever in these tips. If you think these things are just too uncool to do, then please read (and reread) #5 of Adrienne Saia’s article about being cool . [You ROCK, sista!]

1. For your hair, use a leave-in conditioner rather than a wash-out one: It’s pretty obvious, but you save a lot of water not having to rinse conditioner out of your hair. And, you save a lot of time. Obviously, those with buzz cuts or really short hair aren’t having such a big impact, so for those with longer and thicker hair, I hope you’ll see the value in making this change.

But back to the water… I recently read what some celebrities were doing to go green. One actress, who shall remain nameless, claimed she only took a ‘3-minute shower, because that amount of water is all some families in Africa have all week (or day or month, I don’t recall for sure)!’ I did a big eye roll on that. NOT about the fact that many people in the world don’t have access to much or clean water or both, or that we all should take shorter showers, but thinking of a multi-million-dollar entertainer with most likely multiple houses and/or apartments, and cars/SUVs, and stylists, and all her air travel, and all the food she no doubt throws out to remain Hollywood thin… Well, I guess if she really uses less water once a day, I commend her, and I take my eye roll back. Everybody has to start somewhere, right?

2. For those of you who iron your clothes, a sort of weird way to save energy and time while getting the wrinkles out of your clothes without the iron: If you don’t need a sharp crease in your shirt or blouse or pants (and boy, I hope you don’t), this works pretty well, but you feel kind of silly at first.

Bring the wrinkled piece of clothing into the bathroom with you when you shower or take a bath. After you’re done, don’t towel off: put the clothing on - yes, it’s a little hard to do - and then pat the clothing onto yourself to get it slightly damp. Then, put it on a hangar so it can hang correctly and dry a bit. Put it on before it’s all the way dry, and your body heat will take care of the rest of the wrinkles.

People at work laughed at me when I told them this, but they couldn’t argue that it worked when I pointed to my shirt. It may not work on some fabrics, thick fabrics, super wrinkled stuff, but it’s a time and energy saver when you don’t have to look your absolute starched best, or when you’re traveling.

3. Continuing with the shower theme, get a low-flow shower head: Did you know that most conventional shower heads use 4-8 gallons of water per minute? Yikes. Run, don’t walk to your favorite hardware or department store and get thee an energy efficient shower head now. They’re not expensive, and if you rent, your landlord/leasing agent will most likely not object to saving money on water. If you didn’t know how cool Austin, Texas is, how’s this: The City of Austin takes it one step further and gives energy efficient shower heads to residents! Call your mayor and suggest it.

4. Use natural cleaners: Have you ever read the ingredients and warnings on the cleaners you use? Completely frightening. I’m glad they have warnings on them to “keep out of reach of children”. Well, folks, if they aren’t good for them, odds are they’re not good for us either. Get a gallon jug of white vinegar, some baking soda and you are well on your way to cleaning without falling over from toxic fumes - and, yup, you save a lot of money. Check out this list from EarthEasy to get the full scoop on how to work with these home ingredients for a clean house. Vinegar cuts grease, and putting baking soda and vinegar down the sink will clear it out, just for a couple examples.

5. Decide to drive less: It’s not too hard to find a way to walk, bike, take the bus or carpool with someone a couple times a week (and hopefully more) to accomplish the things you normally do in your car alone. If you’re within 2 miles of a post office, a grocery store, a drug store, a coffee shop, an art gallery, a restaurant, a gift shop, a bike shop or other place you frequent - and I’m guessing the majority of you are - determine to get there by another means than a car. You will learn things about your neighbors and neighborhood (good and bad, which are equally important), and you’ll get some exercise (all good and important). If you can shop with a friend or spouse instead of going separately, well, there’s quality time for the two of you, along with saving gas and a little bit of the planet. If you haven’t ridden a city bus since high school, do it. It if makes you too uncomfortable, all the more reason to do it. Put your shades on, take it all in, and learn a lot about life, their’s and yours. (I once carried two bags of groceries and a new cat litter box on a standing-room-only inner city bus in Minneapolis, and never were a group of hot sweaty people so friendly and accommodating.) If you’re someone whose identity is tied to your vehicle… not sure what to tell you, friend, other than, get out and walk, and grow your identity in ways you didn’t know you would appreciate and reap benefits you didn’t know were out there. And save money, and the planet, also something you might groove on, assuming you’re still reading this article.

6. Back to the water: Let’s talk about laundry. Do not, repeat, do not do laundry until you have a full load of darks or whites (or both, if you don’t really care). Do some hand laundry if you need to. If you just recoiled and said, “eeeuuu!”, let’s just get past that, put a tablespoon of laundry soap in a sink of cold water, swish the piece of clothing around so it’s completely wet or submerged, and let it sit while you have a glass of wine or cup of tea to think about the ‘ordeal’ you just went through. For most stuff that isn’t really dirty or soiled, you then empty the sink and rinse the piece really well, then roll it in a towel and hang it up somewhere to dry. What’s the big deal? 5 minutes, most of which you spent doing nothing. Perhaps you will feel connected to your ancestors who beat clothes on rocks at the river’s edge, perhaps you’ll just be thrilled you can wear your favorite thing tomorrow and didn’t waste money and time with the washing machine. Either way, it saves water, energy and money for that laundry emergency.

7. Also on the topic of laundry: Change the way you dry your clothes. Put the majority of your clothes in the dryer for 8 minutes max, then hang dry them on a drying rack or outside on a line if you are lucky enough to have one. I put them in for that short amount of time to avoid the way they’re stiff and scratchy if you don’t, and it gets wrinkles out to a degree. It saves on the life of your clothes, towels, sheets, etc., too. Another tip - ALWAYS empty the lint filter before each load you do - especially important to do this at the laundromat as lint builds up fast. Having a full lint filter means the dryer can’t work as efficiently, i.e. wasting energy, and it doesn’t get your clothes as dry as fast as it would with an empty filter. I do dry my sheets and pillow cases all the way if I have to sleep on them before they would have time to get dry; they dry fast when they’re by themselves in the dryer, too. (Yes, I’m cheap, I only have one set of sheets for my bed.) I had one friend comment that she would n e v e r dry her clothes on a clothes line outside - “Low class.” Sigh… Classism… perhaps we’ll talk about that another time. It’s the mother and father of racism and sexism and every other -ism. It certainly has huge and deep connections to why going greener even came about.

8. Stop buying so much bottled water: The cases of small bottles of water are a problem, folks - all that plastic and all those miles to ship it to you… Buy a couple filters to keep at home and work instead (Brita, Pur). Fill up a reusable bottle or a stainless steel thermos and you’re set. Or, - gasp - just drink your tap water if you have read the report from your city and it’s in good shape. There are many great articles out there about the craziness of the bottled water industry - the people of Fiji, where you get your cool square colorful bottle of water - sometimes don’t have good water to drink! And Fiji water has to fly a very long way to get to you. Not green at all. There’s plenty of stories revealing that some bottled water companies just use tap water - and sell it back to you at a gazillion dollars a gallon. If you do buy bottled water, choose a local or regional source that is reputable. So, save a lot of money and be much greener by cleaning up your water act.

Some people are already experiencing ‘going green’ fatigue, as it’s still all over the media. New companies are springing up to meet and/or create the demand for greener products, so that means more ads bombarding us, and more to figure out. It can be overwhelming, and when you continue to see litter everywhere and SUVs twice the size of your car going 75 mph on the freeway, you wonder, “why bother.” My determination was steeled a while back when a 30-year-old person I know bragged about being from the “disposable generation” - she thought it was ridiculous to reuse anything. Um, if you think you are throwing something away, there is no “away”, darlin’.

Some people are really into going greener for a multitude of reasons. Perhaps they’ve checked their carbon footprint (a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide). Perhaps they are into the DIY thing, one of my personal favorites. DIY stands for Do It Yourself, whether it’s make your own clothes, do your own interior design, home improvement or other things you can do without spending much money and time on expensive products and services. Perhaps they’re scared by the recent food scares all over the news. If you’ve haven’t heard of the Slow Food movement, it suggests you slow down, know where your food comes from, enjoy your food as well as get off the fast food circuit.

I’m of the belief that going greener makes life better as far as your home environment, your health, your budget, and your time. I can’t think of negative impacts from going greener, other than the time required to learn about it and transition to it, which to me, isn’t a negative really. The great thing is that it will benefit not only you in the long run, but the rest of us, too. And, you will have some fun along the way, and a little more self-respect, too, which never hurts.

You’ve probably noticed that “going green” is all over the media. Al Gore is fairly responsible for that, with his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, which won an Oscar this year.

The hype aside, it is really easy to go greener, and saves money - if you’re not into saving the world, or don’t believe the world needs to be saved as far as the environment goes, no problem - just save yourself some money and time.

I have recycled forever, been a member of a food co-op, and had a dad who always turned off lights to save money, so I’ve been at this a long time. But, here’s what I’ve done over the past few years and even just the past month to really make a green lifestyle more permanent and far-reaching:

1. Use cloth napkins instead of paper. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I do. It feels right - less garbage, not a big deal to wash them, and they last a long time. It’s nice to throw less stuff out in the garbage, and to spend less time in the grocery store buying paper goods. Same goes for paper towels. Just use cloth dishrags. Same concept. Lots less waste. (We have a very small amount on hand if there is ever something really nasty we don’t want to put in the wash, but as yet, it hasn’t happened.)
2. Use cloth or other sturdy non-disposable grocery bags, or at least reuse the hell out of the paper and plastic ones. The cashiers are confused of course, because it goes outside their mechanized scanning and bagging routine - but I get to bag my own groceries and so I don’t end up with crushed stuff. Ditto #1 with less garbage and it feeling right.
3. Have lights on only in the room you’re in. My only exception to this is one small/low light in the kitchen, the room we pass through a lot at night. Lower electric bills are nice. [My neighbor leaves all her lights on all the time. For what? Her cats don’t care, and it’s just a waste of her money and resources.] We keep our porch light on all night for security, but switching to a compact fluorescent bulb saves on electricity.
4. Reuse glass food containers. I hate the smell and taste of plastic on my food. Former pasta sauce jars make great holders of staples like dried beans, quinoa, rice, oatmeal, nuts, and leftovers. And plastic starts breaking down, so the bad stuff will leach into your food the longer you use them.
5. Plan your errands with your car so that you’re not just going one place and back home, and make it a game and find the most efficient route - to save time and gas. I just read that UPS was in the process of redoing all their drivers’ routes so that they turned right more, never turned left if possible and thus reduced their idling time sitting in traffic. Nice! (Idling wastes the most gas.) So, that has inspired me to do the same.
6. Charge your cell phone at home, not the car, but don’t leave it plugged in all the time at home, either! Charge it in the car only if you’re on a long trip or it absolutely is dead - it wastes more energy charging it in the car than it does at home, believe it or not. But, don’t leave your cell phone plugged in at home all the time - it’s a waste of energy, even if it’s small compared to a refrigerator, and it doesn’t give you any extra benefit (i.e. it won’t hold the charge for that much longer)
7. Eat more vegan food. This was just in one of the major U.S. news weeklies: (In sum,) a steak is like a Hummer on a plate. The cost in resources to produce a pound of beef vs. a pound of beans is stunning, and then when compared to the damage done by producing and owning SUVs, it is further astounding and makes one pause to really contemplate that reality. There are countless reasons to eat vegan, but the impact on our natural resources is probably the most compelling. And while I’ve tasted some really really bad vegan food, I have tasted the most awesome food ever that turned out to be vegan. If you live in the Lehigh Valley, run, don’t walk, to Vegan Treats in Bethlehem (not far from Liberty High School). It is beyond delicious and decadent. There are many great resources about veganism out there.

I have found making the switch to green and veganism a nice challenge, and again, it feels very right for me and for the planet. And I’m still in transition, learning more all the time, enjoying the process. It is amazing to realize just how many ways we waste resources in our daily life - and I, for one, really like saving money for things more important to me. It is even more satisfying to realize I am leaving a smaller energy footprint on the planet by doing so.

I have always been a noncomformist of some type, and find it far more satisfying than just being asleep, and a lemming just blindly following where the marketers or people in power want me to go. (Of course, the marketers are seeing green because it is now a big and growing new market.) If you consider yourself on the fringe and/or like making others uncomfortable with what you do and believe - go really green and really vegan, and love your life.

As a somewhat new homeowner (bought 15 months ago), I’ve been hearing about this decline since a full year before I was even shopping. Everyone seems to talk about the real estate bubble bursting. In my neighborhood, houses still sell in less then 10-business days and go for asking price or slightly above asking price and have appreciated close to 25% since my purchase. Mortgage rates have pretty much leveled out, so now the buyers don’t feel as rushed to get the house they want in fear that the rates will be raise overnight. I’m still not sure what is causing the big fear of a bubble, I can see it maybe leveling out but not totally declining.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday it expects its measure of home prices to fall this year for the first time since the group began keeping track nearly 40 years ago.

In its latest monthly forecast, the real estate group said it expects a 0.7 percent decline in the median price of an existing home sold in 2007. A month ago it had been projecting a 1.2 percent increase. Half of all homes sell for more than the median and half for less.

So what does this tell us? My thoughts, the median house price is often higher then what most people living in that area could afford to pay anyway. Job relocation and urban sprawl will continue to contribute to the rising price in small town USA, driving those who grew up there out without many places to go.

Source: CNN Money

Most children receive sex education from their educational intuition. Usually this occurs at an age where the children are going through puberty. A Boston mother decided her 9 year old daughter should be taught about sex through visual stimulation.

Rebecca Arnold, 37, and David Prata, 22, habitually had sex in front her child. The couple claimed that they felt it would be helpful to her development.

The judge sentenced the couple to 3 years of probation instead of jail time. He felt that it would be better than a trial to spare the young girl. Authorities found out about the acts of “sex education” through the girl’s father, she told him about the incidents while visiting him.

Source: Reuters

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