Green Update

I am continuing to learn, edit, and work towards a green lifestyle.

New habits are becoming second nature: the bucket in the shower gets filled and used to water our outdoor potted plants; the laptop gets completely unplugged after use; the cell phone chargers go into a drawer near the outlet when not in use. I continue to make my own bread, to use environmentally friendly cleaners, to use the cold water cycles on the washing machine for all but the worst stains. I never found a shower timer but I'm being conscious of shower duration, and though I'm not timing, I'm convinced that my showers are shorter. We unplugged our downstairs fridge (and don't miss it). We're walking more than ever (easy to do in our neighborhood, when so many shops are close by). We're turning off lights. We're not shopping for stuff as much. We're spending more time outdoors - gardening, going to parks - than before (and the weather is cooperating on this one, thankfully).

Our garden is growing (I should take new pictures soon), and it's apparent that the crops are well on their way to being edible. I have six tomato plants in, including two that I grew from seed, and I actually wish I had more room so that I could put more in. Our strawberries are covered in green fruit, and it won't be long until they are ready. I've planted parsley at the base of the rose bushes because the packet told me that would help them both to grow (?), and I've got squash coming up in those garden beds, as well. Needless to say, the garden is all organic, using heirloom seeds/plants, vermicompost, compost, and natural fertilizers. We are using soaker hoses covered in mulch, so hopefully they will be water-efficient (we'll find out when we get our summer water bill!).

Transportation is a tough one; for all of our walking, we still drive more than I'd like to. Tessa's endurance is improving all the time, but walking with her takes a lot more time than I tend to allocate, and so I still rely on the car a lot. The walk-not-drive campaign is a way of helping us to slow down....if I plan walking trips, by definition, we can't plan back-to-back activities, and I think that is a good thing. Still, it's an adjustment.

I am thinking about buying a bus pass for the month of July and trying to avoid all single-adult car trips except travel (camping etc). Tessa's only activity in July is soccer class; maybe we could carpool to that or even bus (it's only a couple of miles away, but I think if we walked Tessa would be too tired to play soccer!). With gas at $4.13 in some places (I saw a sign in Seattle for that amount - crazy!) the $63 bus pass for me sounds really darned cheap, especially if I use it all the time. I found out how Tessa and I can take Metro from our house to Alki Elementary, and so I'm hoping to experiment with bussing more often to see if I can justify buying an annual bus pass and parking the car more. Quite obviously, a car produces a lot more carbon emissions than just about anything else I do.

I am trying more than ever to carpool, and to make it the expectation rather than the exception. I'm willing to drive, or to chip in for gas, or to trade off....but there is no reason to avoid carpooling, especially since Tessa is in a booster seat that easily goes from one car to the next.

I'm also trying to shop/eat greener. PCC has become my primary grocery store (supplemented mainly by Trader Joe's, with meat from Thriftway or Costco because they have good organic specials, as well as the farmer's market when we're in town) and I'm really reading labels to buy local. I'm buying items in glass instead of plastic (with honey, for example, I have a choice) when possible, I'm buying bulk and re-using my own containers to do so. I'm replacing cosmetic items (shampoo, soap, etc.) as they run out with "healthier" ones (though I still haven't found a decent deodorant, so I'm relying on my old stuff).

One of my biggest changes, intellectually, is that I'm staying out of stores. I love Carmelia's (for example), but I'm not even popping in to browse for five minutes, because I don't need anything. No more checking out what is on sale at Marshall's, because I just don't need it. This is my "reduce" part of "reduce, reuse, recycle" and I am certain that it lowers my carbon footprint substantially.

I went to Starbucks with Lori the other day (she had a gift card) and because we'd been walking for miles I wanted water instead of coffee. I made a point of asking for tap water to go with my breakfast roll-up, instead of buying bottled, and I asked for it in a re-usable cup. The woman behind the counter didn't understand at all what I meant; I finally had to point at the large ceramic coffee cup behind her and say, "That kind! Like a 'for here grande coffee' but with water in it!" and she let me have it but her confusion ("why would anybody ask for that?") was evident. On our road trip to Spokane, we all managed to avoid buying a single bottle of water because we refilled our Kleen Kanteens along the way. (Rest stop water from a drinking fountain worked, although it wasn't the tastiest we'd ever had. It's amazing how water can taste so different from one place to another.) I would like to believe that I will never again drink from a plastic bottle of water, but I realize that is unlikely....but I know that I've changed my habit immensely and the change is in the right direction.

I am also working on developing more vegetarian habits. I will probably always be an omnivore, but I'm trying to reduce the amount of meat I eat. We're doing more vegetarian dishes, and more seafood dishes, and more dishes that have meat as a flavoring more than as the main caloric portion. I used to serve 6-8oz of meat per person regularly, and now I'm moving to 3-4 oz of meat per person for many entrees. I'm still working on this, and I have a long ways to go, but I know I'm moving in the right direction.

I'm reading library books every day. (I'm about to start "Assault on Reason" by Al Gore.....doesn't sound like light reading, but I'm up for it.) I'm trading books with friends (Sarah loaned me "Tender at the Bone" by Ruth Reichl and I am laughing out loud with it; it's much lighter than the other things I've been reading).

And all of this is causing me to use my spare time in better ways. I'm walking more, listening to interesting downloads from iTunes (did you know that several speeches by the Dalai Lama are available for free?); I'm reading more; I'm watching less TV than ever (maybe an hour per month?). I'm writing in my journal more regularly. I have plans to spend every available summer weekend camping. For me, these things are wonderful improvements - they are soul satisfying (and that is what it's all about for me).

I have so much to learn. I have so much to improve upon. I still crave all kinds of things - too much food (weight issues....sigh), pretty clothes, household miscellany. My instinct is still to jump in the car and get the errands over with quickly, to grab a bottle of water off the shelf, to turn on the TV to unwind, to grill a big steak, to eat strawberries in February, to buy the cheap stuff from China. But I'm learning, and I am content with my learning. I feel like I've come a long way, and I know that I have. Sure, there's a long way to go, but with a lot of luck maybe I'll have 60+ years to figure out the rest of these things, so I don't have to have it all worked out now.

And you? Does anyone reading this want to tell me about their green adventures? Any tips or tricks to teach me? Any suggestions for green experiments? Any philosophy to share? I'm all ears - let me know!