Wednesday, April 22, 2009

An Earth-Day Birthday!


Happy Birthday to Esme, and Happy Earth Day! One of the things I admire about Esme is her commitment to the local foods movement. Thank you for being an inspiration!

In honor of both Esme and the Earth, I'll share with you some of the behaviors I'd like to improve, to lessen my drain on our earth's finite resources. The DH and I are already pretty conscientious about this. We do wild and crazy things like wash and reuse the plastic veggie bags (and now we have some muslin ones), have a bucket in the shower to catch the water runoff before it's hot, and walk/bike as much as possible.

Here are the places where I need to improve:

  • Lessen shower time. Ooooh, this is a tough one for me! I LOVE to stand in the shower and just boil, for a long time. I really need to shorten my showers. I just gotta do it.

  • Incorporate more vegan meals into the diet. Have you read Skinny Bitch? It's a hoot, and a serious book all in the same. The potty-mouthed authors make a real case for vegan choices, both for our health and the planet. Read this book and your relationship with food will never be the same!

  • Turn off the PC power. I forget to power down and unplug at night. Need to get better at this.

Where else should I focus? What are your goals to help save the planet?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Laudable and practical goals. Good for you. Skinny Bitch is an amazing book. As sophomoric as the humor is it is really a life-changing book. It was definitely a HUGE catalyst in me wanting to shun eating meat. Everyone should read it.

parTea lady said...

Those are great ways to lesson our impact and even those of us who are conscientious have lots of room for improvement. I know that I need to be more diligent myself and teach my two grandsons these things.

I received Skinny Bitch as a gift (I had it on my Amazon wish list) and was a little shocked by some of the language etc. - guess the title should have been a tip off, but the ideas were solid.

Steph said...

It's thanks to you and Amanda for recommending the book! I hadn't heard of it prior.

Kathleen at Set to a Tea said...

Yes, your goals make me consider how much I take for granted and that just a few small things can make a difference. Great idea for dinner conversation tonight with the family. I'll let you know what we decide on.

Amy said...

Thanks for the sweet birthday wishes. I am having a great day. I rescued a red bud from the side of the road and am having lunch at a local food parlor with my DH. (And if you know my DH you know that him taking time to have lunch with me is a BIG DEAL. He is a very busy man!)

Also, yesterday evening I had the chance to be a in writing circle with some cancer survivors which was an amazing lesson for me on the eve of the anniversary of my 44th year on the planet, I am very healthy and very grateful.

I'll see you soon.

xo Amy (AKA Esme)

AZ Tea Lover said...

Adjusting the thermostat - a little hotter in the summer can save a lot of energy.

Teresa's New Life said...

I come from a different point of view on this. Please don't misunderstand, I love the earth that God has given us. But, I don't believe anything that man does will "destroy" or "save" the earth. That is in our creators hands. BUT that being said, I do have respect for the land God has given us and do try to keep it healthy and I do recycle & I conserve because the cost of everything has gotten so out of hand that I MUST conserve to be able to just feed my family. Anyway, that's my opinion on earth day & those of you who celebrate it- have a great one!

Marilyn Miller said...

We also catch shower water in a bucket and use it on the house plants. We have a rain barrel too. I would like to start hanging some of our laundry on the clothes line.