Sign Up
Sign up here for our Free NNN Weekly Newsletter
NNN is Rhode Island's own online magazine about your environment -- the news and info you need to explore it, have fun outside, keep up with local issues, live greener, and get involved.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Add Your Event to the Calendar
Calendar provided by What Grows On in Rhode Island.
Latest News
Search
Categories
Login Form
Green Jobs & Free Classifieds
Click here for all jobs & classifieds or to submit an ad.
Support NNN - Buy a Book
Be an N3 Supporter
Support Our Sponsors
Ask the Experts
Got a question about the greener life?This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Syndicate
Jan
14
| Natural Mom: Let's Resolve... |
|
|
| Monday, 14 January 2008 | |
NNN's Natural Mom, Lisa Sussman, shares her resolutions for a greener year in 2008 (and read to the end for a great idea for 2009).
This year, all of my resolutions are green.
Resolution #1: I will remember to actually bring the five tote bags that live in my car into the store when I go shopping.
 Resolution #2: I will find a use for the plastic bags I end up with because I broke resolution #1. At treehugger.com, there are instructions for crocheting plastic bags (yes, you read that right) while youtube.com shows you how to iron and sew (uh-huh, you read that right again) a plastic bag into messenger bag. (Or you can return them to the ReStore bins at your grocery store, to be recycled.)
Resolutions #3-5: In an effort to reduce my carbon footprint, I will combine three resolutions into one: I will clear out the clutter in my life, lessen global materialism and recycle by gathering up everything in my house that is unwanted (a marble egg, an earring tree, a pair of wooden clogs – where did these things come from?), anything that no longer fits (at this time of year, most of my wardrobe) and that mountain of stuff that is simply taking up space (such as my scale, the cat that poops on the beds and the kids), wrapping them (in old newspaper) and regifting them as next year’s holiday presents.
Resolution #6: I will use less electricity in my house. Now I could do this by remembering to turn off lights and unused appliances and switching over to compact fluorescent bulbs, but I prefer to strap a kinetic energy converter to the knees of my 9-year old son as he sits and eats dinner. That should generate enough electricity to power 2,000 homes. It just occurred to me that if I stop cooking, I can save even more energy and tell everyone we are on a raw food diet!
Resolution #7: I resolve to keep the house a degree cooler. This should hopefully lead to more cuddling with my husband which will, in turn, strengthen our marriage. How will this help us stay green? Well, it turns out that marital status can have an impact on your environmental efforts. A Michigan State University recently conducted a study examining data from 12 countries, including the United States, Brazil, Ecuador, Kenya, Mexico and Spain, and found that divorced homes spent more on both water and electricity per capita.
Resolution #8: To do my part towards decreasing consumerism, the only thing I plan to get more of this year is brain cells. So I will actually read Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Also on my reading list are Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book Silent Spring, which raised awareness of the impact of pesticides and other environmental poisons on our food supply. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart presents a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution (edible grocery bags anyone? – then you won’t have to learn how to crochet), Carl Hiassen’s Native Tongue, about a bunch of eccentrics out to either destroy the world or save it, and anything by Michael Pollan.
Resolution #9: I will grow all of my vegetables. I will also make sure that I eat them.
Resolution #10: I will limit my CO2 emissions and walk … past the gym. At least once a week.
Resolution #11: If I can keep to resolutions #9 and 10, it may mean that I can conserve energy by spending more time on the couch.
Resolution #12: I will use less water, toxic chemicals and electricity by no longer cleaning my house and doing less laundry (and wearing more deodorant). If I absolutely must clean (read: my mother-in-law is visiting), then I will use my grandmother’s recipe of mixing ½ cup of white vinegar, 4 Tablespoons of baking soda and one quart of warm water (funny how what counted as depression money-savers are now earth-savers). I will then serve (wild) fish and chips to mask the smell.
Resolution #13: I will stop the madness of drinking bottled water. I promise - it’s red wine all the time from now on. The bottles can be recycled and the antioxidants will lower my risk of heart attack.
Resolution #14: I resolve not to make any more New Year’s resolutions. After all, studies have found that a third of people who make resolutions won’t even make it to the end of January. So unless I can convert them to ethanol, this is my last resolution for 2008. And I promise to recycle them again in 2009.
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|