Tag Archives: blog action day

Think Green

GrasslandsJust a couple of hours days late for blog action day, which I am chalking up to Mercury retrograde issues. Sounds better than the dog ate my homework, and better late than never. How did the middle of October arrive so quickly? I was off line for two hours-then I thought I smelled gas so I had the firemen here too. That was all fine and dandy-no gas leak according to their meters-packing up two cats into boxes was not the fun part. :>>:-[ In response to Blog Action Day, which I was too late to register for, I decided to round up some of my beefs, and what I include in my lifestyle which qualifies as green. Some of us who went through the sixties-seventies thing had a head start.

Stop making disposable everything people!!! Appliances, electronics are not made to last, nor can you often get the parts to fix things. And the packaging is at times ridiculous. My friend who recently passed from ALS had gotten an electric toothbrush when she was first diagnosed. She couldn’t get the packaging open. They timed me-it took forty minutes to unwrap the thing! Is that really necessary?

I buy all my computers at the surplus shop, and jazz them up when necessary. It’s cheaper too! When you are done with a computer-pass it on to someone who needs it, give it away on freecycle, or check for electronic recycling programs in your city.

Shopping BagsStart taking your own shopping bags. Let’s outlaw plastic shopping bags, like they already have done in South Africa. These are my shopping bags. The net bags hold forty pounds, and the woven ones you see here are made from hemp. Of course recycle-and conserve energy whenever possible. Instead of turning up the heat put on a sweater! Turn out lights and power down what is not in use.

I use mostly natural cleaning products. Did you know you can unplug a drain with baking soda and vinegar? I do not run the water while I am brushing my teeth which apparently saves three gallons of water each time which can add up to 8000-21000 gallons of water a year. In the yard I use a rain barrel and solar lights.

My composting unfortunately came to an end when someone took off with my composter. Surprising that was. Mine was an antique maybe that’s why it went missing. I mean the city sells them for 25 dollars, but they are presently out of stock. So maybe that’s a good sign-a popular item.

Rain BarrelIt’s amazing-some things become habit, if you let them. My dream home would be off grid-that’s what I am going to put on my vision board. And if I could afford it, I would drive a hybrid car.

The sad thing is many here could afford to do so, yet Calgary has the highest emissions from vehicles in the country. The other morning I had to meet someone at the airport, and the blanket of smog looked like a budding LA.

When you travel by air now-many companies off the option of paying to offset your share of the emissions. Haven’t tried that one yet, since I haven’t been anywhere. But you can also offset home heating, electricity and gas, as well as driving emissions. Check out the Climate Care website for more information. They even have an emissions calculator, and offer a gift option.

It is we do on a daily basis that counts. It’s like camping people. Leave it as you found it. Think about your impact, think ecological footprint, think sustainability. Will you?