I know Earth Day was last Thursday, but I was busy destroying the earth by polluting it with gas and driving across the nation. Obama claims he’s going to expand the rail system, and as soon as he does, you better believe that I will be purchasing train tickets willy nilly and singlehandedly keeping Tennessee on the map.
Regardless of where you stand on global warming and whether or not zoos are immoral, I certainly hope we can all come together to understand the need we have as stewards of this earth to take better care of it. If there is one group of people I cannot even put on a fake smile and BS for five minutes, it’s those who are careless with our resources and do not have a healthy respect for the environment. If that’s you, take this as my steely glare in your general direction.
On a more positive note, I’ve been excited by some of the changes we’ve made in our lifestyle over the past year to become more environmentally friendly. We’ve introduced plant-based cleaning products to our life, reusable microfiber cloths, recycling more than ever before, and are about to enter the phase of our life which revolves around cloth diapering, glass bottling, and rockin some sweet hand-me-downs. I’ll also admit that we have instituted an “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” flush policy during the nights because I’m just going to the bathroom so daggone much. I’d like to think that our water usage has gone down because of it.
In a week and a half I’ll be picking up our very first box of CSA produce from a local farm here in Tennessee. We’re excited to be supporting local farmers but also to be trying new veggies that we probably have never eaten before. I’m sure you’ll hear more about the CSA when I’m reaching out to you for radish recipes. We also have plans to start composting, and will enjoy lowered fuel costs this summer as Matt will be riding his motorcycle in the nice weather instead of driving.
I have some goals for the upcoming year to continue living on fewer natural resources, including using our AC less, lowering our heat in the winter, and trying to cook using fewer pots and pans and running my dishwasher less frequently. We’re also excited about continuing to find great local vendors to support instead of always heading to the big box retailers, and little changes like these can make a big difference.
What greener goals do you have? If we all made just one little change this year, I think the world would be a much better place.
