I'm in a good mood again, so all is well - relatively speaking.
First off, if you haven't watched or read An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore I suggest you go out and get the book or rent the movie now. Don't put it on your list of things to watch or read, just go do it. Last April I decided to change my life. A total revamp. While I can't say it was a total success, it has definitely been a partial success. I'm still exercising, I'm still trying to lose weight, my house is in much better shape and I'm on day 18 of my non-smoking.
The Inconvenient Truth reminded me that I shouldn't just sit here thinking about the ways we want to change our lives and the world. Too often we read or watch something that propels us into motion. We get excited, we get hyped, then we start to think of things we can do to change the world and Uh OH it happens. All of a sudden it becomes too overwhelming and so we push it to the back of our minds and pretend it doesn't exist. If someone brings it up at a later date, we say, "Oh yes, I was reading about blah blah the other day and I was appalled with...yada yada yada." Hey, I know this because I do this, so don't pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about. However, since my life revamp last year, I've been trying to approach things differently. So instead of just reading and watching the Inconvenient Truth (I have the book and rented the movie) I decided to do something about it.
Hey, I know I'm going to die, and I most likely won't have any kids...so it's not like I want to make the world a better place for them, although I am thinking that would be excellent motivation. So why should I care about global warming, well because I live in this world. Besides, I'm not saying I'm going totally green, I'm talking about baby steps.
I've already changed my light bulbs over to the low emission ones. I try to carry a cloth bag with me when I go for groceries, and I turn the heat down to nothing at night or when I leave the house , I've switched to cold water washing only and I'm working on only buying things I actually need. Today, after listening to Al Gore, I'm vowing to do the following:
1) Next car I buy with be a hybrid or at the very least will be by manufactured by a company that has higher standards than GM or Ford.
2) The next appliance I buy will be a super duper energy efficient washing machine. (If you are wondering if it's worth it all you need to do is listen to Anita rave about hers, and you will be sold. )
3) This summer I'm planting at least two trees in my back yard. This one kills me as I hate the idea of more maple bugs or tent caterpillars and other creepy crawlies, but I'm pretty sure I can find something they don't like.
4) I'm going to start recycling my pop bottles. I don't really buy pop very often, just club soda, so I normally throw them out, but that's just being lazy...so off to recycling they go.
5) I'm stopping my newspaper and switching to the weekend only editions. Basically, I never get around to reading the whole thing, and hey it's a waste even though I do recycle those.
6) I'll stop leaving my car running (even in this weather) when I'm running in and out of places doing errands.
7) I'll recycle my cat food cans.
That's it. Okay I'm not saying I'm going to save the world doing this, but I do believe every small change makes some sort of a difference. Besides, I really think I've picked small enough changes that it really won't seem like much of an effort.
Okay on to more retarded things. Many, many moons ago I wrote a post that mentioned a reality TV show called Wife Swap. In it, I was horrified to watch the mental breakdown of a woman. I mean she really had a melt down, and I was kind of stupefied that no one stopped filming, or got this woman help. Yesterday, in my funk, I turned on the TV and there it was, an advertisement for an upcoming episode of Wife Swap where they bring back that very same woman. Although I really don't want to watch it, we all know I probably will. I'm just hoping she's received some psychiatric counselling since my last viewing. Then again, if she had, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have invited her back.
So in conclusion...watch Wife Swap if you want to see the demented woman. and more importantly, think of something, anything you can do to help better our world, then go out and do it. Just one little thing, and go do it. For tips on what you can do, check here!
Ciao for now
Swapna
PS Yes Virginia, cold water washing does work just fine!
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2 comments:
I'm with you on the hybrid car and the new appliances. We are thinking of having solar panels installed as well. Soon I'll be as green as Ed Begley, Jr.
We have curbside recycling here, and I am appalled that we are the only house in the neighborhood with a full recycle bin and an almost empty trash bin. Most of the others have two trash bins and don't even roll the recycle bin to the curb on collection day. Wish they got penalized for that, because until that happens, most people will never make the effort.
Woo! We're pricing solar panels too... Not only would it make us a little greener -- but they would definitely come in handy during those hurricane-induced region-wide power outages in the middle of the hottest part of the year. Of course we have discovered that in order to gather enough solar energy to run a small refrigerator for 24 hours it would require about 400 square feet of panels... For lights? An additional 300 minimum.. and for one small air conditioning unit? Approximately 1000 square feet. At a cost of $250,000 to reroof our house in solar panels.. we could expect to see a return in our investment in 35 to 40 years.
Maybe we'll just push the city to start regular recycling collections...
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