“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” - Ross Perot
I have been noticing lately that I am guilty of so many environmental no-no’s (not limited to the previous anecdote about my love of a tropically warm bedroom) and the guilt has officially set in. I have become complacent with respect to the environment and its time for a change.
At the end of every year, I always have big plans for the coming year. I usually make a ridiculous number of resolutions related to all of the things I want to accomplish. In the past, these resolutions have been very difficult to keep. One of the reasons being that I always envision having much more free time than I really have, but another reason is that my resolutions have been solely a pact I have made with myself. There has been no real accountability or tracking of my progress. This year I have decided to make a resolution that will really count. For 2009, I want to focus on being and living in a more green (environmentally friendly) way. It’s time to get rid of those behaviours that are unnecessarily harmful to the planet because in most cases those behaviours stem from my laziness. For those of you who know me, you know that I can talk the talk (and boy do I love to talk!), but its time for me to truly walk the walk.
It is my hope that committing to writing weekly blog entries that someone out there will hopefully read (and enjoy!), I will be able to track my progress and have readers of my blog keep me accountable. Then perhaps, together we will learn a little something about being kinder to this Earth. To start, I am armed with the 2009 Go Green calendar that I purchased at Chapters and Sophie Uliano’s book, “Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life”. I am sure I will have many more resources throughout the year, but I think these will be an excellent starting point.
Gandhi said, “Be Change” and that is what I will attempt to do. Enjoy the ride!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Lead Up Part II: Laziness (written Dec. 10th)
"Laziness is the one common deficiency in mankind that blocks the establishment of a perfect world in which everyone leads a happy life." - W. Feather
I am lazy. I hate to admit it and I am a little ashamed, but I did something today that makes this fact undeniable. Today, I dropped one third of a tube of Lays Stacks (look and taste very similar to Pringles, but to my delight are gluten-free) on the dining room floor and I left them there, but the story does not end there - I then went downstairs with a chip in hand to entice my dog Sophie to the dining room to clean up my mess. This of course was all to avoid going to the basement to get the vacuum, unraveling the cord, vacuuming, wrapping the cord back up and bringing the vacuum back to the basement.
Rather than focusing on the negative (the fact that I just proved I am without a doubt the laziest person in this world), I have chosen to find a positive in this situation; the positive being that I did not use any electricity by vacuuming up the crumbs.
I am lazy. I hate to admit it and I am a little ashamed, but I did something today that makes this fact undeniable. Today, I dropped one third of a tube of Lays Stacks (look and taste very similar to Pringles, but to my delight are gluten-free) on the dining room floor and I left them there, but the story does not end there - I then went downstairs with a chip in hand to entice my dog Sophie to the dining room to clean up my mess. This of course was all to avoid going to the basement to get the vacuum, unraveling the cord, vacuuming, wrapping the cord back up and bringing the vacuum back to the basement.
Rather than focusing on the negative (the fact that I just proved I am without a doubt the laziest person in this world), I have chosen to find a positive in this situation; the positive being that I did not use any electricity by vacuuming up the crumbs.
The Lead Up Part I: Ice Box (Written Dec. 9th)
"We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive." - Albert Einstein
I am sitting here in the icebox that is my room dressed in my Christmas coloured “Ho Ho Ho” fleece pyjama pants, a horribly mismatched gold-yellow Tennessee sweatshirt (purchased by my parents on their latest vacation) and wool socks. A part of me thinks it’s a wonderful thing I am doing – layering up to keep warm rather than using a heating source that depletes fossil fuels or requires a ridiculous amount of energy, but another part of me knows that I am not layered by choice. I secretly would prefer to be lounging in the tiny shorts and see-through tank tops my university roommates grew accustomed too. I even tried to turn on the baseboard heater in my room that has not been used since we moved in over ten years ago and to my dismay, but not to my surprise, it would not work. My feet are purple (I wish I was exaggerating). I am left to wonder if I will awake in the morning or if I will freeze to death.
I am sitting here in the icebox that is my room dressed in my Christmas coloured “Ho Ho Ho” fleece pyjama pants, a horribly mismatched gold-yellow Tennessee sweatshirt (purchased by my parents on their latest vacation) and wool socks. A part of me thinks it’s a wonderful thing I am doing – layering up to keep warm rather than using a heating source that depletes fossil fuels or requires a ridiculous amount of energy, but another part of me knows that I am not layered by choice. I secretly would prefer to be lounging in the tiny shorts and see-through tank tops my university roommates grew accustomed too. I even tried to turn on the baseboard heater in my room that has not been used since we moved in over ten years ago and to my dismay, but not to my surprise, it would not work. My feet are purple (I wish I was exaggerating). I am left to wonder if I will awake in the morning or if I will freeze to death.
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