"Direction is more important than speed. We are so busy looking at our speedometers that we forget the milestone." - Unknown
You may have noticed that I did not comment on my progress regarding making a lunch in my last post and that's because there was no progress. I am so embarrassed. Why is this so difficult for me? I will tell you why - its because I love sushi and I work way to close to a fabulous sushi restaurant. I went to Mac Sushi today and I was so happy that they asked whether or not I needed napkins, soy sauce, and chopsticks and I proudly denied. This may be only a small step, but it's a step in the right direction.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Twilight Earth
"What is the small things I/you can do that will make the biggest difference?" - Natalie Shell
I have officially finished the Twilight series, which has consumed my life since I began reading it and is almost entirely responsible for my hiatus from writing this blog. There is something to be said for novels that can consume you in this way. I have always felt a similar draw to environmental issues, but sometimes these issues become too real and a little scary, which is why I think its much easier to immerse myself in the fictitious world of vampires and werewolves than in this very real world of rapidly degrading natural resources.
That being said, I have not lost sight of my goal for this year and that is to learn to live as greenly as possible one step at a time. Which is why I am a little embarrassed to admit that when I read my Go Green tip for yesterday, I thought, "Are you kidding me?" The general idea being that loose tea is a more environmentally friendly alternative to bagged tea because you do not waste a bag, string, or tag. I rolled my eyes and felt like this is why people think environmentalists are crazy (which I always want to prove is not the case, but I do have a little crazy in me). Plus - I am very fortunate to live in an area with a compost program, so my tea bags are easily composted.
I then started to over think the world of the tea bag and wondered, "how much energy is required to produce a tea bag?" and "what percentage of the waste stream is made up of tea bag components?" I attempted to find the answers to these questions through a series of Google searches, but I am sorry to report that I was unsuccessful. I did however come across a funny blog entry titled "The Ethics of the Tetley tea bag" written by Robert Sharp in 2005. There is some seriousness to the entry and comments below, but what I found humorous was how a simple "moment of idleness" can spark the mind to think about the strangest things.
http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2005/11/19/the-ethics-of-tetley-tea-bags/
I have officially finished the Twilight series, which has consumed my life since I began reading it and is almost entirely responsible for my hiatus from writing this blog. There is something to be said for novels that can consume you in this way. I have always felt a similar draw to environmental issues, but sometimes these issues become too real and a little scary, which is why I think its much easier to immerse myself in the fictitious world of vampires and werewolves than in this very real world of rapidly degrading natural resources.
That being said, I have not lost sight of my goal for this year and that is to learn to live as greenly as possible one step at a time. Which is why I am a little embarrassed to admit that when I read my Go Green tip for yesterday, I thought, "Are you kidding me?" The general idea being that loose tea is a more environmentally friendly alternative to bagged tea because you do not waste a bag, string, or tag. I rolled my eyes and felt like this is why people think environmentalists are crazy (which I always want to prove is not the case, but I do have a little crazy in me). Plus - I am very fortunate to live in an area with a compost program, so my tea bags are easily composted.
I then started to over think the world of the tea bag and wondered, "how much energy is required to produce a tea bag?" and "what percentage of the waste stream is made up of tea bag components?" I attempted to find the answers to these questions through a series of Google searches, but I am sorry to report that I was unsuccessful. I did however come across a funny blog entry titled "The Ethics of the Tetley tea bag" written by Robert Sharp in 2005. There is some seriousness to the entry and comments below, but what I found humorous was how a simple "moment of idleness" can spark the mind to think about the strangest things.
http://www.robertsharp.co.uk/2005/11/19/the-ethics-of-tetley-tea-bags/
In a recent moment of idleness (these moments typically occur while driving in my car), I started to think about the changes that need to occur in the world, especially with respect to the environment. I realized that while the tea bag thing seems a little ridiculous to me, there are other things I think are important that some people (my brother in particular) think are ridiculous, such as turning off the lights when you leave a room for only a few minutes (which can add up to major energy savings). I guess what I am getting at is that we are not all going to feel as strongly about all of the different changes there are out there to make, but what is going to be important is that the sum of all these little changes. While some of these changes seem silly, if they better the environment even in a small way, that change will add up tot he major change that needs to and is starting to happen in the world. I am so excited to be a part of it.
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