About a month ago, while browsing through one of the many big box chain book stores (you know which one I am talking about) in the suburbs with a friend – which we had driven to in her car, and where we had both purchased beverages from the in-store coffee shop in non-recyclable disposable cups – I stumbled across a book titled “Sleeping Naked is Green: how an eco-cynic unplugged her fridge, sold her car, and found love in 366 days” by Toronto author Vanessa Farquharson. I scanned the back cover, flipped randomly through a couple chapters and then read the price tag: $18.95.
Now usually I would jump at the opportunity to support a Canadian author and would slap my debit card down at the checkout counter without a second thought. But for one, the last remaining independent book store (that sold new books) in my city has gone under, this book was recently published and unlikely to be found in one of my favourite neighbourhood used-book stores, and I couldn’t stomach giving my money to such an evil corporate giant. I decided that I would borrow the book from the library, read it and if I loved it and felt the desire to own a copy, that I could wait and haunt the aisles of my used-book stores in the hopes that someone in the community would eventually part with their copy and I could purchase it then. And I thought the author would approve, I mean her book is about going green, and surely this was a worthy green decision.
And I may as well be honest, I am a little cheap, so outside of the environmental decision to purchase books used rather than new, I like the savings of the sticker price when I buy used, as well as the feeling I get when I support my local business. I can’t very well rail against the evils of corporate monopolies and big box stores if I am not making the conscious decision to support local business and put my money where my mouth is.
So I went online and requested a hold for the book for pickup. Yesterday I walked to the library (or rather swam, as the rain was torrential) and picked up my copy of Sleeping Naked is Green. I cracked it open this afternoon and I must say I am finding it simply delightful. I plan to implement some of the changes that the author outlines in her book but I also took a moment to validate my own eco-decisions. And so, I sat down to write a list of the environmental things I am currently doing, in an effort to rate my own eco-ness.
1. I have not owned a car for eight years (although I still have a valid driver’s licence). No one who has known me for over ten years would ever believe that I would have become a pedestrian!!
2. I walk as much as possible rather than using taxi cabs or public transportation or friend’s cars.
3. I have a library card that I try to use rather than buying all of my books.
4. I use fabric/canvas tote bags for shopping (thanks to my Aunt Enid who made me a wonderful monkey-bag and my sister Tanya who bequeathed her favourite canvas bag to me).
5. I turn off my lights when I leave the apartment and try to only turn lights on when I am home when necessary.
6. I keep my thermostat low (even though the cost of my heat is included in my rent, so I don’t see any financial savings).
7. Although I have an air conditioner I use it only at night when it is too hot to sleep and I have it pre-set to a temperature that makes the room bearable and then it shuts off until the temperature rises above the pre-set again. And I close my bedroom door so the air conditioner is only cooling my bedroom and not the whole apartment.
8. I recycle paper/cardboard products and bottles/cans/containers etc. And try as much as is possible to buy products with less packaging.
9. I use the sleep timer/function on both my computer and TV so that I am consuming less electricity.
10. I receive and pay my bills online.
11. I have a “No Junk mail” sticker on my mailbox and have provided stickers to my neighbours for their mailboxes as well. Probably 30% (maybe more) of the units in my 28-storey building have “No Junk mail” stickers affixed to their mailboxes now!! And I don’t even care if it is because they just hate junk mail or if they are opposed to it for environmental reasons. When I see one of my stickers on someone else’s mailbox I have a sense of pride and accomplishment.
12. I read my news online rather than subscribing to a daily newspaper.
13. I make every effort to consume less... with varying results.
I have come to realize that any eco-friendly change you make in your life is better than no change at all and is progress... not everyone is equipped or willing to live off-the-grid on some hippie commune growing their own organic vegetables, converting to a vegan diet and wearing hemp clothing. We can’t get caught up in the all-or-nothing mentality of the eco-living. Make changes that you are comfortable with, and then try some changes that might turn out to be do-able. It all helps. I find a great motivator for non-environmentally conscious among us is MONEY. Low-flow toilets save money on your water bill... un-intended by-product is that they also save water. Buying in bulk saves money on your grocery bill... un-intended by-product is that bulk generally cuts down on packaging. There are so many money saving things that you can do that have the added bonus of being environmental, and those are things that are easy to do!
Peace out
Dar
I can't save I'm an environmentalist, but I do some things -
ReplyDeleteI put a large glass bottle filled with rocks in the back of each of my tolits - less water with each flush without having to buy a new tolit.
I buy fresh food whenever possible and try to stay far (far!!) away from packaged foods. Better for your body and less packaging to none at all.
I have bought all energy efficient appliances and hang dry my clothes in the warm months (maybe 3 - 4 months of the year???).
I make my own laundry detergent - no packaging at all and super cheap!!
I often make my own yogurt, so the only packaging is from the milk.
I bought large garbage bins for my yard waste so we don't have to use garbage bags, which saves me three large bags each week over the summer.
The kids and I parked our vehicle and our family went from two vehicles to one all last summer. So the kids and I rode and walked to where ever we needed to go, we are planning to do that again this summer. This actually saved us money lots of ways, you shop less and plan for it if you are sharing a car (especially when the one using the car was working around 70 hours a wk), so we didn't just shop if we were bored and if we did not have the car we could only buy what we could carry - or should I say, what we wanted badly enough to consider worth carrying. The added bonus of this was the great amount of exercise we got and the memories that none of us will forget. It was great fun!
These are just a few things - but I figure that something is better then nothing!
Nice going Girls..........I am proud of all my girls doing the enviro thing. I wish I was more involve. All our outside lights are on motion detectors, All of our appliances have been replaced and are saving us $ and power. We have upgraded our attic insulation and keep our thermostats at 20C or for us old folks 70F down to 65F at night. Several of our lights in the house the light switch is a motion detector and they turn on when we arrive in the room and turn off if there is no motion. Sure is great when you walk into a room with an arm full of stuff. Keep it up girls you make us proud..
ReplyDeleteDid you know that those "non-recyclable" coffee cups from that coffee shop in the book store are actually recyclable?! Thing is, it totally depends on where you live as to whether they have an intensive enough recycling program to take the waxy paper cups.
ReplyDeleteIn my new little community, there is an intensive recycling program and organics collection for composting. We have been forced to learn how to recycle better (as they only collect the trash bags every other week, and only one large bin!).