greening your rented living space.

don't think that because you don't own your dwelling you can't green it up. sure, much sustainable talk is geared toward the general owner but there are lots of things you can do to make it a more efficient space:

1. apply weather-stripping. feel a draft? don't lose that hot air. this will also lower your utility bills.

2. change out your lightbulbs. we all know the importance of this seemingly-tiny task is.

3. sprout an herbal garden on your windowsill. my sister, an author to this blog also, is all about bringing the outside in. she's obsessed with her lemon tree. she's doing her part. plus, all the green inside her house creates more oxygen and a better place for her, her husband, and their cat to live and enjoy their time.

no step is too small and each counts toward doing your part so get going!

to read more, check out treehugger's article on the same topic.

do your part: lights out san francisco.

if you live in the san francisco area, join me and the rest of the city in a citywide act toward environmental awareness and energy conservation.

lights out san francisco estimates that turning your nonessential household light off for one hour on a regular saturday night from 8.00-9.00p--peak times for lights to be left on--we can save about 15 percent of the average amount of energy that would have been spent.

that's just for one hour. imagine what could happen if we were more aware of lighting needs and turned them off when they weren't being used.

in that one hour change your lightbulb(s) to compact fluorescent lightbulbs (cfl).

penguins: suited up for disaster.

it's just really sad. so many creatures are affected negatively by global warming. while the effects are difficult still to see on the mainland they're evidencing themselves clearly in places like antarctica and the arctic.

penguins are running out of space to mate. such a wonderful creature.

don't be silly and think because they're so far away and in an environment very foreign to most of us that our efforts can't help them.

everything we/you can do from changing our lightbulbs to boycotting the plastic bag will have far-reaching effects.

maybe seeing the danger this adorable creature is in will encourage you to try just a little bit harder to minimize your carbon footprint. i hope it will. it wells my eyes with tears.

al gore: another look.

this may surprise many of you but last night i finally watched al gore's an inconvenient truth.

if you haven't watched it, please do. rent it. borrow it from a friend or the library. buy it.

in spite of al gore being an energy hog and trying to justify it by saying he has lots of carbon credits, the man is doing a great thing with this movie he's made. he's a great speaker/presenter, and will have you crying and laughing the entire way through the startling and jaw dropping content.

i've gotta hand it to him. he's taken it upon himself to fight this troubling reality by sharing it with as many people as will hear him. now we have a responsibility to act on it. make a change today.

light's on but is anyone home?

greenpeace has done it again. they've taken a simple step toward changing the environment and made it even easier to relate to--and it's claymation.

if einstein was still around (may he rest in peace), surely this would be his new bright idea.

any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. it takes a touch of genius--and a lot of courage--to move in the opposite direction. -- albert einstein