Simple Things

I haven't been writing much on this blog lately -- I find that it's practically all I can do to keep up my work blog *and* try to live eco-aware. But today I thought I'd just drop a few lines about some of the simple things you can do to help improve the environment and your lifestyle.

1: Pick it up.
As I walk around my neighbourhood (and other places), I see so much trash on the ground--a bag, a bottle cap, a soda can, a flip-flop. Litter, we usually call it, and some places actually have hefty fines for litterers. Litter fills the gutters, sloshes against the banks of rivers, contaminates the soil, and definitely helps wreck the ecosystem. So, even if you didn't toss it, pick it up. Take a bag with you when you walk and do a little something extra for your locality. I remember when I was a kid, and my family would spend family time together cleaning up trash out of a nearby field. It was good.

2: Lots of magazines? Visit the library.
I don't know about you, but I get way too much junk mail, including catalogs and magazines. Granted, often I enjoy the magazines and some of them I have even subscribed to. But do I really need all that paper in my mailbox, even if I'm going to recycle it? Nope. My solution? The library. My local library subscribes to over 200 magazines, and wow, that's a lot. Not all libraries have so many, but chances are, if you're a big magazine subscriber, they probably have at least one you're interested in. Read it at the library. If there's an article you *have* to have, make a copy and file it at home. One or two fewer magazines a month is a nice step to diminishing your footprint.

3: Reuse that water.
We use lots of water when we prepare food -- boiling pasta, steaming veggies, rinsing lettuce. Don't just dump that leftover water down the drain -- put it to good use. Instead of using fresh tapwater to water your indoor plants or your garden, collect that already used water and put it to a second use. Your plants might even thank you for it!

And there you have it--3 small and simple things you can do to make this world a healthier and happier place.

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.

breathe in, breathe out, breathe clean(er) with plants

With so much discussion about green and about carbon footprints, I thought I'd take this opportunity to promote a few of my favourite things (cue song from Sound of Music here). Plants. Or more specifically, houseplants. I grew up in a house with houseplants, and to me and my siblings, a house isn't a home without a few well-placed, well-kept plants. Have you heard the saying "the air inside your home may be more polluted than the air outside?" Think of all that carbon dioxide and water vapor you exhale in your house every day -- into rooms with poor ventilation and into air with poor circulation. Offset those greenhouse gases and help clean the air with a few lovely leafy plants. Let them drink in and enjoy some of the bi-products of your existence. (And of course, you can always plant a few bushes, flowering shrubs, or garden plants outside your house to add to the effort.)

If you want to do even more with your plants, feed them. And I don't mean with chemicals! You know those grape tomatoes that go squishy in your veggie drawer? or the strawberries that turned a grainy shade of brown before you ate them? or the rest of that mouldering head of lettuce that didn't quite get made into salad? Don't dump it! If you're not already composting, pour your old fruits and veggies into a blender, add enough water to sodden the mix, and blend it to a watery pulp -- then use that to feed and water your plants -- it's full of vitamin nutrition and it's a way to cut garbage! (Of course, you may find that a few baby tomato plants spring up where you don't expect them....)

So head down to your local garden center and pick up a few plants that catch your eye. They'll look great strategically placed around your home, and they'll be a friendly welcome to anyone who breathes.

(At my count while sitting here typing, I have 9 plants hanging out in my apartment -- and I'm looking forward to finding another addition in the near future.)