Saving Water

My latest mission is to teach my kids to turn off the back yard tap when they've gotten the water they need. When they're out back they're constantly using it - to water their gardens, fill the dog dish, or just for play.

My son is particularly bad for leaving the tap running. It's as if he likes the sound in the background while he plays. Sometimes I think it's out of convenience, because maybe turning the stiff tap is hard for little hands. In any case, he showed a preference for leaving it running, until I started reminding him to turn it off.

Last night while I was brushing his teeth, he started turning off the tap between rinses. Wow! Not only is he remembering, he's teaching me a lesson too, because I hadn't even realized I was leaving it running.

Oops... good thing someone's paying attention ;-)

Tea Two Cents

For the first time, I'm trying fresh herbal tea. Not the kind you buy in the box, but the kind you make by picking some fresh leaves from your rosemary or sage plant and steeping them in boiling water.

I was skeptical at first, because I'm a coffee person, and drinking herbal tea has always been kind of a "it's good for me" chore.

I'm surprised what a difference it makes, though, when the herbs are freshly picked. There's absolutely no bitterness, and I find myself finishing each cup without a second thought, enjoying all of it...

Did You Know?

That radish leaves are edible? Cool! My lettuce isn't sprouting yet, so now at least I have an alternative ;-)

More Garden Harvest

Ah ha!! Got some more. Here's a picture of what I picked about 2 hrs ago. I thought about taking another pic once they were cleaned, but some of the radishes were, uh, eaten as they were being cleaned ;-)

It's too soon to tell if the composting has made a difference from last year, but we'll see...

Garden Harvest

While some people are trying the "100 Mile Diet" (for someone who used to live in 100 Mile House BC, this was confusing for me at first), I want to try the "100 Metre Diet". However with our current growing season off to a dismal start, if I actually did eat only the food I grew, I'd have other problems than worrying about the environment ;-)

So far I've eaten about eight nickle sized radishes, and three small new potatoes baked with butter and rosemary (no I don't have cows - the butter was me cheating. The rosemary was from my garden though).

The lettuce hasn't even sprouted yet. I could floss my teeth with the carrots. You get the picture.

I guess I just have to be patient, and meanwhile shop local...

Cyclist Obstacle Course

Maybe now that this issue has been brought to light in the media, maintenance crews for the Second Narrows Bridge will make an effort to sweep up the blackberry bush cuttings that are giving cyclists flat tires, as well as the grass clippings that get slick when they're wet (because, it never rains in Vancouver).

I wonder if the carbon tax that will be added on to the price of fuel will actually go towards making our city more cyclist-friendly? I for one am discouraged by the limited number of bike lanes out there to begin with, and when I read the June 15th Province article about the poor maintenance of the lanes that do exist, it just frustrated me further.

Kudos to those out there who continue to cycle rather than drive, in spite of the less than ideal circumstances.

My Little Garbage Man

My son is constantly picking things up off the ground.

It kind of puts me in a difficult position, because given the fact that he's only four, he's not as aware of hygiene as an older child would be. He would think nothing of picking up a juicy piece of garbage, and then using that same hand to touch his face.

I'm constantly stuck between telling him not to touch: "just leave it there, OK?" versus trying to be green: "Hey! Let's put that in the garbage can!". I must confuse the heck out of him because my response is different every time, depending on how close we are to the garbage, and how offensive the piece of garbage is.

I know this will all iron itself out as he gets older, but meanwhile there are days when I feel less green and more like the colour our grass gets after two weeks of no rain...

Cloth Shopping Bags

I'm addicted to those cloth shopping bags. I'll admit it - I buy more than I need. I prefer the black or dark coloured ones, with less prominent store branding. I use them for so many things that I never really mind if I've forgotten to bring one and have to buy another (oh well!!).

I was in Superstore the other day and I added a cloth shopping bag to my pile of purchases. Get this - the cashier rang it through and moved it to the "paid" side of her till, where she proceeded to shove it into a plastic bag.

(????)

ME: "um, excuse me - I don't need the plastic bag - that's why I bought the cloth one."

She laughed awkwardly, apologized, and corrected her mistake.

It made me yet more aware of the broad range in our society of "green" living - from not green at all to obsessively so. I fall somewhere in between. I'm comfortable with that, because it's a lifestyle I can sustain, and I am inspired and motivated to improve in little ways here and there.

Like reminding a cashier about the cloth shopping bag.

Reducing Junk Mail

This I'm definitely going to do: add myself to the national Do Not Call list to reduce the amount of junk mail I get (not to mention those telemarketer calls ;-)

Log on to: http://www.the-cma.org/ On the right hand side of the page there's a link for "'do not contact service". It takes about 6 weeks to go into effect. We'll see what kind of a difference it makes...

Gas, Gas, and more $$$ Gas

I have an advantage here. I am afraid to drive.

It all started back in the late 80's when my Honda Prelude was rear-ended, and effectively converted to a hatchback (oops). There were several other accidents, all but one being the fault of the other driver. I started getting a little leery of being behind the wheel.

Now I walk everywhere. It adds to my husband's "chore" list in that he has to do the grocery shopping, but it saves us in gas and auto insurance because we only operate one vehicle. (Have you ever wanted to do the right thing but weren't motivated enough? Well my fear of driving solves that problem for me and makes it easy for me to "go green on foot".)

There are many, many additional upsides, health and environmental consciousness being two. I'm a lot fitter than many 41 year old Moms I know, all without paying for a gym membership. I honestly don't think about the environmental impact that often, unless I'm standing at a busy intersection at rush hour, noticing the unpleasant fumes.

I'm happy to report that many of my daughter's classmates also come to school on foot... until it rains. I wonder, with the current fuel price trends, if my "walk at all costs mentality", will have more in common with the mainstream.

I'm constantly hearing such (well meaning, of course) comments as "you're such a trouper", "I don't know how you do it" and "poor you, out in that rain". Meanwhile as I feel the health benefits and watch the fuel crisis unfold, I'm secretly grateful for those car accidents all those years ago.

No Heat Dry

This is my latest "it all adds up" green habit. My dishwasher never seems to dry the dishes properly anyway, so why use up the hydro? Now as I start each load, it's become habit to press the "no heat dry" button...

Carbon Calculator

This is kind of fun and enlightening: a kids' carbon footprint calculator.

I checked out some adult varieties but they required that you know specific values, such as how many km you travel to work, and how many kilowatts you use in hydro, etc. I don't have immediate access to that info, so I kept browsing the net until I found the kids' version, which is a lot more basic.

As I was going through and answering each question, common sense told me what the greenest answers were. This made me think that the key to using a tool like this is not so much to get my "green score" but to consider each point: what is my answer v.s. what could I do better.