2007 Green Living

Yup, one more in this series of posts! :-) It being the year of change and all.

For a couple of years now I've been eyeing green and eco-friendly living, and done little things that may or may not be helpful to the planet. It's real easy to coast through life and not make an effort to tidy up your relationship with the earth. It takes a whole lot more effort to live mindfully, to change habits and patterns to fit in with how your surroundings function, to live lightly. This year I want to ensure my impact on the ecosystem that gives me life is considerably less.

* Recycling is being kicked up a notch. I already chuck all my veggie peels etc in the garden (hence random tomatoes in the daisy bushes, potatoes in the arums and cucumbers in the ferns...). The dogs get any food leftovers. But I'm still throwing away way too much stuff. I buy things that come with immense amounts of packaging - layer upon layer of plastics or cardboards that simply don't deteriorate fast enough in a landfill. I want to take a good look at options with less packaging - or ones I can recycle.

* Bulk-buying ties in to the above - not only to help with finances, but to cut down on packaging. South Africa has "outlawed" plastic bags (they're still available, but you'll pay extra for one at most shops) - as a result you'll see shoppers carrying woven bags for their groceries. That helps - but more can be done. I'd like to find ways to do so.

* I'm taking a look at what we eat, and how we eat it. The ideal is of course home-grown, fresh organic, seasonal foods - as unprocessed as possible. But I want to build on something I attempted (briefly) last year. To only eat things whose ingredients I know/understand, and possibly whose processing I can trace or track. In other words, I want to know what's in my food, where it comes from, and what's been added or subtracted to it before it reaches my mouth. I'll be doing more shopping at my local farmer's market, cramming every space in my garden with edibles (and not just in pleasant-gardening seasons such as summer...), seeking out better and more local options for things I can't produce myself.

* Our transport is getting a double-take too. Cutting down on car travel is an essential for our financial issues, and now that I'm walking more I'm sure I won't need to make those "quick dash to the nearest shop" trips. If I do need something urgently, I can walk and get it. However, I'm working on not needing to do that often (see above).

* Electronics have got a big part in our modern lives. All my battery-powered stuff is now running on rechargeables and my lights are all energy-saving-bulb equipped, but we still have power-sucking computers, fridge, TVs etc. It's an ingrown habit already to not turn on a light unless it's absolutely needed (and to turn it off when not needed), but I still have power cords running helter-skelter across the floors. I want to see if there are other options for the many things we use, or if I can find a solar/wind option to ease our power use.

* In the same vein, water use is being curbed. Years ago we used to aim a large pvc pipe from the washing machine outlet to the lawn, moving it around as the drum emptied. It's time to do that again instead of pouring the waste water down the drain. We've lived with the toilet mantra of "if it's yellow let it mellow - if it's brown flush it down" for years, and will continue to do that. I'm looking at rain-water collection for the garden, and ways to save water elsewhere. Some more pondering needed on this one too.

There are many other aspects to living green and lightly, but these are a few that I'm starting with. I can't change the world, but I can change me.

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