I’ve never been much of a planner, so I apologize for the late notice.
Earth Hour - Have you heard of it? This lovely video, narrated by Jeremy Piven, explains quite a bit, and includes dramatic orchestral music.
Google recognized Earth Hour today as well, in order to raise awareness of the event.
Essentially, all that everyone is being asked to do is to turn off your lights at 8 P.M. (your own local time).
Although this event will save a lot of energy from being consumed, it’s the awareness of energy conservation that is more important. To shut off your electricity for one hour is very simple, although I’m not quite sure why they’re doing it on a Saturday. When else does the majority of the population sit down to a movie, go out to eat, or have the urge to play with your old Lite-Brite toy? Just kidding.
I think this is an event that, in the future, could be implemented on a more regular basis. Similiar to our government rationing gas in the 1970s during the oil crisis, governments all over the world could begin issuing suggested times to shut off your lights. Crazier things have happened.
How would you feel if the government began rationing energy usage? For example, if your household could only use so much energy, and through close monitoring, your home’s energy bill have a fine for going over your allowance?
Like your cell phone plan. Go over your minutes, and you’ll be charged $10 per additional word spoken.
My opinion? It would be a tough adjustment, but I think it would work.
Ever wonder if the greener products work just as well as the ones that you’ve already used?
Huddler is an awesome website that just contacted me, to let me know just how awesome they are.
This new site allows you to rate your green products and to check product reviews. Basically, it’s a Consumer Reports for those interested in sustainable living. I’m pleased to see that Seventh Generation laundry detergent got a strong review, and my friend Mimi approves of it as well. (I need some!!! And remember, at Whole Foods, you can just keep refilling the same laundry containers. Sweet.)
Another interesting site I found is a blog called Fake Plastic Fish. Beth is trying to completely eliminate disposable plastic use from her life. I like her post about plastic women’s razors, and the history of marketing for shaving for women… but I’m kind of an info geek like that.
Also, I know this is a little bit late, but I think it’s a good example of how we can make things healthier by using less chemicals. I guess I hadn’t thought about the extra dye that’s left on the egg after you peel it, until this video!
Recently I had over-promised myself WAY too much. I could feel my brain working in ten different directions at the same time, and a couple days ago, I just threw up my metaphorical hands and said, “That’s enough. I’m rebelling. I’m not. Going. To do. Anything.” Very passive aggressive.
And I didn’t. I spent an evening of doing crosswords and reading a book that I’d been meaning to catch up on. Sometimes you just need your moments of stillness - of unproductive-ness - of whatever it is that YOU want to do.
Simplify. Remove the distractions. Just… be.
If you’re needing a time-treat, here’s a lime-life list of suggestions for motivation.
1. Be outside. Commune with the greenness in your environment. Practice yoga in your lawn. Grab your enormous Zune or tiny iPod, go for a walk, and forget all the rest of your priorities for however long you can get away with it.
2. Pamper your body with natural treats. Check out these Fresh Home Spa Recipes from Gilden Tree. Honey, Lime & Cucumber Scrub… Strawberry Salt Scrub with real strawberries? Chocolate Milk Bath with Kisses? Are you kidding me???
3. I grabbed this from April’s issue of Body & Soul mag - meditate before bed. Take 5 to 10 minutes and repeat a positive mantra to yourself. They suggest, “I am safe and whole.” I suggest, “I am a blogging goddess.”
4. Hang out with your friends - the ones who leave you feeling refreshed. You know who they are. Demand their time, because most friends will love to know that they’re needed.
5. Journal about your goals. First, buy a super sweet recycled-paper journal from Pulp. Then find a comfortable place and let your imagination take its own little vacation. Maybe you’d like to visit Italy - maybe you’d like to move to Napa Valley - maybe you’d like to start your own little knitting club at the local coffee shop every week. Making a list of your goals - realistic or silly - can prove to be the best motivation to tackle whatever task necessary.
What are your favorite stress relievers? Take five and DO TELL.
When I was a child, I had my own garden. It was a tiny squared-off section of my grandparents’ much larger garden where they grew everything from asparagus to yellow squash to sweet corn. They lived in the country, so there was space for an orchard with various fruit trees that grew cherries, apples, plums, and more, and bushes of raspberries and blackberries were a treacherous source of sweetness. There was an entire plot for potatoes - more than we could ever eat - and they raised chickens for the eggs.
Mint grew next to their house, and I’d chew on it because it was fascinating to me that something so weed-like could taste so good. Who knew I’d be buying it at Hy-Vee in little plastic boxes for homemade mojitos 20 years later?
My food’s path from the land to my dinner table has become wide and more complicated than my grandparents’ organic practices. It’s so much easier for the current urban dweller to pick up all of his food from the grocery store, although sometimes a farmer’s market in the summer might call his name.
I’d like you to imagine that you have just decided to move into the country to start your own 20-acre organic farm.
What would you grow? Would the physical labor of working the land, living in the dirt, buying work clothes for their durability, appeal to you?
To be an organic farmer, you would have the satisfaction of providing one of the most basic human needs. You could plant seeds and foster them into green bean plants, dig potatoes out of the soil, kneel to collect ripe red strawberries, and maybe even cook them into preserves to sell at a farmer’s market. You could gather eggs from the nests of feisty hens who have no choice but to give them up, day after day.
If the thought sounds terrifying, I understand how you feel. Most people feel the same way. I have found that these are activities that are more easily approached when you have been raised in a farming environment. But if the thought appeals to you, there are first generation farmers, and with the new demand for an organic food supply, it’s apparently becoming easier to begin your own farm.
This article from the New York Times inspired my post today. It provides a glimpse into the new organic farms, and how they are able to survive in the midst of the current corporate farm take-over. The article specifically mentions two organic farms that have been started by two sets of partners - both a male-female partnership, neither of them are couples - who are first generation farmers. The links throughout are awesome, and the multi-media interactive feature gives some sound clips from the actual farmers.
Even if you don’t feel ready to start your own farm, maybe you’d feel comfortable starting your own garden. Whether you’re growing fresh basil in your apartment windowsill or working a 10×10 foot plot in your backyard, it would at least give you the opportunity to know the exact origins of your food. You could even start a garden for therapeutic reasons, like as a really productive hobby.
Do you like to garden? Would you garden if you had the space and the time? What do you think of being a first generation farmer?
My good friend Gabby has been reading my blog, and she had an awesome question the other day.
Gabby wanted to know what she needed to do to start living a greener lifestyle. She wanted to know what the first steps are to living the LIME life.
Alright, so there aren’t any rules for starting. In fact, I’ve just started focusing on living a greener, more organic lifestyle since I’ve started this blog. This blog is my journey, and I’m inviting everyone else to join.
I’ve learned a lot the past few months. So. Here are three basic principles that I would recommend keeping in mind. While they aren’t necessarily specific practices, the big picture should help to guide you in making greener lifestyle choices.
1. Consume less. This is easy to imagine if you’ve had a parent or grandparent (or maybe you?) who lived through the eras of The Great Depression and of the World Wars - rationing, saving, and reusing products were so important then, and these practices still are now. The word “consumer” seems to have a positive connotation, right, because we’re all consumers, and we like new things. But click on the link to the definition of “consume” and you might rethink the word. Wherever and whenever you can, find joy in buying less and requiring less. Less is more.
2. Recycle and reuse more. Recycle the things that you don’t need, and keep around something that you think you could reuse. Don’t keep too much stuff around, though, or you’re going to end up on that TLC show Clean Sweep, arguing with your family about whether you have valid reasons for keeping your large collection of plastic bread wrappers and teen romance novels from the 80s. Try not to throw stuff away if you can 1) reuse it in a short period of time, 2) recycle it, or 3) give it away to someone who would use it.
3. Support green companies. Hey, you have to consume, so if you’re going to do it, try to buy from a company that is trying to support our environment as well as your health. Look for companies that are using all-natural ingredients, giving back to the community, using less packaging, or supporting green practices in their production process. The little bit extra that you might pay for these details will come back to you in a positive way.
What inspires you to live a greener life? Remember, I’m always learning, too, so I love to hear what you all have to say.
Living green isn’t just about living for others. It’s about living for ourselves, too.
So yes we should be recycling, and yes we should be conserving energy, and yes we should be carrying cute little recycled plastic/canvas totes to look trendy, socially conscious, and highly intelligent. (Grin.)
BUT. We also should remember to be aware of the products that we are using on our bodies.
Many of us have fallen into our comfortable routines. For example, you probably have a favorite lotion because it works well and smells delicious. You probably have a favorite shampoo because it’s just right for your hair. Some of your favorite foods come pre-packaged, ready to simply heat and enjoy. And with our fast-paced lifestyles, these are the types of things that we do - find something that works, and stick with it.
So that’s why I’m proposing something to you. I’m proposing that you change your favorites, and if you have to, just one at a time. Reevaluate. Reconsider why they’re your favorites, because our most favorite products - from Bath and Body Works to Clairol to Chanel - have ingredients that we would never dream of ingesting. But we put them on our skin. Daily.
Have you ever looked at an ingredients list and wondered, “What IS that? Why am I eating this again?” You have a reason to wonder.
I want to take this opportunity to point out a popular ingredient to be cautious of: parabens.
Parabens are preservatives that are widely used in the cosmetics industry and sometimes in food, as well. Examples: methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and benzylparaben.
Parabens have been indicated to elevate the number of instances of cancer, particularly breast cancer.
If you Google (that’s a verb now, you know) “parabens“, you get a LOT of information.
Also, you should know: I’m not a “conspiracy theorist”. I don’t appreciate extremist claims, and my level of toleration for drama is very, very low. With that said:
I like this page from the FDA, which basically says, ‘Parabens could give you cancer, but we’re not conclusive, so we can’t deny their use.’ It also sites that the FDA doesn’t moderate what the cosmetics industry uses. To quote: “The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) does not authorize FDA to approve cosmetic ingredients, with the exception of color additives that are not coal-tar hair dyes. In general, cosmetic manufacturers may use any ingredient they choose, except for a few ingredients that are prohibited by regulation.” Of course, this page also claims that minute levels of parabens aren’t proven to be harmful. But what if you’re using five or six products per day that contain parabens, and what if the studies are wrong?
Hmm. All the pretty packaging may be just that.
I’m not here to tell you that parabens are evil, blood-sucking chemicals that will sneak up on you when you least expect them. I’m here to help you be aware that you could probably be making smarter consumer choices.
I grew up in what some might consider a strict Catholic family.
I prayed the Rosary. Went to Confession. Participated in Lent.
For Lent, I dutifully gave up things like chocolate. Pop. Nintendo. (Food cravings were the hardest!)
Oh, the guilt! Ice cream was my mental nemesis.
But never did anyone suggest that I become a better recycler. Maybe I wasn’t listening, but I didn’t hear much reference to helping the environment with my 40 days of “fasting”.
Other religions and cultures have embraced the relationship between the earth and people for gazillions of years.
I first think of Native Americans. Living off the land. Respecting the power of the earth.
What about Buddhists and reincarnation? “Love your trees, you could be one someday.”
Apparently it’s becoming more prominent for Christians to “go green” for Lent. According to The Boston Globe article, there are now eco-friendly palm leaves. (Do you market something like that to a church? “Buy my palms! They’re environmentally sound!”)
So if you are a Lent participater, what habit would you choose to change to go green? (or “lime”, as it is, in my blog.)
Go Lime for Lent. I choose to take shorter showers. And you?
It’s hard enough transitioning into living a greener lifestyle when I’m just thinking about myself and how I live my life. Can you imagine trying to inspire an entire city?
This blog post on National Geographic’s Green Guide website talks about some of the biggest concerns of cities that are trying to “go green.” There are some interesting ideas presented here, except that I’m not sure how they will all be implemented. For example, one idea is that cities will begin charging drivers to use the streets, so that there will be less congestion, except that I thought we already charge people to use the streets, with registration fees? Wheel tax? Tolls? Meters for parking?
One idea that I think Omaha needs to implement is a light rail system and street cars. Do I have any idea of how much something like that costs? Not really. Do I know that it has been seriously talked about? Kind of. Do I still think it’s a super sweet idea? Absolutely.
Buffet would be shaking his head at my logic here, but would it or would it NOT be really cool to be able to live in Lincoln and work in downtown Omaha, and just read the newspaper on your way to work? Leave your car at the train station and hop on, using your Nebraska Rocks Rail Pass everyday? Wouldn’t it be a relief to rely on a train to take you back home to Omaha after a crazy Huskers game?
And how about Greensburg, Kansas? Have you heard this story? Last May, Greensburg was almost completely destroyed by a 2-mile wide tornado - an extremely sad story - can you imagine having your entire town erased within one storm? Apparently, after the entire city was leveled, the city council got together and collectively decided, “We should go green. It is IN our name, right?” (Quote manufactured by yours truly.) USA Today picked up a real quote from a city administrator six days after the tornado, and then the Discovery Home Channel picked it up, too.
Apparently in the rebuilding of Greensburg, there is heavy talk of a reality show that will document the revitalization of this devasted town into a fully functioning city of fantastic green-ness.
It’s almost too much of a coincidence for me, the fact that a town called Greensburg is going to rebuild their town into an eco-friendly city. This is exactly what makes me shake my head and go, “Yeah, I’d definitely watch that.”
Read this recent report from the Kansas City Star about updates and a comprehensive overview of the situation.
Would you ride the rails from Omaha to Lincoln? How about a streetcar from Dundee to downtown? If you could make any traditionally green item the symbol for Omaha’s green aspirations, what would you choose?
Would you travel to Greensburg, Kansas with me, on foot, for a future Greensburg pilgrimage? Footing it could only be replaced by a fleet of lime Prius-es. Hey - it would be something to write home about, on recycled paper with soy ink, of course.
