5 posts tagged “green lifestyle”

This weekend, Shane and I once again headed out on our bikes, crossing over Burrard Bridge and riding along the residential streets to reach Jericho Beach.  An environmental non-profit, Evergreen, was hosting the Earth Day Vancouver Celebration there on Saturday afternoon.  As with last weekend’s biking extravaganza, we were treated to valet bike parking at the front gates.  You gotta love that convenience (particularly when it means not lugging around two bike helmets all day)!

We started off with a Nature Walk around Jericho Beach's ponds, hosted by an elderly gentleman named Adrian.  An avid bird-watcher since the age of ten, Adrian was extremely knowledgeable about the area’s flora and fauna.  We learned about the trees along the park's paths, the native plants in B.C. and the non-native, invasive species that organizations in the city are working to control (damn you, English ivy).  Adrian also pointed out and identified the birds we saw (and the bird calls we heard) along the way.

Our two hiking companions on the walk – both students here from Japan – provided some amusing exchanges as we observed the birds.  I got a kick out of their perspective.  For example, when they saw a mallard swimming out in the pond, one said, “Ah, a duck.  It’s cute.”  The other responded, “Yes, cute.  And also: delicious.”

After the tour, we meandered through the booths at the Eco-Fair (scoring some freebies, including 100% recycled toilet paper in 100% recyclable packaging - yay!), all while taking in the fabulous views over the bay.  We watched some First Nations dancers at the main stage and checked out the bicycle-powered P.A. system (!) attached to the puppet show.  But my favorite part of the day was watching artists (with help from the public) create “organic sculptures” – art made from materials that will naturally decompose over time.  I cannot get enough of this hippie shit, you guys.

And the final highlight of the day?  We received two $5 Starbucks gift cards (plus coupons for free cups of coffee) at the registration table!  It may be hard for future events to top that.  Because if there is anything better than a fun, free festival, it is a fun, free festival that PAYS ME to attend.

I’ve mentioned before that we have slowly been trying to greenify our apartment.  Well, in the past several months, I decided to tackle a new area: cleaning products.

 

For years, I had bought the same brand names I used growing up – Windex, Soft Scrub, Dawn, Tide, all those products my mom (and probably your mom) (and maybe your dad?) stocked up on at home.  They worked fine, were familiar and easy to find – what more could I want?

 

Then I happened to read an article about the amount of chemicals in your average laundry detergent (HOLY SHIT) – how they get on your clothes, onto your body and out into the environment.  I started to seriously question not only my detergent use, but the use of many other items in our household, from hand soap to toilet cleaner.  How could I make my home less chemically-covered? What could I do to better “detoxify” my life?  (Besides getting rid of those A*Teens CDs?)

 

I ended up checking out a book on the subject for guidance.  The extreme nature of the author’s cleaning fixation was a bit beyond me (who in their right mind dusts once A WEEK?), but the simple recipes for homemade remedies were not.  I was easily able to gather the ingredients and concoct “natural” equivalents for most of the products we normally buy.  For our more complex cleaning needs, I turned to Method and Seventh Generation, who both meet the environmentally-safe criteria established in the book.  (And have a tendency to come packaged in awesome-looking containers.)

 

After many months of use, I can report the homemade cleaners not only work surprisingly well, but truly stand the test of time.  They are cheap and easy, too (insert prostitution joke here); I highly recommend giving them a shot, if you’re open to this sort of thing.  My favorite alternatives are below.  (And please send me any suggestions of your own!)

 

NBC Announcer: “Stay tuned for more Green Universe tips, brought to you by the cast of Scrubs...and Wal-Mart.”

 

<explosive laughter from The Couch™>

 

“Now that’s funny.”

 

“And next up, green tips from your Republican National Committee.”

OR "More trivial exploits of two yuppie DINKs"

 

In our bathroom, we have five light bulbs, three over the mirror and two in the overhead light.  The wattage of each of the mirror bulbs, which are fully exposed from below, is a whopping *one hundred*.  So you can imagine the blinding potential of our restroom – particularly on those post-midnight trips to the bathroom, as we stumble from our beds searching for relief, only to be hit LIKE A TON OF BRICKS by the amazing wattage of our bathroom lights.

 

Furthermore, when left on for about a half hour, the powerful bulbs gain the ability TO SINGE EYEBROWS.  In the summer, the heat they generate becomes particularly stifling; on more than one occasion, Shane and I have conducted our morning “primping” in front of the open freezer.  Trust me, you don’t know what a good morning means until you experience the smell of frozen veggie burgers while brushing your hair.

 

The funny part is: neither of us ever thought to *change* the bulbs in our bathroom.  But last week, I heard a discussion on MPR's Midmorning about energy-efficient light bulbs, which – if you’ll pardon me for saying – finally set off the light bulb in *my* head.  We could not only do away with the blinding and the burning, but save some energy as well!  Genius!!

 

So, that extra darkness you may experience tonight?  The feeling that maybe a star burned out, or perhaps the moon is a quarter thinner than it appears?  That's us switching out our 420 watts for 90 watts (total!) of compact fluorescents.

Environmental sensitivity is not a completely new concept to me.  My mom was a big advocate of recycling during my childhood and still dutifully sorts her glass, aluminum and paper every week.  Whenever we selected clothes or toys to get rid of as kids, my brother and I knew we would send them to charity, as opposed to the garbage can.  And I have long felt a love of nature and respect for the outdoors.  However, since becoming responsible for my own household, I’ve uncovered a much longer list of the eco-friendly options out there.

 

The list developed, in large part, from watching my friends (hi Shannon!) model environmental sensitivity, and realizing I could adopt their behaviors in my own life.  For example, I learned to politely refuse a store bag when I can easily carry the purchased items to my car – or to bring bags along when I go out to shop.  This approach seems pretty simple (and obvious), yet it never occurred to me before seeing someone else do it!  I just viewed store bags as an undisputed Fact Of Life, instead of recognizing them as the unnecessary waste they often are.

 

I’m constantly working to open up my mind in this fashion, to question the little habits and assumptions I’ve adopted over the years.  I now recycle my junk mail.  I know to look for products with “post-consumer” material.  I pause to consider if what I’m throwing in the laundry *really* needs washing or if I’m just being lazy.  And I keep absorbing new ideas as they come at me, storing them up for future use.

 

Still, I am by NO definition perfect.  In fact, the perfectionist side of me often feels disgruntled; I miss countless opportunities to be a better consumer (of energy, of products) every day.  And when terrific but terrifying movies like An Inconvenient Truth tell us so much is at stake on a GLOBAL scale, what can I, as one individual, really contribute?  How do I stay positive knowing the damage that affects Earth every minute, while my efforts equate to little more than a tiny drop in the ocean of change that’s needed?

 

Well, on our last trip to Vancouver, Shane and I discovered One Day.  The purpose of this pro-environment program blends optimism with practicality.  As stated on the website, “One Day is about small first steps.  It's about individual actions that each of us can take in our every day lives.  It's about what is possible, and [it] will reward and applaud each and every action, no matter how big or how small.”  The basic idea?  If every person sets aside just one day to change a behavior (riding a bike instead of driving to the store, turning down the thermostat when leaving the house, etc.), the cumulative effect of those single days can make a tremendous impact.

 

So I *try* to imagine myself as part of the bigger picture, even if I’m merely using environmentally-friendly detergent on a single load of laundry.  Because I WANT to believe I can make a difference – that, combined, we possess the ability to undo the harm already done.  No, I *need* to believe it, to have faith we can achieve amazing goals, one day, one person, one small step at a time.