What would you choose?

There was an interesting post the other day by Sharon Astyk entitled "Is Electricity Really the Lifeblood of Civilization?" She, like me, ultimately concludes that it isn't as essential as many of us might believe. Of course, right now, it's all theoretical, but there was much discussion about what our world might be like if we don't find a solid alternative energy source. In the course of this discussion, one commenter suggested giving up one appliance in each room.

I probably won't actually do this - mainly because I don't live by myself, and I think it'd be hard work to convince the other occupant of the house to give up any of his toys. I thought it would be a good self-reflection exercise, however, to come up with a list. Below, I go through each room and list what I'd be willing to give up, and which I couldn't bear to part with.

Living room: I could give up the tv and dvd. I'd have a pretty hard time giving up the "stereo" - which for me is my ipod attached to a portable speaker.

Kitchen: I actually think I could give up the refrigerator. A lot of what I keep in there is leftovers, which I only make because I know I can store them. Milk and cheeses would be tough, but I could put these in a cooler along with veggies that need cooling. Most of the condiments I have in there I have only because, again, the refrigerator is there, so why not store them? The freezer would be very tough for me to give up. I store a lot of veggies in there, as well as an assortment of beans and frozen soups and breads.

Bathroom: I've already given up all my electrical appliances in the bathroom. I freecycled my curling iron, and the hairdryer is on a top shelf in the closet for emergencies, but hasn't been used in over a year. That leaves nothing that I couldn't live without.

Laundry room: I'm already using the dryer an average of about once every six months. The washing machine, I'd have a pretty hard time parting with.

Bedroom: the only electric appliance is our alarm clock, which as Sharon's commenter mentioned, could easily be replaced by a wind up version.

Office: I could easily give up most of the stuff in this room, but most of it isn't mine. It's a lot of various games and other small electronics. The one thing that I use that I could maybe part with is the printer. I don't use it much as is, but if I had to bike the three and a half miles to Kinkos every time I wanted to print something, I'd probably make sure only to print really essential things. The one I couldn't part with? That's a no-brainer...the laptop!

What are your must-haves? What could you do without? What are you already doing without?

Everything in moderation

I really enjoy blogging. It's a great way for me to keep myself accountable, have interesting exchanges of idea, force myself to research things I'm wondering about, "meet" like-minded people, and a chance for me to be a little creative.

I also enjoy reading other people's blogs, and surfing the internet. The problem is that I've turned into a bit of a computer potato lately. I've never been much into watching tv for hours on end, but I've found I've fallen into the habit lately of getting up, turning on the water for coffee or tea, and sitting down to check my email. All three accounts. Then I read comments on my blog. Then I check out facebook for a while, read other blogs, check the news, pay bills, look at links in emails friends and families have sent me, and by that point I usually can start the whole process all over again.

The problem is, I end up spending waaaay too much time online every day, and way too little time actually doing things. It's a lot easier to justify too much time online than it is too much TV - after all, being online allows many benefits TV doesn't - staying in touch with people, educating yourself about new topics, even making some extra cash selling stuff - but it can also become a mindless way to disconnect with the world around us. So, I’ve decided I’ll have scheduled internet time for myself. It won’t be until later in the day, so that I’ll be much more likely to get carried away doing other projects and put off my internet time, rather than the other way around.

While we were away last weekend, we had no internet connection available (no phone either) and I was surprised to find that I didn’t miss it all that much. Somehow, though, when the computer is sitting there looking at me, I just have to crack it open and see what fun I’m missing out on. I think I’ll try something similar to what my parents did a long time ago – when I was really little, they kept the television in a closet, so that when they wanted to watch it, there had to be a conscious effort to pull it out and plug it in. I think that’s what I’ll do – physically put the laptop away until it’s time to pull it out to work on a blog or pay bills.

I’ve read posts from others thinking along similar lines lately – it’s not that I don’t have the time or energy to blog, because I do, and I’ll continue to do so. It just may not be every day, because I’m hoping to be too busy doing other things some days. I have a feeling that won’t be a problem, once I actually get off the couch and turn this machine off.

who wants to wash dishes anyway?

alex in wonderland 8
Originally uploaded by independentman

The answer to this question, I found to my surprise, is me...well, at least some of the time...

We went away to the ocean for the long weekend, and it was great - we had nice weather, beautiful scenery, and it was really nice to get out of the city and visit a part of the state I hadn't seen before. I'd forgotten how much work it can be to coordinate a big group of people to go away on an overnight trip, especially now that we have friends with kids.

Overall, I think we did some okay, and some not so great things on our trip, environmentally speaking. The destination itself was about 2 hours away, and since the alternative plan originally discussed involved "several" small day trips, I think our fuel use was not horrible.

We cooked all of our meals ahead of time and packed them up in a cooler, so we avoided the waste that is so often involved in eating in a restaurant (or takeout, as often ends up being the case when there are little kids involved).

What was not so great was to witness the amount of trash we created. We separated out glass bottles for recycling (it's California, after all...they must at least recycle glass, right?), but the rental office was closed while we were there and no information was left as to what else we could or could not recycle, so a lot of stuff got put in the trash that, at least in our house, would normally be recycled. I considered bringing it all home but we were packed in the car pretty snugly, and I'm 99% positive that I would have been voted down on that one.

A big part of this trash came from paper products. I have some paper towels left in the house from before I decided to give them up, but we've trimmed our use to the point where we go through a roll probably every three to four months (and a good bit of that use is by visitors). I was amazed then, to see that we went through almost one roll of paper towels every day. I still am not sure why...

The remaining bulk of the paper in the trash took the form of disposable bowls and plates. I still feel some guilt over this one, but to make a long story short, it kind of came down to me either volunteering to wash all the dishes for the whole trip, or agreeing to the disposable paper products. I would have gladly washed some of the community dishes, but I also didn't want to be solely responsible for the task.

Anyway, I'm writing this because I'm curious - how do you handle group situations like this where others may have different priorities than you? I was reminded how easy it is to control what goes into and out of my home, where only two of us live, but it's a lot more difficult to keep tabs on this sort of thing when the household population quintuples!

There's also an element of not wanting to be perceived as the crazy one in the group. I don't want to be seen as condescending or judgemental or an eco-nut job - especially since the people we spent the weekend are the friends I married into - my friends-in-law, if you will - they aren't people I've known since high school or kindegarten and can just say anything around.

What would you have done? Signed up for dishwashing duty? Agreed to the paper? Lectured everyone on the evils of everything disposable? Thrown a tantrum? Suffered silently? Feel guilty until the next vacation, at which time you volunteer to wash all dishes?

It's like riding a bike...

I really hate when I find myself having to make decisions and choices based solely on the fact that I'm female. I'd been trying to ride my bike more since I don't live within walking distance of too many places. A couple weeks ago, I was out for a bike ride...I actually wasn't alone, but we'd wound up on separate sides of the streets because I'm kind of pokey.

Anyway, he stopped to mess with his brakes or something, and it was getting dark, so I decided to stop and wait too. While I was waiting, a group of five really big guys came walking down the sidewalk. I didn't think too much of it. Until they stopped. And decided to "chat" - "how you doing?" "where are you going?" "that's a nice bike" "why are you waiting here?" Then I noticed they were all drinking. And blocking the path. One of them decided it was appropriate for him to rub my back.

That was when I got really pissed. And nervous. And pissed because I felt nervous. Then I rode away, figuring my guy on the other side of the street, oblivious to all of this, would catch up. And that's pretty much the end of the story.

I wish I had smacked the guy who touched me. I wish I had said some bad words to them. But I felt too scared.

I actually live in one of the safest big cities in the whole country. That proverbial bad apple though, is the one I was thinking about when I restrained myself.

Because of those jerks I now have avoided riding my bike on several occasions because I wasn't sure I'd make it home before dark.

I did a woman's studies minor in college, and this was one issue that I could never really resolve satisfactorily. There will always be a physical power imbalance between men and women. Getting paid less and tolerating borderline inappropriate comments from co-workers is one thing, but things like being afraid of some idiot morons and making transportation decisions based on these idiots ticks me off because there’s nothing I can do about it.

I guess I could buy mace, but that’s not my style.

I could pretend these issues don’t exist, but I really don’t think that’s a prudent idea.

Anyway, I know this is only vaguely on topic, but it’s been bothering me since it happened. I’d like to say I feel better having written about it, but I don’t.

If I only had a brain...

koi fish
Originally uploaded by Swami Stream

Do you ever distinctly remember reading something about something but can't recall ANY of the details? This happens to me each and every time I'm at the fish counter in the store. I know I read something about tilapia, but was it that it was being overfished? No it was that it had high mercury levels. No, low mercury levels. Is wild better than farm raised? I stand there every time, trying to remember, but details about different fish species just isn't something my brain chooses to hold onto.

I found this great little "shopper's card" at The Green Guide, a site by National Geographic. I have a few issues with some of their suggestions...for example, they did a large segment on paper products in the home, and I couldn't see a single suggestion for handkerchiefs, just a detailed analysis about recycled paper products. I'm not perfect either though, and overall, they have some good info.

I'm going to shrink it down to a size that I can fold and fit in my wallet. The shopper's guide is nice because it indicates whether it is a "no" or "sometimes" fish for reasons of overfishing or mercury. I like knowing the reasons behind things.

It does make me wonder though...if the FDA doesn't allow dairy farmers to claim that hormone free milk is healthy for us, why do they allow us to buy poisonous fish?

I figure maybe if I feel more confident about which fish I can buy without feeling too guilty, I'll eat more of it - it's supposed to be good for the brain, after all, and maybe it'll help improve my memory so eventually I don't need to carry the shopper's card anymore!

I was disapointed that orange roughie was on the "no no" list because of high mercury content, since it's one of my favorites, but as many wise people over the years have said, it's not the only fish in the sea.

Would you rather...

Eliminate hunger and disease, or be able to bring lasting world peace? OK, this is just a mental exercise, but it hopefully makes you think (and the rules of the game say you're not allowed to say "both"). I had a page-a-day calendar like this one year, and I find myself going through “would you rather” scenarios almost daily lately.

Would I rather…drive to the store and buy canning supplies to can the three bunches of asparagus about to rot in my fridge, or save the car trip, not spend any money or purchase anything, and toss the veggies?

Would I rather…buy a can of spray paint to re-finish the pink wooden chest I got for free, and use it as a tv stand, or buy environmentally friendly paint, convince myself that I’d do the additional work of sanding before painting, but run the likely risk that I’d never get around to actually doing the project and end up purchasing a new piece of furniture?

Would I rather…buy the organic bananas at Whole Foods that have plastic wrapped around the top, or the conventional bananas with no extra wrapping?

Would I rather…get my milk in a plastic bottle at the store that I can walk to, or drive to the store that is too far away to walk to, but has milk in reusable glass bottles?

The point is that this stuff isn’t always easy, and the right choice isn’t always a no-brainer. Sure, there are some things that are obvious…would I rather get junk mail that I can recycle or get none? Obviously, I’d rather get none. Most choices, however, once we’ve figured out the easy stuff, are not so clear, and require a careful analysis of what we think might be best for the planet, our wallets, and our lifestyles.

I hate throwing away food, so I bought the canning supplies. The packaging was minimal and recyclable, and I’ll be able to get many uses out of each of the jars. I also bought the spray paint. Probably not a great choice, but I hate painting projects and knew I would never actually get around to using the eco-friendly paint, so I made the choice that worked for me. Sometimes we’ll find a third option, like with the bananas…I did without, and bought pears and apples instead. The milk is a draw for me: if it’s the only thing I need, I walk, but if I’m out doing errands anyway, I’ll go to the store with the glass bottles.

I know these aren’t probably all the right choices, from a strict waste or carbon analysis, but just like my decision to go flexitarian, they’re choices that I can work into my lifestyle without making me feel so overwhelmed that I throw up my hands and say “forget all this” – because for me, the wrong choice is the one that I can’t maintain.