In knowing my efforts to go green, one of my dear BFF's turned me onto a new "green" blog. Crunchy Chicken. This is a great "go green" blog. She has some really great challenges. April was the buy nothing but what you need. For the month of may she has a huge mega go green eco challenge. All I have to say is Yikes! In my heart I would love to be able to go full force with this challenge but realistically I just don't think it is possible. Let me fill you in on the details and as my BFF put it... eee gad responses. Remember this is all or nothing, no halvsies and as the numbers go up so does the difficulty of the challenges. My responses are in orange and I'm not whining I'm just tying to work through my own thoughts on how I could participate fully in this challenge. I would love to know your thoughts on this and maybe some solutions as to how this could be done.
1. No Plastic - Even if it is recyclable. Don't buy or consume anything (purchases, food, etc.) that is encased in plastic. If you want to go all the way on this one that includes deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo.
Everything is plastic! Even my toothbrush is plastic! We are such a plastic nation it is amazing. Coming from California where there is an amazing array of fresh fruits and veggies and nothing is in plastic it was really hard to go shopping here where almost everything is shipped in and encased in plastic. I would love to shop at Whole Foods on a regular basis but that just isn't in the budget. Publix has a decent organic section, but sometimes the veggies don't look the greatest. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot I can do here with this challenge. I already use cloth bags when I shop and if I do need one more bag I ask for paper. Then I cut the paper bags open for DD to use for her painting and coloring. Which I have been saving to use as wrapping paper at Christmas. So, we'll see about this challenge I don't have a plan yet. Any suggestions?
2. No Paper - this encompasses the obvious: newspaper, toilet paper,paper towels, napkins, pad, tampons, paper or coffee cups etc.
Ok, I can handle everything but the TP, and feminine products. First off, I question if this is really effective since this would make more water consumption from having to wash the rags used or whatever. I have done this once during a TP shortage for one day in college. Not really pleasant. Could we really watch how much we use? Of course and we will, but unless your using a huge amount of fabric softener, rags are not conducive to comfort for this post-pregnancy hemmroidal woman.
3. No Driving-this one is pretty straightforward. Check out public transportation and bus routes. Check out bus schedules and purchase a bus pass, get your bike tuned up or dust off those running/walking shoes.
This one is pretty self explanatory. There is a bus line but I need to do some research on how convenient it is. Would it be easier to just drive and cut back on where I drive to and how much gas is consumed then to take the bus? Maybe? I will keep you posted.
4. Local Food Only-depending on where you live, this may be fairly easy or quite difficult. Local bakery items(unless Sara Lee is local to you), local organic or sustainable diary products, eggs, meats and wineries and breweries are all acceptable.
I know of one farmers market that is on Saturday's in Winter Park. Are there any others? Has anyone been to the Winter Park farmers market? I just need to do some research on what is local for us. I will keep you posted on what I find. I just don't think this will be real easy.
5. No Garbage Output-You should only be producing waste that is compostable and it should go into your compost pile or municipal food waste pick up.
6. No Excessive Water Usage-Now I'm not expecting you to dehydrate yourself. What this is about is conserving water. Very little water for showering, bathing, washing.
This one I already do where showers are concerned. Coming from California and having lived through droughts, I am really used to taking short, military style showers. Not to mention all the summers I spent with Drum Corps and cold showers. You get really fast or you freeze. I think we do a pretty good job on our water consumption. I think we can be even better where laundry is concerned. We have a lot of laundry but I know we can be better. This challenge is on our list.
7. No Electricity-For some of you this may be easier if you rely on gas for heating and cooking, but for the most case, this will give you an idea what it will be like to not rely on power for a period of time. If you only want to try this one out for a day or week, that's fine.
We don't have gas at our house. I wish we did. My mom had gas in California and it really is a better way to cook. Now I don't think I can go without power or what I should say is AC. Being pre-menopausal and add hot on top of that is not a pleasant combination. Now, can we be better? Of course. Changing light bulbs, unplugging things not in use, turning off lights, etc..
I would love to hear your thoughts!
