Okay, it's time to start working on this blog again. I am going to keep track of my family's progress on the Riot for Austerity's 90% Reduction Challenge here, partly to be accountable to others and partly to have fun with it. You can read all about the challenge at their website, http://simplereduce.wordpress.com/riot-for-austerity90-rules/. When I first read about this I thought, these people are crazy! There's no way it can be done! But over a few days I couldn't get their project out of my mind and I was thinking constantly about ways we even as a fairly conscientious family waste resources and contribute, by virtue of living our easy American lifestyle, not only to environmental degredation but also to the poverty of others around the world.
For some reason, I was born with a compassion gene. I often wonder about this, because others have had similar experiences to me but have reacted to them much differently. For example, when I was a small child (maybe 7 or 8 years old), my family went to Texas for vacation. When we were there, we went over the border to the very poor Mexican towns of Matamoros and another I can't name. The poverty affected me deeply even as that young child. I will never forget the pretty little girl standing in her dirt yard near a pig, her lavender dress dusty and dirty but her brown eyes shining at me. As far as I know, however, the rest of my family just saw a dirt poor little girl whose parents must not have worked hard enough to giver her a better life.
Anyways, that said, I still live my life insulated from poverty and extremely comfortably compared to so many others. I have done some activism on issues important to me, but I often find that I'm most satisfied, and feel that I'm helping the most, when I make changes to my own life rather than advocate for large governmental changes (this probably because my idealism and optimism are usually crushed by the lack of progress on a bureaucratic scale).
So, I have signed up for the Riot for Austerity challenge and am reading and thinking daily on the topic. We've begun to implement small changes, but many many more are needed. Some of the changes already made:
"Navy Showers", as I recently saw them called. George and Rose have long done this, but now I'm on it. Much easier to turn off the water while sudsing up in summer than it will be in winter, but we'll see how it goes. It will be habit by then, I hope. Besides, we do take showers less in winter. Me, sometimes, only twice a week in winter but every day in summer something has to be done to remove the layer of sweat, sunscreen, bug repellant, etc. (Hard to admit the winter routine, but in the interest of showing others it can be done...I don't think I present a too-smelly person in winter, do I?) My wavy/frizzy hair does much better with once or twice a week shampooing anyways, and then a quick rinse and condition on the off days.
Limiting plastic coming into my house. This because of something I read about all plastic ever made still existing, and it will for 500 plus more years! I will buy whatever I can in bulk, or make it myself, or whatever I need to do. Deoderant will be the crystal rock that comes in a tiny basket, with minimal plastic wrap. Now I use the crystal rock roll-on deodorant and it works by far the best of any "natural" deoderant! Facial care will be a bar of locally made olive oil-based soap and sunflower oil which comes in a glass jar (been using this for a year and finding it very nourishing for my skin). Shampoo for George and Elijah will be a bar of locally made soap, and I'm still thinking about what Rose and I can do with our longer wavy hair. Conditioner has been absolutely essential! However, I just read about using Castille soap and a cider vinegar rinse on hair such as ours. I think we'll try that. We can get Dr. Bronner's castille soap in bulk, with a plastic bottle I already own, at the co-op where I work. Oh, so many more things I can do on this front, which involves rethinking not only body care but also cleaning supplies (in cardboard or bulk only), food (no more corn chips but maybe bags of 100 corn tortillas would be okay--we can make our own corn chips as well as eat tacos, tostadas and burritos--and we've only used one small plastic bag, which we can reuse. Ah, more thinking needed...not ready to go the homemade route yet though we can get local organic corn flour at the co-op.) Since we're limiting any new consumer goods to $1000 worth or less per year that will severely limit any new plastic toys, games, etc. coming into the house. Yay!
We're still thinking on more water-saving ideas as well as saving on electricity and natural gas and gasoline. I have been biking to work more often and will try to do so every time from now on. We are taking shorter car trips and limiting drives, i.e. to campgrounds, etc. Last night we all slept in the tent in the backyard for National Camp Out in Your Back Yard Night. It was a bit noisy here in the city, but we slept all right after a while. We fly to see family once a year and that, being "Love Miles", we won't even attempt to limit. Maybe we'll research taking the train, though. Or drive our Honda Civic next summer. We'll see.
Electricity-wise, we have power strips for the TV and computer, and we've started turning the power off at the strip rather than the appliance where they're still using energy in "sleep" mode. We're also unplugging the toaster, microwave, electric kettle, etc. Last spring, we started trying to go to bed earlier to save electricity. I read in the book Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice that perhaps electric lighting and lack of sleep is contributing to some of our diseases. I'm all for more sleep! Or even, sitting in the dark. I've even removed the lamp from my nightstand, to discourage late night reading and power usage.
Natural Gas will be the hardest. Our 90% reduction allotment is 1000 therms per year and the gas water heater uses 300 of that (with average use). I don't even know yet what the furnace uses, but that's certainly a necessity in Minnesota winters. We will have to think about that one, though for sure we can wear more sweaters and wool socks, slippers, etc. and turn the thermostat down to 65 or so. Brrrr! No more bare feet in the morning.
Well, this post is inordinately long and probably boring you all. I'll end here for today. Hopefully, shorter progress reports from now on!
Lisa
For some reason, I was born with a compassion gene. I often wonder about this, because others have had similar experiences to me but have reacted to them much differently. For example, when I was a small child (maybe 7 or 8 years old), my family went to Texas for vacation. When we were there, we went over the border to the very poor Mexican towns of Matamoros and another I can't name. The poverty affected me deeply even as that young child. I will never forget the pretty little girl standing in her dirt yard near a pig, her lavender dress dusty and dirty but her brown eyes shining at me. As far as I know, however, the rest of my family just saw a dirt poor little girl whose parents must not have worked hard enough to giver her a better life.
Anyways, that said, I still live my life insulated from poverty and extremely comfortably compared to so many others. I have done some activism on issues important to me, but I often find that I'm most satisfied, and feel that I'm helping the most, when I make changes to my own life rather than advocate for large governmental changes (this probably because my idealism and optimism are usually crushed by the lack of progress on a bureaucratic scale).
So, I have signed up for the Riot for Austerity challenge and am reading and thinking daily on the topic. We've begun to implement small changes, but many many more are needed. Some of the changes already made:
"Navy Showers", as I recently saw them called. George and Rose have long done this, but now I'm on it. Much easier to turn off the water while sudsing up in summer than it will be in winter, but we'll see how it goes. It will be habit by then, I hope. Besides, we do take showers less in winter. Me, sometimes, only twice a week in winter but every day in summer something has to be done to remove the layer of sweat, sunscreen, bug repellant, etc. (Hard to admit the winter routine, but in the interest of showing others it can be done...I don't think I present a too-smelly person in winter, do I?) My wavy/frizzy hair does much better with once or twice a week shampooing anyways, and then a quick rinse and condition on the off days.
Limiting plastic coming into my house. This because of something I read about all plastic ever made still existing, and it will for 500 plus more years! I will buy whatever I can in bulk, or make it myself, or whatever I need to do. Deoderant will be the crystal rock that comes in a tiny basket, with minimal plastic wrap. Now I use the crystal rock roll-on deodorant and it works by far the best of any "natural" deoderant! Facial care will be a bar of locally made olive oil-based soap and sunflower oil which comes in a glass jar (been using this for a year and finding it very nourishing for my skin). Shampoo for George and Elijah will be a bar of locally made soap, and I'm still thinking about what Rose and I can do with our longer wavy hair. Conditioner has been absolutely essential! However, I just read about using Castille soap and a cider vinegar rinse on hair such as ours. I think we'll try that. We can get Dr. Bronner's castille soap in bulk, with a plastic bottle I already own, at the co-op where I work. Oh, so many more things I can do on this front, which involves rethinking not only body care but also cleaning supplies (in cardboard or bulk only), food (no more corn chips but maybe bags of 100 corn tortillas would be okay--we can make our own corn chips as well as eat tacos, tostadas and burritos--and we've only used one small plastic bag, which we can reuse. Ah, more thinking needed...not ready to go the homemade route yet though we can get local organic corn flour at the co-op.) Since we're limiting any new consumer goods to $1000 worth or less per year that will severely limit any new plastic toys, games, etc. coming into the house. Yay!
We're still thinking on more water-saving ideas as well as saving on electricity and natural gas and gasoline. I have been biking to work more often and will try to do so every time from now on. We are taking shorter car trips and limiting drives, i.e. to campgrounds, etc. Last night we all slept in the tent in the backyard for National Camp Out in Your Back Yard Night. It was a bit noisy here in the city, but we slept all right after a while. We fly to see family once a year and that, being "Love Miles", we won't even attempt to limit. Maybe we'll research taking the train, though. Or drive our Honda Civic next summer. We'll see.
Electricity-wise, we have power strips for the TV and computer, and we've started turning the power off at the strip rather than the appliance where they're still using energy in "sleep" mode. We're also unplugging the toaster, microwave, electric kettle, etc. Last spring, we started trying to go to bed earlier to save electricity. I read in the book Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice that perhaps electric lighting and lack of sleep is contributing to some of our diseases. I'm all for more sleep! Or even, sitting in the dark. I've even removed the lamp from my nightstand, to discourage late night reading and power usage.
Natural Gas will be the hardest. Our 90% reduction allotment is 1000 therms per year and the gas water heater uses 300 of that (with average use). I don't even know yet what the furnace uses, but that's certainly a necessity in Minnesota winters. We will have to think about that one, though for sure we can wear more sweaters and wool socks, slippers, etc. and turn the thermostat down to 65 or so. Brrrr! No more bare feet in the morning.
Well, this post is inordinately long and probably boring you all. I'll end here for today. Hopefully, shorter progress reports from now on!
Lisa
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