- I don't own a motor vehicle. I walk most everywhere. I take a train when I go t' Trawna.
- I wear long underwear an' sweaters in the winter so's I can keep the thermostat turned down low.
- I spent a coupla thousand t' replace a perfectly good low efficiency gas furnace with a high efficiency model.
- I don't own any gas-powered toys like snowmobiles or motor bikes or ATV's an' I won't ride on anybuddy else's pollutin' toys.
- I don't own a snowblower an' I spend plenty o' back-breakin' hours shovellin'.
- I push a non-motorized lawn mower in the summertime.
- I put out lots more in my blue box than in my trash an' spend time sortin' the recyclable stuff.
- I use rechargeable batteries in most everything that takes batteries.
- I try t' do my shoppin' close by so's I can walk. If I hafta go somewhere too far fer walkin', I tag along with somebuddy who's already goin' t' where I need t' go.
- I replaced my perfectly good 40 year-old toilet with one that uses a lot less water an' I don't flush every time I take a leak.
Nobuddy paid me t' do those things. Sum of 'em save me money, sum don't. Up until recently, water was not metered in my town so changin' toilets didn't save anything fer the first 5 years, or so.
- I don't own a dishwasher an' when Ma's big family comes 'round fer Christmas, we use china plates an' glass drinkware an' we wash the dishes in the sink. I wrap Christmas presents in wrappin' paper I save from when sumbuddy gives me sumpin'.
- I carry 'round a white handkerchief in my pocket so's I don't buy Kleenex. I wipe up spills with a tea towel so's I don't buy paper towels.
- I wash my clothes usin' soap that works good in cold water.
- I ain't sprayed on deodorant in over 35 years. I ain't never sprayed on hairspray. I don't buy spray cans o' paint or WD40.
- I buy used clothes from Valu Village. I give used clothes t' Valu Village an' t' the Sally Ann.
- I dig the dandelions outta my grass an' don't use any poisons on the lawn or garden.
If yer greener than me, tell me 'bout it. I'm always ready t' do more t' save ol' Mother Earth.
Yores trooly,
JimBobby
9 comments:
"When I see a good idea, I don't worry if that idea come from a Con or a Lib or a Dipper or Lizzie May or George Bush. If it's a good idea, I'll use it."
Me too. Unfortunately, you and I are on the endangered species list -- along with a few of the bloggers we link to. It's not politically acceptable to sit on the fence and cherry-pick the good ideas from each party, leaving the bad ideas in the chipper for composting.
The only things on your list that I don't do are the lawn-and-garden things. But I would if I had a lawn or garden. Did you know that dandelions are edible?
And I'm lookin' to figure out how to attach a trailer or sidecar to my bicycle so I can use it for summertime shopping trips when I need to carry more than ten pounds at a time.
Lets see how I stack up
I do own a vehicle, a fuel efficient one, a motorcycle to be specific. I do not use it as a 'go to work' vehicle though, it is a week-end camping trip or evening ride down the river to see what I can see sort of thing. For the day-to-day stuff I by have a monthly transit pass and, when the weather is warm enough, I ride my pedal bike.
If I am going further than I want to take the bike I take the bus (I hate planes).
The apartment building we live in has electric heat and we don't control it. We don't pay for hydro but replaced all the old style bulbs with the new low watt, high efficiency, ones.
We recycle, and try and purchase products that don't have a lot of unnecessary packaging attached to them, we walk to the local grocery store and instead of bringing home 5,000 plastic bags (why do they put so little in each one when they pack 'em up?) we've bought the canvas bags that we pack ourselves and can use time and time again. We also like to visit 'Bulk Barn'- good prices and almost no packaging at all.
We wash cloths in the apartment building laundry in cold water, don't have to 'cause (again) we're not paying the hydro, but it's the right thing to do so we do it.
There are no spray cans to be found in our apartment and I'm glad to find another friend of Value Village, I'm gonna tell my daughter about you 'cause she says I'm the only one who gets stuff either there or at the local S/A :-)
Have ya got a composite pile? They're good things, worms are also good. When we lived in a larger apartment I had a big plastic box filled with bait worms in the utility room, them little buggers would eat almost anything (potato peels, left over veggies, old newspapers, banana peels, apple cores, you name it, and turn it into good rich, black, soil that the house plants like a lot.
Whooee! Thankee fer the comments, Chimera an' SL. I fergot t' mention the compost boxes. We got three of 'em. We been compostin' fer more'n 20 years. The boxes sit in a sorta shady spot so it takes a year or two t' break down some o' the stuff. I made me a sifter 'bout 3' x 3' with handles on each end an' Ma an' me get out there an' shake the compost through it once a year. Nice dirt comes out, no two ways.
I like the part where SL don't pay the hydro but changed t' the CFB's fer the sake o' ol' Mother Earth.
I seen some good lookin' bike trailers folks use fer haulin' the kiddies. I don't do much bike ridin' on accounta I'm tryin' t' cut down on the Preparation H use. Ma rides her bike a lot.
JB
You got me beat, JimBobby. I find I can't get by without a car for shopping trips etc., but I actually run to work and use TTC for most of my travel (esp. downtown).
I'm slowly converting to CF bulbs, and I do recycle and wash in cold water.
So, not bad, but you is definitely the man.
* next time you have to replace your water heater consider a pass-thru model as opposed to a traditional tank
* look around your kitchen - how many appliances do you have plugged in. Unplug the coffee maker, toaster oven, etc. unless you are actually using it.
* TV/VCR/DVD/Stereo are also on a power bar which is shut off when not in use.
* installed two clotheslines in the basement for drying clothes
* reduce fridge/freezer settings
* turn down hot water heater
* low flo on every faucet
* make aggressive use of computer power save features (hard drive off after 10 mins, monitor off after 10 min etc) Does your "always on DSL/Cable modem always need to be on?
* Live in Toronto - QTaps
* Ontario Incentives and Rebates
The big one I am learning to partake in is buying locally grown produce. It's tough, but I'm learning.
The big thing I always try to sell people on when we talk about using less energy is how much money they can save in the long run. CFL lights have reduced our electricity bills quite a bit and when you drive less, you put less gas in the car (plus, you get...gasp...exercise!).
I'll be coming back. Nice blog JB.
Whooee! Thankee kindly fer droppin' by, Dodos an' BBS. Them's sum dang good idees an' good additions t' the list.
Down in Trawna (centre o' the universe) my son an' daughter-in-law use a service called AutoShare.com. They get the use of a car fer 6 bucks an hour but they don't own any car. They both use teh TTC mostly but when they wanna come outta t' the sticks an' bring my new garndson fer a visit, they use the car. They been doinb' it fer close t' a year an' it's mostly workin' out good.
JB
We also use the "if its yellow let it mellow" rule. I am finding many of our friends do too.
One thing for women to consider is switching from disposable feminine products to non-disposable one such as "the keeper" or Diva cup". I've had it for two years and have already saved money AND reduced the amount of waste I produce.
I have found a couple women in Halifax who buy clothes from Goodwill or SA and refurbish them with thei own unique touch-I say consumer power! I will be buying my clothes from them from now on! For any Haligonians interested they are at the farmers market every sunday.
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