make a smaller ecological footprint

about how much better organic produce is for the environment, when you consider how far your organic strawberries or avocados might have had to travel to get to your plate versus conventional. If your organic piece of produce has had to travel from South America to get to your plate in Ohio, have you really done the environment good if your conventional produce could have come from the down the interstate in Florida? Whatever the truth may be on this subject, community supported agriculture provides a fantastic way to learn where your food comes from, while supporting local farms. The concept goes like this: you purchase a share of a local farm in your area (many of which are organic) for a year, and share in the bounty. Each week during the growing season (which lasts usu. from May to October), you’ll receive a big basket of in-season produce. Some farms will even deliver to your doorstep. I signed up for CSA here in Dayton, Ohio with bluebirdhills, and I was happy with how reasonable the price is for a season’s share. Not only is the produce organic, but I KNOW I’m reducing my footprint by getting it from right down the street!
You can learn more about CSA here.

Oh, as an interesting aside, my new military base, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, has a phenomenal recycling center and pickup policy! The base provides curbside containers, and we can toss all of our recyclables, including any and all paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum in without sorting! This is a big deal on a military base—there is no standardization among bases as far as recycling is concerned. At my last base, they would only recycle paper and cardboard, NOTHING else. The base here in Dayton also has a killer recycling drop off area. Three cheers for Wright-Patt!

article today on reducing one’s carbon footprint. It details the Sheppard family’s “Carbon Challenge,” their commitment to go on a carbon diet and change the way they live. The article also has a link to the EPA’s carbon calculator, so you can find out if you’re anywhere near the average American family’s 40,000 pounds of emissions per year (click on “how do you measure up?”). You can even join the challenge by calculating your carbon emissions, and telling NPR what you plan to do to lower your emissions. Anyone up for the challenge?

Click here to see the article.

If environmental friendliness comes to the military, you know it’s mainstream. In today’s Northern Sun (our local base paper), they have published some upcoming activities in honor of Earth Day on April 22. It’s called the “War Against Waste” (why, why must everything in the military be couched in combative language??). I have to admit I’m impressed: next weekend, they will be handing out free canvas bags and compact flourescent light bulbs for shoppers at our BX. They will also have people set up to accept cell phones and chargers for recycling, something I have been meaning to do with my old phone.
The article also contained some great suggestions for recycling and reuse in our homes, including some downtown recycling drop off locations for plastic (which even I didn’t know about—finding recycling centers in Minot is REALLY difficult). It was quite impressive! Anyone familiar with the military will know it doesn’t tend to be the most progressive entity, so the focus on environmental friendliness (and freebies!) is most welcome!

this article, with 50 things we can do relatively painlessly to consume less and live sustainably. A lot of the tips have been passed around on here already, but it’s interesting anyway:

http://lifestyle.uk.msn.com/homeanddecor/article.aspx?cp-documentid=495175

I also had some good information from my sister about community supported agriculture, which is such an AWESOME concept. It really fires on all cylinders of living sustainably—supporting local farmers, buying organic produce, and you get the freshest possible produce in the process. You can buy a yearly share of a local farm, and it will then produce vegetables just for you. Each week, you’ll receive a bushel or half bushel of 8-10 different kinds of vegetables, depending on what’s in season. I just love the concept! You can find a farm close to you on this site:

http://www.localharvest.org/

and my number is 18. Not bad by American standards, but still way too high for sustainable living on our planet.
I’m not really doing very well in the energy department: I need to pledge to reduce my thermostat; run the air conditioning less in the summer; hang dry more of my laundry; change over all of my lightbulbs in the house to high efficiency; and buy a low-flow showerhead.
I could also improve in the food area: buying more local (will be MUCH easier in the spring and summer here); up my organic consumption to about 25%; waste less food; and I could also buy more food without packaging and overprocessing.
One area I can’t really do much to change is transportation. My husband and I drive very little at this point (we probably put under 50 miles per week for both of our cars), but there is no public transportation in a city as small as Minot. I would love to buy a hybrid, but it’s going to be while: we just paid off my car last year, and our other car is barely two years old. The point at which my Sebring needs to be replaced, I’ll certainly be after a hybrid (let’s hope the market has substantially expanded by then…but that’s not going to happen unless somebody gets those damn republicans out of the white house.
Anyway, after I plugged in my goals regarding food and energy consumption, it looks like I could reduce my footprint by two points. So, that will be my goal here, to shave another 2 points off of my score.

today, and sent in a compliment form concerning their selection of organics. I asked them to continue stocking organics at military installations, and increase the percentage stocked at the stores. I know they take their customer feedback pretty seriously, so here’s hoping it makes an impact!

I have made some steps in a positive direction on this goal, and still have areas for improvement. I have begun recycling all paper and cardboard here in Minot, which is probably our largest source of recycling. I have yet to find a place that I can recycle glass, plastic or aluminum, as I discovered that the base recycling center is more of an industrial recycling drop off—it has no dropoff for residents of the base. I also have not yet switched to flourescent bulbs in the house, as I haven’t really had to replace any yet. I did have a few lights burn out though, so when I replace them this week, I’ll be sure to purchase energy efficient.
I also finally signed up for junk mail removal and I’m so glad! I hate the random catalogs and credit card solicitations, so it will be good to be freed from the JUNK!
I have been pretty good about the thermostat in our house, as well as leaving lights on. I frequently forget about the light in our basement where I do our laundry though, and sometimes leave it on all day…I am trying to be better about it.
I also received some greensaks from my friend Lori as a little gift in the mail, so I have been using them at the grocery store. The clerks look at me with something akin to strained patience when I whip them out at the grocery store (why, why do people associate you with hippie tree-huggers when you engage in something energy-saving/environmentally friendly…which incidentally I am PROUD to be a tree-hugger!), but I don’t care.
Lastly, I have also been trying to give gifts that are more eco-friendly—either animal adoptions or even just gift certificates for activities to save on ridiculous packaging and wrapping papers.
So…I am doing well so far. Still room for improvement, though.

out some actions I already take, and some that I have yet to take so that I can see in a very real way the impact I make individually in living consciously. Sometimes, it seems like as much as I try to make a difference, it’s never enough. I see the damage I inflict on the environment and other human beings every time I run my Visa through the credit card slot. I thought that, in order to acknowledge my contribution, improve upon it, and to some extent ease the burden of guilt I feel for not doing enough, I would outline and track some goals:
1. Recycle, recycle, recycle: This is (I think) the single biggest contribution I can make. And it’s so easy, it’s inexcusable not to be doing it! I felt so good about getting our household recycling when I lived in Oklahoma. My husband and I were astounded at the amount of trash can space we saved recycling paper, plastic, aluminum and cardboard. I just got to the base here in Minot, and it has a wonderful drop-off recycling facility, so as soon as I get a house, I’ll start back up again.
2. Free myself from junk mail: haven’t done this yet, but I KNOW I need to get to it.
3. Switch 3 lightbulbs in my house to flourescent: this has been difficult in terms of motivation. Since I live in base housing, my electricity and other utilities are paid for, and this encourages negligence and laziness like you wouldn’t believe. It leaves me with little incentive to change the light bulbs, which is terrible I know, but I am pledging to implement this when we move into our new house.
4. Christmas: buy LED lights, reuse wrapping paper and bags, and use real trees. I was surprised to learn that buying a real tree is actually more eco-friendly, since the PVC in plastic trees doesn’t break down in landfills, and is harmful to wildlife.
5. Keep the heat on 68 degrees this winter, and turn off lights after myself when I leave the room: see above comment on wastefulness in base housing. I aim to be more efficient and conscious with energy needs in the house.
6. Use seafoodwatch.org to make informed buying choices: since I am mostly vegetarian (never beef, poultry once in a blue moon), seafood is a big consumer item in our house. I pledge to consult my seafood buyer guide when going to the grocery store.
7. Get canvas bags or use, then recycle paper bags at the grocery store: I’ve been using paper bags for a long time now, but I’d like to purchase some canvas bags