Walking the Talk: My Report Card

Yesterday the Huffington Post posted an article called You Can Help Save The Planet With These 15 (Somewhat) Easy Steps. As a Green who is trying to get better at walking the talk, I thought it would be fun to share with you all how I am doing in each of these categories. I'd love to hear how you are doing in these categories as well.

1. Not Driving A Big Car All By Over The Place By Yourself

I do drive a big car, a Honda Odyssey to be exact. If I could afford an all-electric family car I would, alas I cannot. My kids are almost always with me in the van, and sometimes my husband and dog, or the grandparents are too. I love it when the van completely full, though that can be hard to do. Although the mpg isn't great, it is good for a minivan (18/25 city/highway). I also try to limit my driving trips overall, which is more possible since I am a stay at home mom.
 

2. Not Having Lots Of Kids

I have two kids, that was planned because I was trying to fill my maternal wants AND "Plan It for the Planet." I also don't have energy for more kids even if I thought the planet could handle it.

3. Don't Idle Your Car

This is a serious pet peeve of mine. There have been SO MANY times that I want to walk up to a stranger and tell them to turn off their car as they wait in a parking lot to whatever establishment we are both at. I restrain myself, but it's difficult. Once I did try to gently say something, but it didn't result in the guy turning off his engine. So, no, I personally don't idle. I even turn off my engine at the rare times I'm at a drive-thru or if I'm waiting at a particularly long red light.

4. Don't Eat Lots Of Meat

I was a vegetarian for five years during adolescence, but redeveloped a taste for meat. For a while, after receiving a blood transfusion I developed a serious appetite for red meat. My desire for meat has waned, and I would love to cut back even more. Currently, I sometimes try to stretch a package for a couple meals. I'd love to do more vegetarian meals, I just need to take the time to look up recipes.

5. Don't Vote for Climate Change-Denying And Pro-Oil Representatives 

I definitely don't vote for climate deniers or oil puppets. Fortunately, this is made easier by living in liberal, green, Vermont.

6. Don't Take A Really Long Shower

I'm a stay at home mom. If I shower twice a week I'm doing well. (TMI? Sorry.) Sometimes I do linger in those precious showers a little even though my brain guilts me about how much oil I'm burning to heat the water.

7. Avoid Buying Things From China

This is hard to do, but yes, I try. Good thing is that we rarely go shopping except for food so that helps a lot. I've also embraced hand-me-downs and garage sales for getting kid stuff in particular.
 

8. Stop Wasting Paper

Whenever there is a paperless billing option I do it. We do not subscribe to a printed newspaper. Our biggest source of paper waste by far is from junk mail and companies who do not have a paperless billing/statement option.

9. Avoid Flying Across The Country Multiple Times A Year

This past summer I flew for the first time in 6 years to attend the Climate Leadership Training in Chicago (yes, I see the contradiction in this). 

10. Don't Waste Food

I do my best to make sure my family eats everything we buy, but we do have a backyard composting operation. We don't put food waste in the trash.

11. Quit Eating Out Of Season

This makes sense, but it's hard because in VT there is no fresh fruit and my kids love bananas, clementines, grapes, pears, you name it. I do too. Canned and dried doesn't quite cut it for me. I am looking forward to cracking open a jar of my own canned peaches during our first big snowstorm.

12. Stop Using As Much Electricity And Unplug When Possible

We are conscious about turning off lights and not leaving our Christmas tree lights on unless we are home to enjoy them. Our biggest downfall is probably our tv. If I was more disciplined I would only watch it when specific shows are on, but sometimes we do zone out in front of the tv, or multitask with other devices. We have solar panels for our house which helps. We also live in a region that gets a lot of hydropower which helps. We also have advanced power strips that cut down on phantom electricity demand.

13. Cut Back On Air Conditioner Use

We don't have one, so this isn't an issue. I would love to finish a room in the basement. That's where I hid out on hot summer days while growing up, unless I was in the pool. If we fix the holes in our screened-in porch we could also use that more on hot days as a sleeping porch, or hang out area after the sun goes down.

14. Don't Worsen America's Dog Obsession

We have a dog, but just one. She's here to stay.

15. Seal Up Your House

We did an energy audit this past summer and had insulation and air sealing done. It should cut down on our heating energy use and emissions by about 30%.