no more greener grasses

even though i didn't register my blog for blog action day, which i intended to do so, i would like to do a blog in honor of the environment. even though i have a well documented angered opinion of the heavily media-covered tree people, i do consider myself an semi-environmentalist. and with al gore winning a nobel peace prize for being a loud environmentalist, we should all join the band wagon!

forreal though, almost every one of my engineering professors, which are all leaders in their respective industries (meaning they're certified geniuses), has preached to our class about the dangers of global warming and the current state of consumption throughout the world. one professor even allowed a student to make an announcement that we should all watch "an inconvenient truth" and then went on to back him up. just goes to show you that all those "if every californian..." commercials are no joke, and forreal, all this environmental practice stuff is gonna be big time in pretty much every kind of industry soon, so maybe being green or learning to be green and think green will make you a pretty penny somewhere.

i do admit, in my modest sized apartment, with my part-time budget (plus "emergency" mom funds) sometimes being greener isn't being cheaper, so i might stray from many of the ideal practices. but when i am able to fully support myself, there are a couple of things that i'm really gonna try and work on, on top of all the traditional methods of recycling, washing my own dishes, hanging washed clothes on a clothesline, trying to get a gas stove, using CFLs, and what not:

1. stop buying/using bottled water - all consumer products use energy in order to be produced, but bottled water is something that we really can do without. if you think about how big the bottled water industry is right now, and imagine how much energy is being consumed making all those bottles of water, then you can get the picture. work towards filtering your own water with a pur faucet or a brita pitcher.

2. buying local - the farther your food was grown from where you buy it, the more gas was used to bring it there. even when faced with a choice of buying organic or buying local, i choose local. gotta save that gas. this is easily achieved through shopping at farmer's markets, or just being savvy enough to know where your local grocery gets their produce and meats. and supposedly, eating honey that is local to your area is good way to stay healthy and free from illness.

3. save the environment with pb&js - i just thought this was kinna different. and i like different.

4. purchase a bike - and use it for taking me places anywhere within 10 miles of wherever i end up living. i've become extremely fascinated with fixed gear bikes, and i plan to buy one. let's all do it! i don't plan on joining critical mass or anything, but i think it'll be pretty fun to weave through cars in traffic. i also plan to continue to skateboard, but that shit is tiring, and you can't really do that uphill.

5. cloth napkins - this one is prolly gonna be a challenge, but i figure having cloth napkins and having to wash them every time i use them will teach me how many paper napkins that i've been using. check back with me on this one, see how it's working out for me.

6. being more frugal - frugality will set us free, folks. even though products in stores have already been produced (since they already made it to the store) and therefore have used energy in order to be made, not purchasing that product will give you piece of mind that at least you are trying to do your part in reducing consumption on this earth. and you'll be able to save your money and eventually be rich enough to not care about the environment anymore...... just kidding.

as you can see i focused a lot on food related things. ahh. if only i had the money to go to culinary school.