Sunset from La Jolla

I thought you might enjoy a beautiful sunset. This is what I used to see from my bedroom every evening (well it was until I got caught sneaking out at night and lost the good room!). It's been nice visiting the folks and getting to remember where I came from. I think we need to ground ourselves once and a while. The vacation continues, this week we're in LA. Disney and Universal here we come.
P~

Vacation update.

I have decided that I will be leaving my photo updates until we get back home. I will post a couple here and there, but I usually like to optimize them so that they open reletively quickly and I haven't been able to while on the road. I guess I normally spend more time blogging than I thought I did. No wonder the dear wife keeps asking me "Are you blogging again?" (As a matter of fact, she just came up to me; and I'm not kidding at all, and asked me are you writing a blog?) I do miss it I have to say. I feel like I've fallen out of contact with a bunch of friends. I haven't had much time to check in on the blogs that I usually do, but have been able to check in on a couple of you. It's nice to see though that even with out much of a commenting presence out there, I have still had a few people stopping by to see what I have to say.

On the vacation update front. We went to Tijuana Mexico the other day. This is the first anyone but me has been out of the country. Even though it was literally walking across a border crossing, you can certainly tell that you're "Not in Kansas anymore." My kids in truely kid like fashion noted that everyone seems so desparate, they are poor. It's good that they are able to see how truely blessed we are to live in this country.

Vacation Gardening

some of you may have had the wuestion come to mind that "Hey doesn't this guy garden? How the heck do you take a three week leave and hope to come back to anything but dirt and crispy leaves?" Well, you set up a drip irrigation system and hope for the best. This is the first time that I have tried this. Not setting up drip irrigation, I have done that before on a very limited scale, but doing it to this level and then leaving it unattended. I set up a system that would use small micro sprinkler heads to essentially flood the small raised beds, as well as the garden landscaping at the back of my yard.

I ran two 1/4 inch lines down the length of each bed and made three drops on each line. The sprayers aren't actually like sprinklers in that they do not vaporize the water when they spray it into the air. The small sprinkler heads only spray about 10-12 inches out from the head in a stream. The point tof the heads is to put a large amount of water into the ground for the plants to pull up through capillary action. When I first put the system in place and tested it, I didn't think it was working. I would look at the beds and all I saw was small wet areas where the streams landed. When I took a handful of soil up and looked at the bottom, I found that the the bottom two inches of the beds were very wet. the roots of the plants will theoretically be drawn down and get to the water which should be much better for them in the heat of summer.

As for the back gardens they are primarily decorative, but I am starting to work in some edibles over time; raspberries, corn and artichokes have been added so far. I ran a single line of 5/8 hose down the center of the bed, and connected essentially the same type of heads along the length of it to allow the bed to be flodded right next to the plants that I have in place. I had actually noticed that my strawberries did much better the couple of weeks before I left than they had prior to hooking up the system.

I can only assume that the system is working and have faith that my neighbors will notice if the plants are dying and water them while they are enjoying the vacancy harvest that I invited them to enjoy. Have any of you had any experience with long term vacationon gardening? Let me know, What do you think my chances are of coming home to healthy veggie?
P~

Vegas, Ghost Towns and Solar Panels.

Hi again everyone, Posting from Cardiff by the Sea California today; home for this leg of the vacation.
In my last post I mentioned that we had spent the night in Vegas. I had to share the picture that we took from our room with you. This is being taken from the Excalibur resort looking towards the Luxor. I thought it looked like something out of Star Wars or some sci-fi movie don’t you?


When we left Vegas and headed for California, we came across a town, named Yermo that advertised their Ghost town. We got off of the freeway to check it out but found that it was not the quick stop we thought it would be, but instead was an “attraction”. I had the strangest thought right then that while so many of us talk about our sustainability or lack thereof, and wonder what will become of our society if we keep on living like we do here Is a place that is, in essence, celebrating a failed city. We pay to visit and enjoy a way of life that was not able to last because it focused on only one thing. Funny?



At any rate, after getting off the freeway, I noticed this sign pointing the way to a solar plant. Now you have to know I wanted to see it. I mean come on, I’m in the middle of the California desert and take an exit where one direction points to a failed past and the other direction points to a promising future; if that’s not divine intervention what is?
We got directions and headed off to the plant to see what we could see.


The directions actually ended up being not very good, but was another happy blessing. We found our way to another icon of american history. Route 66. We laughed at how this was once the travel artery across the country. we have come so far, and yet all we really did was make a bigger road a mile away. At any rate, I think this is one of the greatest thing about driving across the country. We have so many little hidden things that we can find, and I love to share them with my kids. one day they just won't be there anymore.



So now that I made you wait until the end of the post. here are some pictures of the solar panels that we were finally able to get. There was a big no trespassing sign, so I couldn't go up to the main entry and ask about a tour but I figured I had to turn around, and my truck takes a little bit of space to do that so I had to drive down the road a bit to an open spot.

These are the photos that I was able to get from the edge of the array.

You can also see an arial view of the array from HERE.I was pretty impressed with what I saw, but was disappointed that I couldn't get in any further. I will be researching this facility and will probably post some more information soon.
P~

We made it.

Well we made it! I'm at my sisters house in California. I was struck driving in at how dry it is. I grew up here, but I never really got that it was essentially a desert. I said before that I knew a good idea would come to me while I was driving across the west, and low and behold when you keep your eyes open and give life the reigns it will give you treasure. We were just inside CA and decided to get off the highway and take a detour to a ghost town that was just off the highway. The ghost town didn't "Pan out" but when we got off the highway I saw a sign for a solar plant. I started getting all excited (much to the chagrin of my kids, who by now have begun the "are we there yet?" routine.) So anyway, since I'm buying the gas, we go to the solar plant. I couldn't get in, but I did get some great pictures of the solar collectors. That will be detailed in a post this week so I can give you the pics at the same time.

Well, We're taking the kids to a new skate park now, and I'm gonna enjoy fathers day. This will be the first time in oh, 20 years probably that I will be with my Dad for it. Happy Fathers Dad! I love you!

Talk to you later.
P~

On the road again!

...Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway,
We're the best of friends, insisting that the world keep turning our way ...

I love that song, don't you?
I will be heading out tomorrow morning for my big summer family vacation. I'll spend a couple days in Vegas, and a couple of weeks in CA. Time to go home and visit the family; it's been nearly three years so I guess I'm due. We have waited until our kids were old enough to remember going to Disneyland and all the other So. Cal attractions and with them all between 9 and 12 we think it's a good time.

Don't think I'll neglect my blog though; I have some good ideas for some entries during the time that I'm out and I'm sure that I'll get some great ideas while I'm driving, I always seem to for some reason. (Mental note, note pad and paper on the dashboard!) Either way I promise to have lots of great pictures to share for sure so check back for the updates. Maybe I'll try a video post for something new, Whatcha think?
P~

You have to have it!

How many times have we all been through this one. I know I'm guilty, I brought home a new grill this year myself. But in my defense The one I had been using was used when I got it, and I milked another 4 yrs out of it. I just figured saving the cost of all the food I had to throw out after noone would eat it because it was burnt beyond recognition more than covered the "investment".
P~

Thought of the Day

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
~ Soren Kierkegaard

Compost Day

Sunday was compost day around here. I've been collecting my compost thus far this year, not in a pile, but in a bucket. Well a tote actually. I took one of those 20-30 gallon totes that you can pick up just about anywhere, It was an old one that was begginning to crack so I gave it new life as my compost container.

As you can see I cut a ton of holes around the outside and the bottom of the tote, and elevated it on a couple of 4x4's. This whole thing was a sort of experiment. The last compost pile that I attempted was pathetic. although since the pumpkins that I had put in it did not decompose entirely, I did get a bunch of pumpkin plants to grow in that spot the next year. Anyway, I decided to try a different method this year.


So far I think it's been working out pretty well. This is the stage that my compost is at right now. I started it... hmm let me think for a second. . . . sometime around two months ago. I think that if I just let this go for another week or so, I could put it in the garden with no problems, but I really don't know what to look for to know when it's done. It is very rich and dark though and has no real stink

What I did today was to add the scraps that I collected last week in the house, as well as my paper towels and some other greens to the pile.
•First I spread out what was in the tote on a tarp. This just seems to me to be the easiest way to do it. I tried mixing it in while the existing compost was in the tote and it didn't seem to get the stuff up off the bottom as well.


•This is the inside and out glazed ceramic cookie jar that I picked up for a buck at the Thrift store. I keep it under the counter next to the trash can and put all my kitchen scraps in it. It has a rubber seal in the lid and keeps any smell inside the container. I also mix in all of my coffee grounds and that helps to keep the stink down I think. The next step for this process is to dump out all of these onto the pile on the tarp.










These are the two bags of used paper towels that we collected over the last two weeks. I wadded them up and gave them a quick spray with the hose to dampen them. Wading up helps to trap air inside them, and spraying seems to help them break down a little faster. I go ahead and mixed these into the compost along with the greens that I added warlier. I use these paper towels to double as my "Browns". Generally you would use dried leaves or the like, but there are very few mature trees around me that leave any dried leaves and besides, this is a great way to get rid of used paper products.




This is my new compost tumbler. I made this out of an old pickle barrel that I was able to pick up for $20.00. All of the wood is re-used construction waste. The rollers are the old skateboard wheels and bearings from one of my kids old boards. The only new items on this are the peices of hardware to hold it together.












I cut into it and made an opening side that I hinged with some old rubber that I had laying around. (If you've seen the pictures of my garage, you'd understand I don't throw anything out.) On the side with the two openings for filling, I riveted some rabbit wire on the inside to allow for air transfer without all the compost falling out. On the bottom I cut into it and made a larger central hole for the same reason.
Now that I had all of the compost items mixed together well, I added them into the composter. Gave it a spin for good measure and will leave it closed to "cook" for a while before turning it again.

As a side note; I am pleased with how the tumbler came out, but have since found that the bottom side of the barrel, the one that does not have the rib around it, is not nearly as strong as the top end. You can see in the last picture that the left side of the composter has started to dent in slightly. I has dented more since then but is still useable. I am going to be keeping a lookout for a metal drum to replace this one with for the longrun and I'm sure I will make some sort of modification to this one for the short term, but for now I think this will work well.
P~

Thought of the Day

To be always intending to make a new and better life but never to find time to set about it is as to put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day to the next until you're dead.
~Og Mandino (1923 - 1996)

My appologies to any feed readers for the multiple reposts, I had an issue with this post that would not allow it to display.

Sunrise and torn up tee's

I ride along, golden light bleeding over the ridge.

Cold air passes like a cool spring breeze,

In my ears a melody, in my chest a fire.

a beautiful accident delivered me here; I'm glad.

~P

So in my fog that is waking up, I got ready, hopped on the bike and peddled off to work. As I'm riding along down the road I am struck by the gorgeous sunrise coming over the Wasatch Mountians. The sky was golden, and the clouds glowed. It was truely magical. Last week the bad weather that we had forced me back into my car and I have to say I hated it. Not the driving necessarily, as much as the waiting, and the impatient people. I saw at least twice people cutting one another off and cussing back and forth. I got stuck at three consecutive lights for two and three changes. Were I on my bike I could have leisurely blown right by. I may not get there any faster, but it will certainly would have been a more peaceful trip. But as I was saying, I head off to work this morning in my usual fog, and don't realize until I've gotten to work that I am an hour earlier than normal. I must've screwed up the alarm last night when I went to bed, and got up at 5:00 rather than 6:00 (No small miracle in and of itself I assure you.) So as a reward for my inept clock handling skills and foggy morning haze, I was shown a beautiful sunrise. I wish I could honestly say that I would try to continue getting up that early; I'd get to see all the sunrises and would get off work an hour earlier. But that just isn't going to happen. Really it's not. But it was a pleasant surprise.

I decided to continue one of my practices from last week with a little help from a neighbor of mine. He gave me a "Box o' Rags" which is basically just a bunch of old recyled T-shirt scraps in a box. I grabbed a bunch last night and packed them to bring in so that I can always keep one in my pocket for hand drying and such. I liked using a hand towel last week, and now that I know how many paper towels we actually go through in a week since I kept them all in a separate bag for composting, they are ruined for me. Not to say that I won't grab one here or there, but I don't do it without looking for something else.

P~

Sunday was composting day around the house. I took a bunch of pics of my process and equipment. I'll be working on getting those imported later today so watch for that update.

Low Impact Reflections IV

What did I like best about Low Impact Week? Throughout the world are bells, of one sort or another. They ring out daily calling the masses together. Like waves, spreading out catching ears and bringing in citizens to worship or gather; to learn and lead. Like these bells I felt a calling to come and join in Low Impact Week. I wanted to join in the gathering, I wanted to learn from you and I wanted to share with you. This is what I liked best about Low Impact Week; YOU. because of this project I linked over other sites and read about your challenges. I learned about your experiences and your failings, and in that I was able to accept mine. Of course I enjoyed the challenge of trying new things, and by in large most of the things that I tried out during last week I will continue to practice regularly. But without a doubt I liked the sharing and the community of change that we all became a part of. I believe that this type of community will be the catalyst to spread, by example, the word about these kind of changes. They're not that hard, but I think people get scared, or feel overwhelmed. Being a part of a community and having people that have either tried something already, or that are doing it for the first time with you will make it so much easier for people to want to try at all.
I congratulate everyone that took part in this challenge, to whatever degree, and thank those that supported us, whether they participated or not. Can't wait to see what you have for us next Crunchy.
P~

Thought for today

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.
-Frank Tibolt

Low Impact Reflections III

Well today is the last day of Low Impact Week. Crunchy Chicken posted a Wrap-up post with a poll question (She is fond of those isn't she?) and I see that I fall into the greater bulk of people out there that were participating.

~I'm really happy with what I accomplished even though I didn't get everything done that I wanted.

I shouldn't even say that I did't get done everything, because to some degree I did, as least on the majority of my goals. I guess more than anything I just didn't get them done as well as I had hoped.
Let's run down the list shall we?

Unplugging appliances when not in use. TVs, Computer, Radios, Printer.
This one was my major busts. I didn't have the time or $$ to get the power strips that I had wanted too. Since all of my major appliances are very difficult to get to the plugs on. I am deferring on this till a later date. It is still very much something I want to focus on.

I will decide to not watch television for that week. I certainly have enough reading to catch up on.
I did my best on this one. I did not sit down to watch any shows, and when others in the house were, I occupied myself otherwise. This in particular made me realize just how conditioned I am to veg out. I mean I really had to make a concerted effort to not look. It shouldn't be that hard should it? As a family we did make some decisions that will impact this area for the foreseeable future though. We reduced by 1/3 our televisions, and reduced by 2/3 our TV service. (We wanted to cancel it completely, and just have the local channels, but I agreed to use the service for two years, and that time is not up yet. NEVER agree to any service lengths, I have learned my lesson. If they want my $$ it's on my terms!) We also spent a lot more time in the yard together, playing games or whatever. I am going to make a concerted effort to continue this.

Turn off water when brushing teeth, and/or shaving.
I did 100% on this one. I had begun to do this prior to LIW and will continue this forever.

No take out food, and no restaurants.
Did fairly well on this on, although when the wife got sick, and I worked later than expected, I did pick up some takeout once. Not much more to say about that.

I will eat as much as possible from my home grown foods, and choose locally produced foods whenever available.
I wasn't able to get anything from farmers markets or even the local private owned grocery that was local. Although, I did some serious research on the topic and was able to find a CSA that I plan to buy a share in next spring, as well as a local grass-fed cattle operation that I want to visit and will probably begin to buy from. I was able to eat something from my garden almost every day, and even managed to forage some wild asparagus one day for an extra special treat.

I will use a washable towel for hand washing and cleaning both at home and at work.
I did do this. It was not 100%, but was darn close. I found that I actually liked useing a cloth towel much more than a paper one anyway; they dry so much better. I am going to work at increasing my collection of cloths for this purpose and see if I can convert my kids to it as well, they are my big paper towel junkies. I do have to say with great pride though that the little guys have been very dilligent in making sure that all the paper towels that they do use, have been getting into the special bag for the compost pile "browns".

I will not drive to work. (This is my biggie.) I will instead use pedal power.
I did this, 4 of 7 days. Not bad, but not 100% either. The weather turned bad this week, and when it turns bad here in the spring it ain't light showers, it's thunder and 60mph sustained winds. I know I know what a wuss huh? I have to say that I really grew to like riding to work; I really began to feel more tied to the community. As a side note to this, the family and I began a routine of riding every night together. We were able to find some new parks that we hadn't been to, talked to some neighbors, and had a great time together. We also got a hold of a second hand bike trailer that will shortly be converted to a grocery getter / picnic gear toter. This will be the summer of the bike for us for sure!

I have a compost bin, but I will make a bigger one from recyled materials, and will compost as much of my household waste as possible.
I got the composter built, but have not migrated my compost over to it yet; again, weather impeded. I did however as mentioned above with the p-towels collect as much of our compostable household items as possible and integrate them into my composter. I actually expanded on this by collecting coffee grounds, filters, banana peels, paper towels, etc from my office as well. The compost is cooking along well, and I hope to have a finished batch very soon.

I will use organic and/or homemade cleaners to do all of my household cleaning and washing. (This is a change that our household plans to make on a permanent basis.)
I did use homemade household cleaners, and my wife A~ began to use organic soaps in the laundry as well. I loved the feeling of knowing my family and I could breath the cleaners and not get sick from them, and A~ actually told me she was swearing off bleach after seeing how well the A&H Super Washing Powder worked. We made cleaners from vinegar and lemon juice with a couple of drops of citrus essence for scent and added a couple of drops of teatree oil as an antiseptic and were very happy with it. This is definitely a change that is here to stay.

I guess I would have to say that over all Low Impact week was a success for me. I feel like it really gave me a chance to think and re-evaluate the way that I do things on a day to day basis. I have to say thank you to Crunchy Chicken for the idea, and to everyone else that was participating. I agree with CC that we should continue the dialogue and fellowship that we've built through this project. I didn't have a lot of comments, though the ones I had were great and much appreciated; I did notice a lot of new visitors lurking about though and would like to welcome them and invite them to get involved, post a question or comment, and give some of the things that we have all been talking about a try.
Namaste all.
P~

Local Wild Asparagus

Well, In my effort to eat locally as much as possible I have found that our farmers markets don't open until July, and the local small produce seller has only stuff from CA primarily. (I have begun to believe that the idea of eating locally must have been conceived by a CA native. They seem to have everything there all the time. ) At any rate, I have been able to pull a few things from my own garden this week and have had a few good meals because of it. For instance, yesterday I enjoyed a delicious salad for lunch with buttercrunch lettuce, spinich and radishes from the garden. This afternoon I ate some steamed home grown chard with my tofu and rice (not from the garden obviously.) and supplemented it with some wild asparagus that I harvested not three minutes by bike from my house. Here is a couple of picture that I got of the plants.












They are just about grown out; I unfortunately found them a little to late in the season to get much from them this year but next spring Oh yeah!! They were tender and tasty and you can't get more local than wild now can you? I was inpired to go out and and pick up a couple of books from the library about wild foods of the Rocky Mountain region. If I can find any more good eats I'll keep you posted.

P~

Call me "Trim Tab"

During this week of testing out some Low Impact actions I keep getting the idea that we are the ones actually trying out these things, so that others can see what we do and realize that it ain't that bad. But so often I hear people say, "There are so many people out there who won't change." or "I feel like I'm fighting an upstream battle, what difference can one person make?"
Consider the following;

"Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary -- the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab. It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.
So I said, call me Trim Tab."
-Buckminster Fuller

I say call me "Trim Tab" as well. Call us all that for that matter! It doesn't matter what you do or don't do. You don't have to be "Green", that word is so damned cliche anyways. I'm not trying to green up or to save the planet for that matter. I am however trying to get closer to a way of living that, while it is a healthier lifestyle for both my family and I as well as the planet, is based around sustainability, simplicity, and responsibility. The big three as I see it. It's a slow path, and I suspect a long one. I have to try things out and see what fits; I don't know how things will work out and I won't commit to something that I don't think that I will remain with for any length of time. But still I see so many people out there trying things, inspiring others, motivating them; whether by calling them to action like Crunchy Chicken is so apt at, or by inspiring them by their sheer will like No Impact Man and his extreme experiment.

The Trim Tab on a huge vessel can slowly create enough momentum that it pulls the whole rudder around and in turn changes the course of the whole ship. We can too. Be the Trim Tab, stick your foot out there, cause a little ripple all on your own and who knows, in time we may be able to swing the rudder or even turn the ship.

P~

Low Impact Reflections II

Well, some good news and some not so good news. First the not so good. One of my goals was to unplug our appliances (tv, computer, vcrs, etc.) when not using them. I have not done this at all. Hey, I'm just being honest with you. I never did get a chance to get some power strips, and most of my things are in cabinets that make it very difficult to get to. I know excuses, excuses. My wife and I still want to get to this point; actually, it's something that she first mentioned to me. The other thing that I have not done terrible well at, or terribly bad at for that matter has been the television watching. I have not been watching it, per se, but for instance, in the mornings, my kids are watching cartoons, and I catch a glance without thinking about it (Yeah, I love cartoons, I just have to admit it.) and at night my wife watches television in bed while going to sleep. Try as I might, it's darned hard to lay in a bed and not watch it.
On the up side of this, we did call and reduce our Direct TV package by half down to the bear minimum programming, and cancelled TIVO service, (For the summer mind you, I've been warned about taking it away forever.) as well as dropping the extra receiver that we rarely use, yet pay for to put in the home theater. We, my wife and I that is, have been really good this week about doing other things with the kids. For intance, playing a new dominoes game that I got from my parents for my birthday. Thanks for that by the way guys, what a fun game! Also, every night we have been taking a bikeride for I'd guess a mile or two with our kids. They all get to take turns "leading" us around our community and we talk and enjoy the perfect late spring evenings; so far we've found a new park, criused the grounds of the Jr. High school that our oldest will go to next year, and found the ultimate stash of wild Asparagus growing along the irrigation ditches near the new park. (Watch for a post on that one, what a find! I'll document it soon, and try out some to tell you how it tastes.)

The good news, is the my sweet darling wife informed me that I could officially claim to have inspired her. She told me on Friday that she decided that it would be a great idea to take rides every couple of days with the kids to the Local stores for our grocery shopping. I, however, would need to either make her a trailer or get her one so that she could get the stuff back to the house. We sent that wish out to the universe, and the powers that be put us in touch with a very good condition duo seat child carrier trailer for $35.00 as a second hand store. a couple of dollars worth of parts and I should be able to rig up a connector for the bike. (Again, watch for an update to this.) All in all, this has been a great weekend. I can't say that I've been able to meet all of my goals, but I feel pretty good about the progress that I've made so far.

baby steps, baby steps; we walk before we run!

P~

Thought for today

...I find more joy in the rich, messy, and unexpected complexity that is the world.
-Eva, comment on No Impact Man

Low Impact reflections

Well, Day two down and I have a few reflections to share with you.
As I said before, I had begun to ride to work a couple of days before the LIW began. Friday I took it to a new level. I needed to run some errands after work, stop by a junk yard to check on something I thought I saw while driving by and stop at the local farmers supply store to pick up some hardware to finish my composter with this weekend. Anyway, I decided that since I'm trying to conserve gas, and I could make these places be on the way home if I took a little bit longer path home so I did. I guess it turned my 5.5 mile trip home into more like 8 miles, but a lot of it was down hill and I felt great doing it. I've begun to notice a lot of different things while riding around. For instance, I see the same guy every morning standing at the bus stop out on main street; now he waves to me and I to him. Yesterday while taking the long way home, I crossed over one of our irrigation canals and watched 6 or 7 barely hatched ducklings cruising along behind momma, something that I would have blown by during my daily driving. I feel a little more connected to my community this way I guess. I see people, even the ones in cars because I make eye contact with them when they are getting ready to turn. I catch the smell of the farmers harvesting early hay, and share a wave with other bikers as we pass.
As for some of my other goals; I think I've done pretty well so far on most things. I brought a small hand towel to work to use rather than using the paper towels, but both times I went to the bathroom I forgot it so I had to walk back with wet hands and dry them back in my office. I didn't cave and cheat though. On a side note, for the last couple of weeks I have been using a separate bag at work for all of the paper towels that I use there. I bring them home periodically to throw in my compost pile since I don't really have any "browns" to add but am "green" rich. I have been doing the same with p. towels from home as well. This works great by the way, and I can't believe how much longer it takes to fill a trash bag without p. towels. I have also been collecting our used coffee filters in an old coffee can at work and toted them home on Fri. to add to the pile.
My family and I went out for a movie that we had had planned for a couple of weeks, (Can't pass up free tickets to Pirates of the Carribean) and I passed on lunch when everyone else grabbed a quik bite after the movie. I was hungry, don't be mistaken. But one of my goals was no restaurants, so I passed.
I've had some other things that I've noticed so far, but I think I'll let them develop a little more before I share them.
I hope everyone's having a good experience with this so far.
P~

Thought for today

"We need to initiate a bold, far-reaching research initiative – an energy revolution – that will be our generation's equivalent of the Manhattan Project or the mission to the moon. It will be a mission to create new, economical sources of clean energy and clean ways to use the sources we have now. … It will be good for our national defense, it will be good for our foreign policy, and it will be good for our economy."
-Gov. Mitt Romney

Low Impact Week

Today begins Low Impact week. I posted my goals some time ago and although I haven’t gotten everything set the way that I had hoped to, I feel as ready as ever. I have been able to ride to work and back at least 3 times so I know I can do it. I’ve already started to cut down on the television watching. (Just for the record, I will still watch a movie with my family this week if we decide to but not by myself; I don’t think it is right to isolate from my family in order to reduce my impact). I have actually started to turn off water while brushing and shaving, and have begun to use the organic cleaners that I mentioned.
I think that my biggest difficulties will be with unplugging the appliances and eating locally. My garden has not yet begun to yield much more than a little spinach and some strawberries and rhubarb and I wasn't able to get the appliances set up for easy access to the plugs. I'll do my best though.

I will blog over the next week about my experiences with all of this and I hope to hear from any of you that are participating as well. I’ve noticed that the list of participants has grown quite a bit over at Crunchy Chicken.
Have fun everyone.
P~