Now that oil has reached almost $60 a gallon people in the US are finally realizing that we can't be held hostage to Middle East oil and big corporations whose only interest is in their bottom line and in their shareholders dividend increases, or in sticking it to the US.
Not to mar any investors, I myself have been investing successfully in the stock market for over fifteen years, but an individual's needs and interests are different from those of any big corporation whose bottom line is judged quarterly. So, finally, the pockets of Americans are being impacted and suddenly going green has become something of a national 
trend. It's been a long time coming.
It's nice to see people finally catching up on an idea I've been living my entire adult life and I applaud those who have finally put 2 + 2 together and reached the conclusion that each individual must - and easily can - make small changes in their lives that can impact our entire country and our entire world... if everyone else has some idea of personal accountability for the state our planet finds itself in.
Long ago, on an Earth Day far in the past I made a commitment to myself to be accountable for what I use, what I eat, and how I do it so that I could honor the earth that gives us sustenance. The connection is impossible to misunderstand.
At my first Earth Day I began thinking long-term.
- I have been recycling, reusing, and repurposing my entire adult life.
- I recycle EVERYTHING. My spouse used to think I was nuts about this. My blue recycle can is always filled to the brim; my black regular garbage can is usually mostly empty.
- I recycle all my old current magazines to medical & dental offices or give to friends.
- I pass all the books I don't want to keep on to friends; or donate them to my local library.
- I give my old computers and monitors away to people less fortunate than I. If I can't find someone who wants the computer I recycle it.
- I bring my own canvas bags whenever I go shopping.
- If I do get a plastic bag from a grocery store, I reuse it as a garbage bag or for dog poop.
- I have been composting all my garbage for over 10 years. Sometimes we even toss our dog's poop in our compost.
- I have a worm farm for fertilizing the herbs and plants I grow, and where I also toss food garbage to feed them.
- I installed a shut-off valve in my shower so I can turn the water off when I don't need it while I'm showering
- I have low-flow toilets.
- I have never used my dishwasher
- I have never used my clothes dryer; I hang my laundry up on a line to dry.
- I collect rainwater whenever possible (I live in Southern California though, so it rarely rains here).
- Ten years ago I got rid of my grass lawn and replaced it with xeriscaping. Why waste water on keeping a lawn green when people need water to live? It makes no practical sense.
- When I water my plants I wait until the heat of the day has passed, usually watering around dusk so the water doesn't evaporate.
- I have been shopping at local Farmer's Markets since their inception (over 20 years now here)
- I walk or bike whenever possible.
- I use my local library so much I am friends with my librarians.
- I telecommute whenever possible.
- I never leave lights on when I'm not in the room.
- I use compact fluorescent bulbs.
- I use filtered tap water instead of buying plastic jugs of bottled water.
- I try to make my own cleaning products... and am usually successful.
- I turn the water off while I'm brushing my teeth.
- I use mulch on my garden to get the maximum effect of the water I use on my plants.
- I try not to eat farmed shrimp which kills off mangrove swamps.
- I unplug my cell phone charger when it's not being used.
- I recycle computer paper; I print on both sides of a page and reuse other paper that has printing on only one side.
- I cut up blank paper before recycling it and use the smaller pieces as notepaper.
- I make collages, note cards, and art by cutting out art from magazines.
- I buy paper products made from recycled paper.
- I save all my soda cans and bottles and give them to the homeless guys who get money for recycling them. This helps our environment and the homeless.
- I reuse the plastic bags our newspaper comes in to pick up dog poop.
- I stopped delivery on the daily newspaper I read and now read it online. I now only get the Sunday paper delivered.
- I try to shut my computer off every night (this one is real hard for me).
- I recycle all my used batteries to a special hazardous waste recycling program.
- I've recycled my old cell phones to people who needed one but couldn't afford to pay for one.
- I've changed my driving habits so I drive less and get better mileage.
- I save those packaging peanuts and the mailing envelopes I receive when ordering something through the mail to reuse for packages I send out.
- I cut up old Christmas cards and use them as gift tags for my gifts for the next year.
- I reuse gift wrapping paper.
- I'm an excellent time manager & I plan my errands ahead of time to eliminate wasting gas and my time.
- I grow much of the herbs & some fruit & veggies we eat.
- I believe that monorails are the way to go for mass transport in the US. Monorails can easily be added to the sides of all freeways. Why aren't monorails being taken as a serious solution to our mass transportation problems?
- I dye things when dingy - if you're not into tie dying, black dye covers all sins.
- I always share/trade/give-away things like clothes, shoes, and books when I'm done with them.
- I never turn my heat on even though I leave a window open all year round. I love the fresh air. I will add an extra layer of clothes if I'm too cold, but I never turn the heat on.
- I wash most of my laundry in cold water.
- I do not use an air conditioner.
- I am planning a green remodel of my home in which I want to use steel beams and reuse those giant overseas shipping containers for my rooms rather than wood framing the house.
- I teach classes in which we make instruments out of used and recycled or re-purposed objects. I use dead tree branches for making my drum sticks (strip the bark off, sand the edges, lightly oil) and all my friends know to save the following for me for my classes: bottle caps, empty mint tins, empty cigar boxes, chop sticks, empty cardboard rolls from toilet paper and paper towels, pvc piping, old socks, jugs, water bottles, kitty litter containers, popsicle sticks, balloons, and just about anything that can remade or re-purposed into an instrument.
Here's a few pictures of some instruments I've made out of recycled, reused, or repurposed objects....
I have always led a green life.
Today I am making a resolution to go entirely green.
I am currently saving for and planning a green remodel of my home, which I hope to begin sometime within the next year. It will have a grey water recycling system, a passive solar hot water heating pipes under the floors, solar roof panels (or those cool solar roofing tiles) with a connection for my electric car (which I still have yet to get), I will take advantage of the natural cycle of the sun to build windows in the correct place for maximum use for heating and cooling the house, and I plan to 
build a sleep porch for the hottest nights. I also plan to check into composting toilets.
I will be planting fruit trees and other veggies & herbs we can eat. My house will be a remodel, not a tear down; I resolve to use as much recycled material as I possibly can and to waste the least amount of building materials. I will be using steel beams in place of wood, and I am hunting for an architect who is interested in reusing those giant shipping containers that are laying all over storage yards near our ports unused and unwanted instead of wood-framing my addition (Peter de Maria, pictured on the left, is one architect we're considering). They're plentiful, have hardwood floors, resistant to termites, are cheap, and they need to be recycled! Currently there are two major problems with using these shipping containers for building materials: (1) not every city will permit them for use in buildings yet; and (2) very few architects have had any experience working with them. Those two reasons are why my remodel might take longer to begin than I might prefer.
I resolve to leave the smallest footprint possible on the planet that sustains me.
I went green a long time ago. It's easy. What's your excuse?
Happy Earth Day Everyone! ! !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
© 2007 by Digital Dogs
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Digital Dogs is an opinionated writer, editor, and digital designer who lives and works in the Entertainment Capital of the world. DigiDogs' unique reviews are usually written well before a film's release date, and definitely worth the advance look at the films that influence the world.
You can find all of Digital Dogs' HOLLYWOOD POV columns by using the unique tag of "digidogs" or "hollywood pov." Keep up with Digital Dogs' other postings and Gather activity by joining their Gather network -- just click here - digitaldogs.gather.com - and select the orange "Connect" button on the left-hand side of the page. To see a complete listing of articles by Digital Dogs, click here.
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Comments: 49
Basically what it is about is planting drought-tolerant plants in drought areas. I live in Southern California, and it's a desert out here. Trying to have a green lawn is a pointless and expensive lesson in futility. Right after we moved in I took out my entire front lawn and replaced it with drought tolerant plants, which here in our desert means I've now got alot of succulants and cactus and other plants that don't need much water (Rosemary, lavendar, and other herbs are also drought-tolerant). Now I rarely water the front garden at all. What's best about it is that it looks like a Secret Garden from the street.
I've always lived this way ever since I left my parents home... and I won't be telling you how long ago that was, so don't ask lol. Suffice it to say it's been long enough for me to be able to consider myself an expert on the topic.
As to the poop on the compost issue: I never did it until recently when a friend told me that occasional poops distributed widely through the compost will break down just as any other garbage will. I never put alot of poop on, just a little now and then. Poop can add lots of nitrogen, as can pee.
I got my worm farm from a friend who had to move to an apartment and couldn't keep it, so the worm farm itself was recycled to me. I never touch the worms, I only lift the lid to drop my food garbage in the top. I always add some strips of newspaper also. We now have many happy worms. There's a spout on the bottom of the worm farm where their worm juice comes out of and I collect the juice - which is a wonderful natural fertilizer - in recycled juice bottles and give the extra away to friends for them to use on their plants. You should only see all the worms in my soil now.
The easiest way to start is to begin by thinking about the impact you are making on the planet. Then find a recycling program in your area.
Small steps can turn into big changes.
I have to admit that here in rural Ohio it is easy to do some green things and a major effort that questions the overall benefit once you factor in the gas required to deliver recyclables many miles away.
I do some of the things you've stated, have not considered (until now) others and have NO excuse for not doing most of the rest.
I have been writing about Nikola Tesla redcently and include (briefly) how some of his inventions are now being realized as green solutions. So don't be surprised if somehow you find a subtle link between these things and our lives someday!
I pledge to rebuild my defunct rotating (well, used to rotate) compost barrel because of your article. See, you have made one difference.
I encourage you to keep us green with more indept articles on this since you are our resident expert! I know that's asking a lot since you already have so much to deal with.
p.s. I adore the Spice in your life, that is such a wonderful sentiment.
I've been trying to figure out what to do to recycle plastic bags. I've read that plastic bags are actually better for the environment (less energy to produce), but now they're banning it in San Fransisco. I know you can recycle plastic bags, but I know they don't take them if you just put them in the recycling bin. Is there any protocol to recycling them? If you know anything, please let me know.
As the Chair of the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works, I am committed to making the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the products we consume safe for our children and the health of our families. In addition to ensuring that our families have safe and healthy communities to live in, we must also address global warming by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into our atmosphere. Global warming is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing our nation today.
Because I believe so strongly that we are all ultimately responsible for helping to cure our nation's environmental problems, I am starting a program to offer tips to Californians on steps they can take in their own homes to improve our environment. I will be emailing these "Take a Step" messages regularly to Californians, and the full list will be available on my Senate website at http://boxer.senate.gov
Each one of us has the ability to help make our world a cleaner and healthier place to live. I hope you will join me in taking a step in the right direction. My first "Take a Step" tip appears below.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
TAKE A STEP: SWITCH TO COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBS
Replacing just one frequently used conventional lightbulb at your home with a compact fluorescent bulb can save you money on your utility bill and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. If every household in the United States replaced one incandescent light bulb in their home with a compact fluorescent, it would save a total of 90 million pounds of global warming pollution over the lifetime of the bulbs. This would be equal to taking 6.3 million cars off the road. Though compact fluorescent light bulbs are more expensive than conventional light bulbs, they last 10 times longer. One bulb can lower your energy bill by $15 annually and reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 150 lbs.
Take a step and switch out a lightbulb.
Now I'm kinda militant about never using the dryer, the dishwasher, and the heat. I think of that as so much waste of energy and water that I can't bring myself to use those things. But honestly, here in SoCali you really don't need to. I also literally can't stand to see the water running for no reason at all. I"m always shutting it off.
This was an interesting exercise for me; until now I hadn't actually made a list of how green I was and I didn't realize it was so much until I began writing it down. It takes so little effort to do all of these things... really. I encourage you all to try to add little things to your daily routines. Keep a few canvas bags in your car, turn the lights out when you leave a room, don't throw printed paper out unless it's printed on both sides.
Little steps, it's easy.
You are such a good person. I recycle some, (and should recycle more) but it is a fair bit of work.
But necessary for our planet.
I have a goal of having a "green" home someday, I wish you success in yours!
One man's traitor is another man's visionary - keep up the green work!
Don't believe all the goop you read in the paper about LA. We send those anti-LA stories out there to keep everyone else away!
Honestly, I Love LA. We've got the best climate in the entire US, and one of the most advanced recycling programs in the country as well. Not to mention all the Farmer's Markets, there's always few in each city or area that you can go to every single day of the week.
And OH the architecture! I've been in so many architecturely important houses here, and we've got great museums, great art, restaurants, dog parks, sports, cool public events... LA is the ONLY place to live IMHO! Just think, you can do whatever you want - outside - every single day of the year 'cause our weather is so amazing.
I've lived all over the US and IMHO this is the only place I would ever want to live. Almost every day is sunny and beautiful - when I finish my green remodel my plan is to be off the grid entirely. And that's something I really can accomplish living here in LA with the sun we get almost every single day of the year.
(Of course, that lack of water presents a big problem that's only getting bigger, but you gotta take the good w the bad, don't cha? ;-)
As for myself, I am recycling, my dishwasher is my little pair of hands (LOL), I don't own a dryer (and don't plan to; here in Puerto Rico it's hot enough for clothes to dry quickly), I am buying my first home and the appliances I have bought are Energy Star Qualified, I have already bought a 12 pack of fluorescent light bulbs, and you've given me an idea with your xeriscaping.
I do use an air conditioner, because it can get really hot here, but I only use it at night.
I also tell my husband to fill up the tank of our car before the gas level get's below half, and to fill it up at night or early in the morning when he first turns on the car, to avoid the gas from "evaporating" too fast. I also read it's a good idea to press the pump very lightly, because if you press it all the way you risk filling yor tank with gasoline and air; kind of like opening your water faucet all the way: you can see the air bubbles flowing with the water, but if you open it lighlty all you see is water, no bubbles. So the same theory is applied to pumping gas. It could save a few cents every tankfull, so what do I have to lose?
Thanks.
What concerns me now is that conservation without population control may be ineffective. What good is it if all your efforts and mine are taken to mean that we are moving over to make room for millions of other people? This may be the unintended consequences of the conservative movement.
Suzi is a gather member, however, she is currently in Thailand and will be gone for a couple of weeks. (I'm house and pet sitting for her) When she gets back I will "connect" you two via gather and/or e-mail. I know she will be an excellent resourse for you.
Good luck in your endeavor!
Cheri - I would love to meet your friend. Pls PM or e me personally!
Since you are saving water in other ways, I recommend that you replace some of your xeriscape with edible plants; fruit trees, and vegetables. This is a healthy way to eat and to cut down on the transportation and fuel costs for your food.
Hope you win.
Another good idea I've been doing forever is to plant sweet smelling plants (like jasmine) near my windows and doors so it always smells sweet to visitors who are entering my home.... and to us who live in it. I also plant lavendar & rosemary in my garden... when my dogs run around barking at squirrels in our garden they come in smelling from the herbs they've brushed past. Oh so sweet!
(and of course I use the rosemary in cooking and the lavendar for sachets and the pretty purple flowers)
I've always been told that the way to see change is to be a good example. I certainly hope that's going to be more true in the future than it's been in the past. I've shopped with cloth grocery bags for 20 years, yet still see few shoppers using them. During these years I've been recycling, composting, using only compact fluorescent bulbs, eating organic from local farmer's markets, driving my small alternative-fuel car, etc. and would LOVE to see masses of people following suit! In fact, I'd LOVE to be the Pied Piper of Environmentalism...right along with you DD!
Plain and simple...You ROCK!!!!
Duse - I applaud you for driving a CNG car - though finding fuel for it must be a real pain in the neck! I also applaud you for being a vegan. I was a vegeretarian for over 10 years - but wasn't getting enough protein so my dcotor told me I had to add meat to my diet, I now eat fish, turkey, and chicken. I only wish I could be a vegan, but I could never give up milk chocolate! or an occasional BLT (w turkey bacon of course, not the real kind), and I really loathe the taste of soy milk! Good for you Duse! You rock too!
Being an apartment dweller prone to lackadaisical fits with my recycling efforts, I bow to your mastery and envy your living. Kudos, Digi.
I seem to recall that plastic grocery bags can be woven together to make various things; craft like things. I have no idea what it's tensile strength might be, but I'm sure that chord made from twining it could be somehow useful. Hanging planters? Hammocks?
I couldn't help but wonder if the occupants of the waiting rooms you donate your magazines to understand why some of the pictures are missing. Do you cutout big hunks and then winnow them down, or do you fine trim them precisely out of the page? The latter would make for the most interesting reader reactions.
This was a truly great article, DD. So much useful information. I've added the url to my list of 'articles to be revisited multiple times.'
Thanks
Now I'm going to message Cheri and find out about Suzi....................
Excellent!
I too rarely see other peeps shopping w canvas bags, I also can't stand it when I watch some older cashier pack a shopping cart full of stuff into shopping bags while the shopper stands there and doesn't help. I also always pack my own bags. The cashier isn't there to be our personal slave. Wouldn't those long lines at the check-out go alot quicker if everyone helped pack their own stuff? I also take my credit card out before I get to the cashier. IMHO it's all about being considerate... considerate to our planet, to ourselves, and to other people.
Too many people in the US are spoiled brats and expect others to do everything for them. I hate that kind of behavior. I like being self-sufficient. I take pride in being always prepared for just about anything. If there's ever an emergency, you'll want to be with me... I asssure you. I even have a full earthquake kit in a rolling bag in my car.
As to cutting stuff out of magazines - if I've cut alot of pix out (which i use in collages and to decorate the instruments I make) then I usually don't give those mags to anyone else. Who wants a magazine that's all cut up? I don't cut up everything, and I only pass along mags that haven't been cut up.
As to paper recycling - of course I know about tree farms, from my POV that's a no-brainer. I just feel better if I don't thorw things out that can still be used. I've lived in Africa for a short period of time and in 3rd World countries just about everything is recycled... and recycled again.
In the West we're used to tossing things out when they're still good and usable, I just don't think that's the right way to live. As I typed in my article, and Diana repeated just above...
> "I resolve to leave the smallest footprint possible on the planet that sustains me."
That's what it's all about!
I am trying to compost but I don't want to annoy my neighbors. What I'm trying right now is that I've taken an old plastic trash container with lid and put holes in it for air and water to pass through. I have to keep the amount I have in it down, so I can't compost everything.
I use the pine kitty litter, which is great because it can be used in the compost or just put out on the ground outside the complex.
The one thing I would like to find is a community garden in my area so that I could start growing my own food - I really miss growing things other than just houseplants.
TJ, Not to burst your bubble but there aren't really "tree farms" - there is simply land where complex native ecosystems are destroyed (deforested if you will) to be replaced with a monoculture of the one type of tree deemed most useful by a timber company. A large chunk of my county, sadly including a chunk of my acreage, is what you would consider a "tree farm" and they do represent a net loss of what would otherwise be forest.
There is the initial clearcut, which takes out everything from the largest tree to the smallest fern; followed by some burns to deal with stumps, branches and stuff that's not financially valuable; then a single type of tree is planted and after a few decades the cycle repeats. It's really ugly and destructive to the local environment and as a denizen I must object to your cavalier, and uninformed, "tree farm" characterization. It's just flat wrong.
The choice of "best tree" is based on a projection of what will be valuable in 20-40 years, which is not always as accurate as one might like. We've got a ton of GMO cottonwood around here that was supposed to be the next great thing a decade or two back. Between the great planting of the cottonwood and now, it seems to have lost much of that value. This cottonwood grows really fast and has seemingly worthless roots - I've got a friend who lost 5 acres of it in the last windstorm, every last 25 foot tall tree. Between everyone else I know (including his neighbors) there were maybe half a dozen trees lost, and they were things like a 100 year old apple. So we have people who have replaced a marvelous balanced, native ecosystem with a single tree that was supposed to be valuable and now they have a field of dead, worthless trees that they have to pay to remove. And lest you think I care too much, I should note that 85% of my county is in timber so this is my reality.
Like... replace your light bulbs w CFBs; wait to do your laundry until after 5pm; hang your clothes out on a line to dry instead of using the dishwasher; shop at your local Farmer's Markets; trun the lights off when you leave a room; turn your puter off at night; unlug chargers when not in use (as long as they are plugged in they draw electricity)... simple easy stuff like that - those are things that anyone anywhere can do today!
Poor, cold, cynical, populist in the Northeast.
> "how to be cheap with it"
Have you given any thought to actually reading my article and all of my comments following? Your answer is right in front of your faces... if you care to read and can comprehend what you read.
I just wanted to say I am finally going through my currently over 6,000 pieces of gather new mail that is in my inbox on here. So with that in mind I have finally come to a piece of mail that was addressed to me in regards this article submission you have created to share with the gather community. Thank you for taking the time and sharing your piece with us here at gather. :o)