Go Green!

Just finished listening to Farewell, My Subaru written and narrated by Doug Fine. I can't say enough about this book. First, I love the desert in southern New Mexico, so I was already sold on the book. Second, I want to live more sustainably and reduce my carbon footprint. So this book was perfect for me. I did have to wade through some politics, but the book was excellent anyway. He doesn't sugarcoat anything, and the sustainable life is definitely hard. However, he ended with hope and happiness. That is the best way to end a non-fiction book if you ask me.

I remember in 1992 or 1993 telling my dad that I wanted to quit college and be a farmer. I was almost a senior in college by then and had way more hours than I needed. Dad packed me up into the car and drove me out to my grandparents' farm. They had downsized by this time and only had a few cows, a few acres, a garden, and some apple trees that were more fertile than anyone or anything I had ever seen by this time. The phone was a rotary dial, and I was not about to try to figure out how to work it. Besides, I would have had to know the area code for my parents, and back then, no one cared about area codes. So I was stuck. Out there in Bridgeport with some cows, some chickens, a truck that I didn't know how to drive (at the time, I hadn't learned to drive a stick shift), and apples coming out of my ears. After three days, I fell in love with the life. I had already fallen in love when they lived in Sunset and had a huge (to me) farm with lots of cows and land. I can still smell the wildflowers today. However, while in Bridgeport, I realized very quickly that the farm life was not for me. Not at that time. I was too young and immature even though I was soon to be a college senior. What convinced me that I was not cut out for it was the apples. I think they only had a few apple trees, but those trees produced enough apples to feed a small nation. I do think I could make a go of it now though. Maybe. If I had blackberries instead of apples. Although apple blossoms do smell lovely, and it's hard to imagine sitting on the porch watching a sunset without the apple blossom fragrance hitting you upside the nose like a smack on the head.

In the meantime, I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint. I hypermile just about everywhere I drive and have reduced my gasoline usage. I unplug my laptop, printer, coffeepot, toaster, and most lamps until I actually use the devices. I don't let the water run in the sink willy nilly anymore. I combine errands in order to reduce the gas I use (saves me money too). I recycle aluminum, donate glass bottles to the craft folks at the senior citizens center, and rarely turn on my lights because the sun is pretty bright in here. I ride the train to work when I can (it's safer to keep me off the road anyway), and I rarely run my air conditioner at my apartment even in the Texas summer when temps get up into the 110s (this place is sealed like you wouldn't believe). Now, if I could just figure out how to grow vegetables on my completely shaded patio, then I'd be doing even more. But that's another project. I tried to grow herbs with the Aerogarden, but the cat kept chewing on the chives. She ended up getting so much cat hair into the motor that it quit working. I'll figure something out though.

So check out the book. Be green about it and borrow it from the library if you can. In the meantime, do everything possible to reduce your own footprint. This is the only planet we have to sustain life at the moment, and we need to pamper it and take care of it like there is no tomorrow. If we don't, there might not be a tomorrow.