Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Rob's Dirty Thirty



I was recently challenged to come up with a list of at least 25 items I do to help Mama Earth- with Earth day looming in a month or so I took that challenge. To the person who challenged me- Nyah Nyah Nyah I came up with thirty. Phhhhhhhht.

ROB'S DIRTY THIRTY

30 Things I try do to live in a Cleaner "Greener" World

  1. Grow my own food
  2. Can My own Food
  3. Carry a reusable mug for my coffee
  4. Carry a Reusable Water Bottle
  5. Make my own Soda and by pass the bottle and can
  6. Use reusable containers for my lunch
  7. Wash clothes in Cold Water
  8. Use dryer balls to reduce the amount of drying time in the dryer
  9. Use phosphate free dishwashing detergent
  10. Use primarily CFL bulbs in my light fixtures and Lamps
  11. Eat leftovers
  12. Compost
  13. Take 5 minute or less showers
  14. Use low flow faucets and shower heads
  15. Utilize rain barrels to help water the garden
  16. Pee In the shower, Save pee for the garden
  17. Limit my thermostat to 55 when not at home or in bed sleeping65 when home and awake
  18. Buy peanut butter in glass jars
  19. buy in bulk whenever possible
  20. Reuse materials in the garden (i.e. Pop Bottles as bell cloches, utilize the caps for leveling flats in the green house
  21. Reuse my towel for at least 3 weeks before washing
  22. Use the dog's towel after bathing dog for a bath mat after taking a shower
  23. Save seeds
  24. Try to grow my own tea
  25. Use a solar lamp for outside
  26. Use solar in the scooter shed
  27. Try to buy Locally when ever possible, and buy at the Farmers Makret when in season
  28. Eat less meat
  29. Use my rechargeable Lawn Mower and electric garden tools over my gas chuggling Lawn tractor and other gas tools.
  30. Try to drive less and less

Well there is my list. While I think most of the things are good, many are just baby steps.Some areas could very well be improved on,(i.e. Line dry instead of using dryer balls to reduce my energy usage even more- but hey this is Seattle and dry days are few and far between and I do have a job so for now this is it)


ROB'S P.S.- A little background on this post here. The guy was one of those red necks I work with. He knows who he is. He said it with a smirk on his face.(What he said was "I bet you can't come up with 25 things you do to improve the earth". And in some ways,I understand what he said and why- Fear of Change. He thinks that if one guy starts making changes, then somewhere down the line He is gonna have to make changes. But when he said it, the hair on my neck stood up. And I cannot take all the credit- if you read this blog with any regularity, most of these things I got used to and learned doing all those goddamn challenges. so Thanks Crunchy, Chile, Melissa, Mountain Mama, Fake Plastic Fish, etc. etc. Your blogs give me strength. And make me prove myself to red necks!

6 comments:

Chile said...

Hm, I misread the first sentence as "25 NEW items I CAN do to help..." Coming up with a couple dozen things we already do isn't all that hard, huh? Coming up with 25 NEW things you could start doing would be a challenge...hint, hint. ;-)

The 4 Bushel Farmgal said...

BRAVO! Good list. I tip my hat to you, sir!

By the way, I recall you mentioning power cords on appliances in an earlier post...?

Rosa said...

good job!

Do you have a porch or a dog run or anything? Last year because of one of Sharon's challenges I put a line in our front porch and it expanded my line-drying through the rainy months - stuff will eventually get dry even in high humidity, if it's not getting rained directly on it all the time.

I should post a photo - my partner put in 2 lines on pulleys, way up high so when they're empty you don't have to duck under them. I stand on a ladder to hang stuff.

Fleecenik Farm said...

oohhh..can I steal this idea??

Robj98168 said...

Chile- the guy challenged me to come up with 25...I made the list and came up with 30

4 Bushel---If you are talking about my electric yard tools- most of them are corded

Rosa- Thanks! The problem isn't as much Humidity as it is I have no time!

Fleecnik- of course you can. All things on my blog are meant for public consumption.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Rob, how 'bout all those nifty gifts you re-purpose with your own creative twist? Your practical furniture pieces are top-o'-the-line, in my humble. And you also support community garden, and promote interesting challenges like Gorillas In The Urban Mist, no?

In addition to striving to lessen your impact, you inspire a whole lot of us.

Keep up the good work!!

~d