So I've been debating on how I'm going to start this Blog... And let's get right to the point. I've been asking myself lately, "Joanne do you need this?" Or "Joanne do you really want this?" I mean it's simple right? Don't splurge on things you don't need, like more clothes; and always purchase things that you REALLY NEED, like essentials. But I started thinking about other things besides materialistic things. I started examining what I did in a daily basis.
For example, my morning routine: I wake up turn the TV on and the shower water on waiting for it to turn hot. Turn the computer on, wait till that loads... Laugh at Screech on TV (watching Save By the Bell), run back to the computer and write/return an email or be on Facebook playing my Cafe World. Then walk back to the bathroom brush my teeth, while the water in the shower is obviously hot because the mirrors are fogging up. Finally hop in the shower; shower over and I get ready with my blow dryer and have my straightener on while watching TV. Then I realize I need coffee and drive to Starbucks which is just down the hill from my house and totally walkable and when my vehicle is 15.7 mpg? Do I really need to buy coffee that's in a plastic container and a scone which comes in a paper like wrapper? Then I drive back home, get on my computer and have the TV on as background noise which was all on while I was gone for my Starbucks run. Write more emails, respond to Facebook/Twitter/Finish my TV shows... then finally leave to work driving 50 miles.
REALLY Joanne? Was that all necessary?
Really though, have we all really examined our "Waste" habits lately? Like see how much we waste? So another time I realized how much we wasted, was when we had take out from the Chinese Restaurant down the street from our house. The soup came in a styrofoam bowl, with a plastic cover; the rice came in a box; and the noodles and lemon chicken, came in a styrofoam container. That's 4 containers that obviously filled up our garbage can under our sink, so we had to run down stairs to throw it all away.
I mean for a whole straight week I examined my waste habits, from the amount of garbage I use, to usage of energy, water, and gas. AND from what I wrote down, I might as well be choking out Mother Earth myself.
Okay we do recycle. We've been cutting down on the heating, leaving it 60 degrees during the day and 70 at night. We've even switched all our lights to CFL's. Which saved Keith a couple of dollars. I mean that's just only a small part of really being "Green".
I've been taking this Green Building class and it has opened my eyes. We talk about Carbon Footprint all the time(Carbon Footprint: "A carbon footprint is the measure of the amount of greenhouse gases, measured in units of carbon dioxide, produced by human activities") So I decided to look up my Carbon Footprint and I took the "How many Planets does it support your lifestyle" because it made more sense than most of the other complicated calculators out there.
Here's my Results:
If everyone lived like me we would need 8.4 Planets; 37.4 Global acres of the Earth's productivity area; that's 47.5 tons of Carbon Dioxide.
You can take your own Carbon Footprint it at the website:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/
To learn more about Carbon Footprints:
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Carbon_footprint
Can you believe that? 8.4 Planets to support my lifestyle??? That's why I wanted to change and I'm still in the process of changing my WASTEFUL ways.
So join my journey as I change from being Wasteful to being Green. From Green Designing to Green Living. Here we go...
