you don't have to be a saint.

as any of you reading for, well, pretty much any amount of time know, I try very very hard to be as eco-friendly as I can. I still own a non-hybrid car and not every new article of clothing I purchase is made from organic materials. But I am trying. If it's yellow we let it mellow, I grow some of my own vegetables and herbs, I buy local and organic when I can, I try to use biodegradable soaps and detergents, I reduce whenever I find a way to do so, I keep the thermostat high/low, etc etc. I am also quite proud of the fact that I haven't used a plastic bag since february--thank you again, renee, for introducing me to baggus.

(though I must admit that Matt did pick one up at the gas station on saturday the 12th when we were in the car and I thought I might throw up)

Yesterday Matt and I read another one hundred and fifty things to do in the book jackie gave me. If you want a copy of your own, you can find them here. We can't help but read more and more!

We've/I've found plenty we want to do...
-turn off the heat at night when it's cold
-stop using the "steam setting" on the iron--wastes TONS of electricity and instead you should just spray water onto the clothes and your iron and clothes will last longer
-continue to turn off the computer at night (leaving it on can waste enough energy to print 800 pages on a laser printer--per night!)
-try to eat vegetarian even more often (though I am not committing to going totally veggie, just FYI)
-make draft blockers out of old socks
-continue trying to drink more local beer (instead of that yummy beer flown in from hawaii or, worse, beer imported from europe)
-get a rain barrel (the downspout for a good portion of the gutters on our townhome building comes out on our patio--we're going to try to collect some of that water)
-use water-based nail polishes
-always always always use eco-friendly cleaners
-if you spill wine or juice on your carpet, soak it up with salt!

and like 100 other things that aren't coming to me off the top of my head. It's really fun because some things I'm all about and others he's into, and between the two of us... :)

but some things we're going to realize that we just aren't going to do, or aren't going to do to the extent that others might prefer. And we can't do it all...I've been feeling some eco-guilt recently, but I have to remind myself that sometimes you can have this indulgence if you do that and that to more than make up for it. For instance.

-unlike my friend maria, I havetohavetohaveto shower every day. I am proud of maria's commitment, but I just don't have it in me. When it's not so hot and sweaty out (and when my oily hair isn't so gross at the end of the day) I try to reduce my hair washing, but that's about it. I've been feeling bad that I still take non-5-minute showers, and Matt and I had a talk about it yesterday when that topic came up in the book. He is even more of a showerer than I am, because when he feels ill showering is what he does to feel better.

We realized that for showers we really use more water than we should/is necessary, but unlike many other eco-friendly options, neither of us are motivated to, say, cut showers in half or stop using a life-long means of comfort (matt). What to do? And then he reminded me--we don't have to be saints (as it even says in the book). Okay, so we aren't up for taking extra short showers...what else can we do?

-install aerators on all of our faucets
-get a rain barrel and use that to water the plants, wash off something, etc.
-Continue to avoid flushing when prudent
-finally get around to adding the plastic bottles filled with water in the cisterns of the toilets (and fyi, if you use a toilet in the "standard" always flushing fashion your toilet is using more water than that longer shower does each day)
-keep using our water jug in the fridge so we don't ever let the water run
-wash dishes in big batches and fill up the sink instead of lots of little batches
-be mindful of how much flow is coming out of the tap--do you need a full-on stream to wet your toothbrush or rinse your razor?
-turn off the water while shaving your legs (that's just me, not matt! ha!)

anyway, it was good to realize. I had been feeling guilty. But if I'm not up for one thing, I can just do others in its place.

Also, I felt bad too because yesterday we went to Hobby Lobby and decided, right there in the store, that we would enjoy a scrap book of our road trip. I have thought about scrapbooking a hundred times before, but found the task daunting--I take THOUSANDS of photos a year--where do I begin? what do I scrap book? But our trip was a very specific limitation, so that seemed do-able.

I kind of freaked out at the nice Hobby Lobby lady because NONE of the glue dot dispensers were refillable (or recyclable, for that matter) and I thought that was a huge waste. I finally found a scotch one that was--yay scotch tape! But as we left I realized that my one small victory, my refillable glue dot dispenser, was overrun by the non-recycled paper I bought, the plastic sheet protectors on the pages, the petroleum-compound containing stickers, etc.

But then again--I'm going to stay home and do this instead of going out. I use a digital camera and weed out the photos so I don't print more than I'll use. I am also going to use the MANY stickers I've accumulated over the years--your average person would've spent an additional $30, easy, on stickers. And for my refills I'm going to find out what I can do to be more eco-friendly. But it's a balance. I mean, if I were a true eco-geek-o I'd be pretty much naked right now and wouldn't have a car or a computer or dry my hair or take birth control or wear mascara or listen to music or anything.

I realize there is a HUGE difference between justifying your behavior and not bumming yourself out by giving something up. and it is totally a process! my friend patty is a newly-converted greenie, and it's very interesting to see someone go through the process. check out her blog!

and, last of all, I must say it was VERY interesting to see evidence of my years and years of trying to do better for the planet--I found my old save the whales earrings I got when I was 11 or so, with one ear saying "save the" and the other a whale (a portion of the cost went to a charity!), my high school earth shirts from humanitees, and even my trunk that I didn't realize had recycling stuff ALL OVER it. I've told you how I wrote Mead a letter when I was a little girl asking them to make recycled paper cost the same as regular. But yeah. Definitely been up to this for quite some time, but I can see it snowballing daily...ha!

okay, enough eco-mumbo-jumbo. just been on my mind. trip pics soon, I am sure!