Friday, August 24, 2007

4 simple steps to become 22% greener.

Its hard to do a major overhaul of the way you do things but luckily for you, being green is easy as banana creme pie. Plus, it will save you lots of money that you could use for a vegetable garden.


1. Gas is expensive. Find other means of transportation.
Get a bike to travel locally. You don't have to give up your car, just use it less. Plus, you will be more healthy, maybe loose a little weight, eat less, buy less, look better. Public trans is green. Green is cheap. Green is sexy. Be green, get laid.

2. Food is expensive. Opt for fresh vegetables and fruits in season.
Vegetables are cheap- Way cheaper than those microwave boxes, cheaper than eating out. Vegetables are healthy. In the long run, if you eat five a day, you will save on health costs. Think towards the future. Instant gratification is way overrated. If you eat more veggies, you will be more healthy, you will have more energy, your body will become more efficient. Become a green machine. You will want to walk more, or ride your bike with greater ease. With vegetables, there is also little waste. No big boxes, no plastic packaging. Easy as pie. Rhubarb pie.
Want to know whats in season and when? Check out these links. Or find your own.
Food Network's seasonal chart
Nutritiously Gormet Seasonal Calander

3. Bottled Water is expensive. and stupid. Stop buying bottled water.
Tap water is extremely underrated. Trust me. Add some ice, maybe a lemon, try a few mint leaves- it's fantastic! But if you are finicky, opt for a Brita or other kind of water purifier. Re-fill and re-use your plastic bottles. Not only is plastic a huge landfill problem, it is also ridiculously expensive. People used to make fun of buying water. But clever advertising has programed us to think its not stupid at all. Trust me, it's stupid.


4. Ephemeral fashion is expensive. Instead of buying shoes and clothes every other day, spend money on an urban garden.
Grow mint, basil, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, peppers, squash, etc. Not only are they pretty and tasty, think of it as an investment. Home grown foods taste so much better than your large-chain-grocer's because they are fresh. There's no scary chemicals in them either. The supermarkets also make a lot of emissions from transporting the produce from far away. Think it's a waste of water? What about your lavish lawns? Get rid of it and grow a veggie garden. Click this to go to the Edible Estates website to see how it's done. If you can eat what you grow, you spend less on food. See number 2 above. With all the excess money from not shopping a lot, plan fun pot luck with all your friends. Become happy so you don't have to fill the void with shopping all time. Opt for the thrift stores and cheap vintage stores. By doing so, you won't be supporting exploitative labor either.

2 comments:

lisa said...

Good points....hopefully, the more it's brought up and discussed, the more people will listen. After all, you don't HAVE to be a gluttonous fat-cat just because you CAN.

Anonymous said...

Brita filters do not remove fluoride, which is highly toxic and hardens our pineal gland; known as the seat of our soul/spirituality.
http://www.nofluoride.com/presentations/Fluoride%20Lead%20Arsenic%20Comparison.pdf