I was also considering to title this post “It’s not a short pier” and have the first sentence be “Nor is it a long walk,” but instead I’ve opted for stating that I do, in fact, hope that I bother you. Stay with me for a moment. I don’t mean to say I hope I bother you in so much that you can’t stand to be around me, or listen to me speak, but more in the sense that I bother you to do something, anything at all, to help the environment. I was inspired to even mentioned this by an article by Michael Pollan titled Why Bother? in The New York Times.
The reason this post had a different title when I was thinking it up on one of my two walks to work today (yes, two; I walked home for a snack at lunch) is because of the fact I walk to work in the first place. I haven’t brought the bicycle out of storage yet so I’ve been walking to work in the mornings, which inevitably means a walk home at the end of the day, and the trip covers just about one mile; I’ve done this for the last two weeks on all but this past Friday. Some, when I say I walk to work, are surprised that I walk that far, and I always want to question why they say that. As everyone knows, overland travel for someone under a light load is twenty four miles per day, which comes down to about three miles an hour, or one mile every twenty minutes. If you weren’t aware of the overland speed, please check your Player’s Handbook for Dungeons and Dragons. Anyway, that’s about what that trip takes me (about twenty minutes) and it’s not that bad of a trip. My wife tends to walk to campus even when I drive, so she has me beat there, but I’m trying to drive less and walk (or bike once I get it out) more, and at the current cost of gas, that’s not that bad of an idea.
In the evenings, we have been trying to get back into our habit of after-dinner walks. Due to alternating being sick and having other things to deal with, we didn’t go on walks in the winter as much as we have in previous years, and so we are trying to get on track. On average, our typical walk will be about 1.7 miles, sometimes going as far as 2.25 when the weather is nice or we are sufficiently motivated. Dropping the electric payment in the night drop box the city has sometimes plays a role in that motivation, and can add about one third of a mile onto the walk.
Most of the time, I like to end, or begin to end, our walk with a stop at Ground For Thought to get a cafe mocha. About a month or so I considered how often we were stopping there so I could get a drink, and I realized it had to be about ten at least fifteen times a month. I then thought about all those “disposable” cups I was getting. At that point in time I realized I really shouldn’t do that anymore, so I started bringing my travel mug with me; it holds the same volume of drink. The cup was free (from a gift-basket we got from CDW-G a few years ago), and while items like that may not be the most eco-friendly to make, it’s already been made, so I might as well use it to stop making more waste.
By this point, maybe you’re thinking that this is just a belated Earth Day post, or that I’m just putting it up because I have Earth Day fever. Fortunately, that is not the case. The more I simply look at what I do, the more I realize that there are things I can do that can help make a difference. The fact that Earth Day occurred a week ago has helped with this, but is not the main reason for it.
For example, on the History Channel, probably on a show like Modern Marvels, they had a brief blurb about an in-home compost device by NatureMill. Considering that we purchase/consume very little meat products at home, most of our waste from meals are vegetable scraps. The device isn’t as power hungry as one might suspect, and it can start producing compost in about two weeks. While we don’t have a garden, we do have about a dozen or so plants around the apartment, and being able to supply them with some compost would make them grow better, and reduce that amount of trash we throw out. This also got me thinking about what herbs and vegetables, if any, could we start to easily grow in out apartment, without turning it a mess and/or greenhouse. Even if we can only grow a small amount of herbs and devote the top shelf of a book case to the container, those one be one less thing we have to purchase, and we would know what chemicals, if any (ideally none) were used on it.
In the case I just listed, while initially an idea to cut our waste, it has the potential to be a money saver as well.
Meghan has been talking about getting a bicycle, and that’s probably something we’ll take care of this week. I’ll pull mine out of storage and take it down to Cycle Werks for a tune up, and while we’re there, we’ll speak with them about options for Meghan. I’ll also be looking at, or speaking with them about any bike carriages they might have or recommend for hooking behind my bicycle. I know there are a variety of models out there, and if I can find one that will suit my needs, I could start biking recyclables to the recycling center instead of waiting for them to pile up in the kitchen and driving them there.
So many little things can be done that can make a difference. I hope I bother you to change just one thing, as it’s gotta help somehow.
A friend of mine composts in his Boston apartment without a machine. he’s got a Rubbermaid tub with special compost worms (I’m not sure what kind of worms they are, but I am sure I can get you more info if you want it). He’s planning on using it for a small indoor herb garden.
I hope I brother you too!
..Oh wait…
Nevermind.
Anyway, it’s rather funny that my scope has been creeping to include more simple environmentally friendly means as well. I’m too poor to afford a car, let alone gas, so that saves on carbon emissions; I continue to be too lazy to change my light-bulbs which have burned out, so that saves on energy costs; I don’t shower often which conserves water; I sleep for about 12 hours a day, keeping my body in a state of lowered carbon dioxide emissions and reduces my general consumption of resources. I’m like a one-man-Al-Gore!