AttemptGreen.com

A few posts back, Alex commented about the blogs he reads and would like to know what I read.  So now available on this blog is a blogroll, available in the right hand column.  There are many great green blogs available.  I also believe this is what finally put me up on the Best Green Blogs.  Best Green Blogs is a great website to go to if you want to find other blogs addressing the environment and sustainability.  Many of the blogs in the directory can get into very specific topics, like travelling green or raising a green baby.

Check out some of these other blogs that I read if the topics seem to apply to your life too.  If there is something that you read that you think I should check out, let me know.  Even though my life has been a bit crazy the last month or two with selling my house (YEAH, it’s sold!), I’m still on the lookout for new things to learn, read, and topics I want to write about.  My topic list is growing so look for more new topics in the future, like the dryer I’ve dreamed about, conserving more gas by improving a home’s energy efficiency and a fantastic top ten list.

I know I haven’t blogged much over the past week or two since my life is being turned all around.  Within the next week we will be moving from the Cleveland area to Philadelphia, which means going away parties and packing.  At some points I don’t know which way is up, with all the changes coming about.  Once I get settled into Philadelphia, more regular blog posts will be coming.  I promise you that.

With moving, I’m coming up with some more green and economical ways of doing things.

• I went to the grocery store and liquor store this morning and didn’t buy anything.  I asked for their boxes that they were going to be throwing away.  This way I’m reusing materials that they would have been tossing into the landfill, and I get free boxes.
• Craigslist.  So I haven’t gone on there yet, but I have a few larger items I need to get rid of and plan to get on craigslist this week and sell some of this stuff.
• I’m looking for a lawn service.  I don’t know what I want or need, other than someone to mow the lawn until the house sells.  I noticed today that my neighbor, who is a bit older, also has a lawn service.  How great would it be if they did my lawn the same time they did her lawn?  Ya, it would be ideal if one of the neighborhood kids would just come do it, but I haven’t established a relationship with too many of my neighbors that have kids old enough.
• Purge, purge, purge.  You may have noticed that many of my posts over the past few months have been about me getting rid of stuff.  This was in anticipation of the move.  The less stuff we have, the less we have to move, and the less the truck is going to weigh.  This means we get a lower moving cost, but also the truck can travel more efficiently without the extra weight.  We also end up having a much neater house, which is great for a sanity check. 

Our lives our moving, but this blog will remain.  I just might be more aware of Philly amenities and big city features when it comes to being more green, but I’ll still try to keep an eye on things going on in Cleveland for all the Ohioans.  Look out for what new things I find.

Today happens to be Earth Day, which is a great way to bring environmental concerns to the front of everyone’s minds.  So what special thing did I do for Earth Day?  Nothing.  At least not really.  I did greet most everyone by saying “Happy Earth Day”, much like you would for new years.  That probably made more people aware that wouldn’t normally.

The reason I didn’t do anything “special” was because I’m making a lot of little changes over a period of time and not one huge thing just today.  The earth needs a lot of help, and what I do in one day won’t make much of a difference, but what I do over the rest of my life will.  So today I used my own mug when I went to Caribou, I drove my hybrid to work, I went running outside (not on a treadmill), recycled my Gatorade bottle, and list goes on and on.  I’m going to continue to adopt new ways of helping our earth out (and blogging about).  Join in with me to make some more little changes to have a big impact.

There are tons of resources out there, especially today, about sustainability, resource consumption and the like, but I really wanted to point out a fantastic video called “The Story of Stuff“.  My attention was drawn to it by another blog, Presentation Zen, to point out how this person’s passion comes across in their presentation style (regardless of message).  While her message is very strong, she highlights how awful our resource consumption really is, especially in the United States.  I don’t necessarily agree with all of her arguments, but most are truly convincing and informative.  I’ll be thinking twice about going shopping just to go shopping.  Take 20 minutes, I highly recommend you watch this video. 

A funny side note, last night when I told my husband today was Earth Day, he said he would ride his bike to work.  No, he doesn’t have a bike since I donated the old bikes. The reason this is funny is because he works from home and doesn’t have a commute.

Do you put quotes in your email signatures?  I’ve never really been one to put anything other than my contact information in my signature, but I realize that it is only because there hasn’t been anything screams “you should send this to everyone you would ever send an email to”.  I’ve finally seen something that I truly want everyone to see when they receive an email from me.

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Now I’m not sure if the person that originally sent the email (a friend of a friend), added this line herself or if it is part of a corporate signature.  Regardless, I’m stealing the idea and adding it to my signature. 

So much about making changes is more about education and being aware and not much at all to do with making huge sacrifices.  This definitely fits in with trying to help people be more aware about what they are doing.

Take a look at emails you receive from me in the future, it’ll be there!

So I thought it would be appropriate to write about doing something green on St. Patrick’s Day.  I struggled a little bit with coming up with an idea, but I think this one is pretty good.  Here in Cleveland, St. Patrick’s Day is kinda big, or at least that is my impression.   Many people took off work today to start drinking at 6 or 7 AM!  The pubs were all coloring their beer green.  So I thought what if you were greener with your beer, instead of just coloring it green.

In the Cleveland area, we have some fantastic microbreweries.  Now, I’m not much of a beer drinker, but everyone tells me how great Great Lakes Brewing Company is (especially their Christmas Ale).  For this time of year they have Conway’s Irish Ale.  When I used to travel more, everywhere I went, the locals would rave about the local beers.  So my theory is that there are great local beers pretty much everywhere.  The best part is that local brews don’t have as far to go in distribution, so the environmental impact is much less.

On this fine St. Patty’s Day, raise a pint of the local beer.  If you are more of a wine person, see my post on Wines.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!