What we consume

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Regardless of “whose fault it is”- re global warming- reduced available land for food etc- as a child of the 70s, I have always been very aware of what impact I can make on our planet.</p>

<p>I am not pointing fingers- but I want to share some things that we have done to lessen the negative impact a little & hope that others will share too.</p>

<p>One thing that we did when we chose where to live- was to live in the city.
At the time- this was where most of the jobs were located ( preMicrosoft), and it still is where H has spent his entire work career ( I am more flexible and have worked around the region)</p>

<p>While public transportation is not a great solution, ( apparently our local agency has admitted that posted schedules are just * guidelines* rather than in stone), and I don’t think H will ever give up his t-bird or his pickup, we do live close enough to shopping that we can hoof it , as well as saving stress & time in traffic ( optimally :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>I have also been shopping quite a bit online :D( I have three birthdays in our immediate family to find something for this month)</p>

<p>I really don’t have patience or the time to comparison shop in stores anyway- I hate feeling like I have to buy something so my trip isn’t wasted & the shipping cost probably is a bit less than gas and parking fees.</p>

<p>([takebackyourtime](<a href=“http://www.timeday.org/”>http://www.timeday.org/&lt;/a&gt; ) needs to be updated- but interesting points)</p>

<p>So really- I reason that this not only saves stress- but money, because I am not buying something that I haven’t researched for two weeks.</p>

<p>( makes impulse buying more novel because it is less frequent)</p>

<p>While we do hang on to some things much more than I would like ( and H is always dragging home stuff from neighbors who are cleaning out their garage)- I figure it is cheap entertainment for him- and less annoying than my brother in law who has a stable of jetskis and snowmobiles.</p>

<p>( tip- instead of spending a lot of time sprucing up stuff I want to sell at a yard sale- which will probably only go for a few dollars- I found that if I put a sign on it marked * Free* and put it on the parking strip, it will be gone after dinner.-)</p>

<p>This is also the time of year to be out in the yard & Miss Rumphius has been an influence. <B
Not only have I planted 3 trees since we bought the house 23 years ago, I just have bought 12 emerald green arborvitae for a hedge and am going back for some more.
But I admit I am also going to have to move some things- that just aren’t in the best place- all this rain makes things grow… a lot.</p>

<p>( my motivation isn’t just to reduce C02 levels, but because I know eventually that rental house next door will be made into something horrible & I don’t want to look at it anymore than I have to)</p>

<p>Well I guess I should go outside and start digging :p</p>

2

<p>I like trees. I bought a house in a neighborhood with lots of mature hardwoods. Over the years most of the neighbors have had their trees removed. The grass doesn’t grow well in heavy shade. What is it with suburbanites and grass?</p>

3

<p>Edad - at last something you and I can agree about! Trees are a hassle - raking leaves, ground roots (in our area anyway) falling limbs, pruning, etc. - but what you get for the effort! Unfortunately a few years ago a guy moved into my suburban neighborhood that I’ve nicknamed “Johnny Chainsawseed.” He constantly goes around preaching to the neighbors about all the horrible things their tree will do to their homes if they don’t cut them down - starting with cracked foundations, leaking roofs, and dry rot. He had one poor old lady practically convinced that her beautiful Sycamore was going to pull up its roots and sneak into her bedroom and kill her or something - she was literally hysterical. The neighborhood HOA hired a tree expert to examine her tree - didn’t help. The city sent a guy out - he left shaking his head. That corner used to have a row of beautiful shady street trees. Now it’s an expanse of flat grass and concrete driveways. </p>

<p>It just takes one bad apple.</p>

4

<p>EK:</p>

<p>You’ll be happy to know that I have over a hundred large trees on my property supplying oxygen and reducing CO2 - and I live in the suburbs of California. I haven’t done the math but I wonder if I’m ‘carbon-neutral’ enough to make up for me driving an old car (1966 Mustang - but with no ozone-depleting air conditioner) without having to buy the ‘carbon-neutral credits’ like the big boys do. They’re mostly Avocado trees plus assorted fruit trees so I’m also helping to feed the masses with avocados since I have them commercially picked.</p>

<p>The internet revolution along with the changes in job types has also helped ecology by allowing more people to spend at least some days working at home. Companies are coming around to the idea that they can get more productivity and even reduce their own costs (real estate, energy usage, travel) by taking advantage of the high speed connectivity the internet provides.</p>

5

<p>I don’t think it is one bad apple. Somehow I now live where grooming the lawn has become a major hobby for most of my neighbors. The town even has ordinances defining the standards of care.</p>

6

<p>In my brother’s neighborhood, the power company had a program- supplying trees if you planted them in places that would shade the house. They were trying to cut down on power use for air conditioners in the summer.</p>

7

<p>Around here they tell you to cut the trees back from the house due to brush fire danger.</p>

8

<p>To digress just a little: are you all making compost with vegetable and fruit peelings, coffee grounds, dried leaves, etc.? Great for your garden, and keeps a lot out of the garbage can/landfill. I plan to be doing a lot more in the garden next year when son is away at school. It’s good for the soul.</p>

9

<p>I could use some help on the composting process. Two years ago, I left a pile of chopped up leaves in the back of my yard. I also contributed some pumpkins and other clean garbage. I tried to turn the mess a few times, but did not see any improvement. By the end of this summer, the compost pile should be useable. In the meantime I have disposed of countless bags of kitchen garbage and every Fall the town picks up about 80 55-gallon drum liners containing compressed, mulched leaves.</p>

10

<p>Heh. I have an acre to the east of Redmond. Half of that has never been landscaped and is mostly covered with 100-foot-plus western hemlocks, douglas firs, and western redcedar. The remainder is alders, cottonwoods, and Himalayan blackberries :(. I consider it my own private mini-nature preserve.</p>

<p>And my (small) front and back yards are mostly moss – very natural and shade-tolerant! I contribute to local wildlife by attempting various horticultural experiments which are all eaten by deer.</p>

11

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<p>I’m getting ready to remove a tree from our yard that has grown large over the years, not because it has wrecked the grass around it (which it has) but because its roots have pushed up and cracked the driveway and sidewalks and are threatening the house foundation.</p>