Green Isn't Just for St. Patrick's Day

I just finished watching No Impact Man (I hope to find a used copy of the book soon) and yes, I watched thru a non-green source as I have a subscription to Netflix (I choose renting over borrowing but haven't given up on media yet LOL).  As green as I try to live, some of their experiences will not be copied by me.  For one, I cannot give up electricity as I work from home.  But I can give up electricity for an hour--and will do so quite willingly on March 27 at 8:30.  After getting my electric bill today and seeing what heating this apartment did these past two winter months, I am seriously looking for ways to cut energy use yet further.

Having my water heater drained and cleaned out by the apartment complex is on the list.  Making sure that it can work efficiently is important (here is a great PDF of how to drain your own water heater).  Actually, I missed how they handled the hot water issue in the documentary (maybe I need to watch again), but I enjoyed seeing them do laundry in the bathtub by stomping it (think Lucy Ricardo stomping grapes in the vintage "I Love Lucy" episode).  Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it enough to do all my laundry that way LOL.

I already use public transportation or walk and as my friends can attest, there is no elevator to my second floor apartment ;-)  I have thought about a three-wheel bike, but there is no place to park it here and frankly, Texas drivers aren't as friendly to bike riders as they could be...

My composting experiment has proven--at least to me--that an apartment dweller in Texas can compost on their back porch slowly but surely.  All food scraps (excluding meat and dairy) for two years have composted into a single 18-gallon plastic tub.  No flies (even in Texas!) but I never could find a local source for red wigglers so this was done without vermicomposting.  For "brown" material to mix into the compost, I simply used the contents of my shredder each time it filled.  Not a bit of this was scientific, but it has worked.

We've already discussed my toilet paper experiment (BTW, I still have half a case of the Marcal and twelve rolls of the Office Depot paper) and for 2010, I just may keep toilet paper around for my guests only.

All in all, as I write this and watch the History International "Irish In America" special, my form of "wearin' of the green" this year has taken the form of "livin' more green".

This has not been a particularly articulate post--I'm knee-deep in TGAN research (Louisiana Native American culture is this week's focus), and I don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day per se ever since we buried my mom on March 17, 1988, but I felt the need to post something here today.

Come join those of us who will work or play by candlelight for an hour on March 27 at 8:30 PM local time...and I promise a better post next time ;-)