September 2010

5 Ways to Get Your House Ready for Winter

by nan on 2010/09/08 · 5 comments

Fall is the best time to get your house ready for winter. The first crisp days are a reminder that cold and snow are not far behind. Save energy and money and reduce your carbon footprint with these few things.

> Caulk around window and door frames inside and out.You want to reduce air leakage to keep your precious heat from going outside which in turn makes your heat source work harder and use more fuel.

> Beef up your ceiling insulation. Heat rises and will go right out the roof unless you have insulation in its path to stop it. Read more here.

> Put an insulation blanket around your hot water heater. This will keep the water hotter longer, reducing the need to reheat it as often. Think of an insulated coffee mug. Same principal.

> Get your furnace inspected. Replace the filters and have the duct work checked, sealed and insulated.

> Install a programmable thermostat. You can set a programmable thermostat to turn on before you get up in the morning, so the house is warm, turn down when you go to work, turn on just before you get home, and turn down when you go to bed. You are not unnecessarily heating space when you’re not using it, saving energy and money.

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An Ecological Reminder

by nan on 2010/09/06 · 0 comments

Sunday morning, a few of us environmentalists had a discussion about ecology after reading an article on the potential extinction of plant life. The article talked about how important plants are to the planet, and how they are losing ground due to habitat loss and over-farming.

Our conversation was about how plants and animals are clearly telling us what’s wrong, or trying to anyway. We all agreed that if we don’t pay attention, we’ll be next. It won’t be a rapid demise, but more of a slow painful departure.

We need to change our ways. Now.

I’d been thinking about this earlier in the morning, how we are almost afraid of nature, trying to get rid of it, change it, showing our denial of its importance. Showing our ignorance is more like it.

This is one of my responses in that thread. Just a little reminder.

People don’t realize that we are PART of the planet. We’re not a separate entity. Get naked and go outside. There. Nothing separates you from bugs, plants, rocks or the wind. We are so far removed from nature, it’s scary.

We all have a role in our huge ecosystem, but because humans have ‘evolved’ brains and the ability to ‘reason,’ if you want to call it that, we feel superior to all natural things. We try to control or eradicate them, instead of working with them to keep the natural processes, of which we are ALL a part, intact.

Don’t forget where you are in the scheme of things. You are no better than an ant or an ocean, so get humble and do the right thing. If you need some help, go read my Eco-living Tips section.

Do it now to save YOUR ecosystem!

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Eco Recap 9.2.10

by nan on 2010/09/02 · 0 comments

Cool, cool morning of 43 degrees! The days are still in the mid-80s – good thing… There was lots of fun news this week! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook to read the stuff I didn’t have room for!

> I love my bicycle! I’d like to live where I could ride year round, but for now, I’d be content to move into town so I could run errands on it instead of using the car. Bikes are becoming very popular for practical use and good health.

> I grew up outside of New York City. The Empire State Building was a fascinating and grounding element for me as a kid. The architecture was incredible, and its status as the tallest building in NY was almost god-like. Remember, I was really little! I was not happy when the twin towers were built and took away that status, and I had this sick sense of joy when the Empire State Building’s rivals fell. This building was a big part of my childhood, especially since we scaled its stairs to and from the observation deck more than once. Now this favorite building of mine is undergoing a major green retrofit. Yay.

> I am anti-stuff. Anti-unnecessary stuff, to be more precise. I am horrified at the storage units that keep getting built. How much unused stuff do we have?! Get rid of it! But if you can’t, here are 10 eco-friendly ways to store it.

> Mmmmm…. ice cream…. I guess I won’t be buying Ben & Jerry’s anymore!

> If I had to live in a city, it would be San Francisco. I fell in love with it as a kid and visited several times as an adult. It’s on my radar for a visit or maybe a move in the near future. San Francisco is a progressive city, and they are working hard to be as eco-friendly as possible as quickly as possible. One more reason to love it.

Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.
Albert Einstein

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Living Free

by nan on 2010/09/01 · 2 comments

This is an excerpt from a dialogue I frequently have with a friend. We are both in transition, dreaming of possibilities and being torn by realities. We talked again last night, and here is some of what I said.

I think too much planning ruins what we are really supposed to be doing – being free. If the spontaneous move doesn’t work, you make another one. I don’t know. Someone said I was a gypsy in a previous life.

You know, I may have told you this, but when I was about 20 in the early 70s, I read a Dear Abby column titled Advice at 85: Live Daringly. I still have it somewhere, and it shaped me. An 85 year old woman wrote to Abby and said if she had to do it over again, she’d eat ice cream for breakfast, and walk barefoot in winter more often (among other things). She felt she’d spent so much energy doing the ‘right’ thing that she missed living.

We should be spontaneous and deal with the consequences. We could die tomorrow, so what is there to lose? Nothing! Our society says this is wrong, and that is wrong, so we abide by its lame rules and lose out.

Follow your heart. Be spontaneous. Forget the rules. Be free.