Vacation

It's almost time for vacation. I do not plan on getting back onto a computer again until January 3rd. As I spend at least 8 hours a day on the computer during the work week, this is the best holiday gift that I can give myself and my weary eyes!
We will be out of town for vacation and to keep the energy use down in the house while we're away we will be turning the thermostat down to 56 degrees (it's recommended not to go below 55 so the pipes won't freeze) and I will be unplugging all appliances except the refrigerator.

We have found some local grocery stores and a Whole Foods at our vacation destination so we can continue to purchase local/organic produce while we are away.

Though, we are flying (not great for the environment) we do have a direct flight. Why does this matter? It’s not just because we are traveling fewer miles. It’s because as much as 50% of airplane carbon emissions come from takeoff and landing!

Stay Green! Happy Holidays!

Holiday Survival Guide - Sierra Club

Check out this entertaining Guide to challenging environmentally charged conversations that may come up over the dinner-table this holiday season.

Holiday Survival Guide - Sierra Club


Cheers!

Holiday Giving

The Holidays are fast approaching. It is apparent by the frigid temperatures, the bountiful amount of snow on the ground, the lights up on my neighbor's house, the music being played on the radio, the amount of cookies and candy in the office and of course the full parking lot at the mall.

I love the holiday season. I love drinking hot chocolate (and peppermint schnapps), I love walking in the snow, I love my broken Nutcracker that sits on the bookshelf, I love Charlie Brown's Christmas Special, I love candy-canes and the holiday lights and music and spending time with friends and family.

One part of Christmas that I don't celebrate much anymore is the gift purchasing madness. For the first 28 years of my life we had loads of presents under our Christmas Tree at home.
For my entire life, I would ask my father what he would like for Christmas and he would respond "Save your money all I want is World Peace" (or Whirled Peas...depending on the mood he was in). So each year I would search the stores to try and find something to buy him because though he said he didn't want a gift, I couldn't buy something for everyone else in the family and leave him out. It was usually a sweater or socks or as I got older a gift-certificate to Gander Mountain. These gifts weren't special and given the number of sweaters that I purchased and never actually saw my father wear, it was unnecessary. It probably made my father feel bad to receive a gift he knew he wouldn't be using and it made me feel bad to wander the stores knowing that nothing I found would be what he had asked for...because you can't buy World Peace.

My family doesn't exchange holiday gifts anymore. We stopped exchanging gifts when the state of the economy changed in 2008. With cash a little tighter in everyone's pocket we decided it didn't really make sense to purchase gifts that year. Along with the shift in the economy, a shift was occurring in my family and we began to think more about our belongings and our needs. It was harder than ever to answer that one simple question..."what would you like for Christmas?".

This year the members of my family will be purchasing a goat for a family in need through Heifer International. http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.195980/
Through Heifer International, one can purchase live-stock, trees, bees, etc. that will be given to families in need across the world. Heifer provides training which allows the families to maintain their livestock as a source of food and income. Heifer calls these animals "living loans". In exchange for the livestock and training each family receives, they agree to give one of their animal's offspring to another family in need. Now that's a gift that keeps on giving! From their website- Heifer International has helped over 70 million men, women, and children across the world on the road to sustainability. Providing livestock and training is the helping hand you can extend this holiday season with your gift. The organization allows people to purchase an animal, like our goat ($120), or a share of an animal (usually around $10.00). People can also purchase a flock of ducks or chicks for around $20.00.
This allows for the opportunity to contribute at any level!

Though the adults no longer purchase gifts for each-other in my family we do purchase gifts for my two young nephews. This year my gift is not something tangible. I've gotten my sister's family a membership to the Madison Children's Museum. http://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org/
So they will have one year of free admission and reduced parking.
I know there are days, especially in the colder months when my sister is home with the kids and they just need to get out of the house, so hopefully this will provide a place she can take them without spending any money! It sure beats walking around Target drinking a Starbucks coffee with the kids in the cart, just so that they can get a change of scenery.

This year, if gift-buying is unavoidable, think about some non-tangible gifts.

Here are some ideas;
- A donation to offset your loved one's carbon footprint. http://store.terrapass.com/store/c/18-carbon-offsets.html
- A donation to your loved one's favorite charity (or purchase your loved one a goat or some chickens through Heifer International).
- Tickets to a show or concert.
- A State or County trail pass (biking, skiing etc)
- A State or National Park pass
- Membership to the local zoo, museum, aquarium etc.
- Membership to a local co-op grocery store.
- Gift Certificate to a restaurant or coffee shop.

Happy Holidays!

Synopsis

We recently received a break-down of how we are doing in the Eco-Challenge.

Here is a brief overview:

Driving- 40% below the Madison average for one person is around 650 miles per month. Our miles per month were 677 mil/month, 879 mil/month, and 670 mil/month is August, September, and October. Now this is above our goal for one person however there are two of us driving the car, so individually we are well below.
Perhaps we can get 40% below the average of one car-driver. That's our new goal! It will be interesting to see if we drive more or less in the winter months. I think a lot of our trips are actually high-mile trips out of town to do different activities like camping and kayaking. So, since we aren't making those trips in the winter, it may drop down. I guess we will see!


Trash- The goal for trash per month should be no more than 82 lbs (40% less than the Madison Average). We keep track of our trash generated for one week of each month. We have generated 2.5lbs/week in August, 3.5lbs/week in September, and 6lbs/week in October. Each month we were well below the 82 lbs/month mark. So we're doing pretty well so far but I would still like to reduce this amount by purchasing more items in bulk from the co-op.

Electricity- Our goal is 360 Kwh a month (40% of Madison average of a 2 person house-hold.) We used 321 Kwh in August, 320 Kwh in September and 233 Kwh in October. I'm hoping to purchase a wall clock - and run it on rechargeable batteries so that we can unplug the microwave when not in use since that is our main source of telling time and it's pulling unnecessary energy. We are continuing to use task-based lighting in the kitchen to help reduce our energy use. Also, two light-bulbs have burned-out in the bathroom and we haven't yet replaced them...so this might help bring it down even further. The goal for a one-person household is 222kwh-it would be awesome to see how close we could get to this number!


Food- We have been eating a lot more than 40% local and organic which is great! Typically we are anywhere between 80-90%. We are also striving to make more conscious decisions when eating out, by going to restaurants that purchase meats, cheeses and vegetables locally. With Willy Street Co-op on the west side of town, I think the amount of local and organic products we are buying will only increase!


I plan on researching some new ways to help reduce our electricity! Also as the temperatures drop (and they've sure dropped today currently 10 degrees, feels like -4) we have turned on the heat. It will be interesting to see in the next few months where we rank in gas-use.

I'm curious how the other families are doing.....

Handkerchiefs and Snow

The lack of recent blogging has to do with an unfortunate cold/virus sweeping through my tiny house-hold. Perhaps I should have attempted to blog this week while deliriously fighting a fever, drinking Nyquil and swallowing Sudafed tablets. That may have made for some entertaining ramblings.

I must say that when fighting a cold, my attention diverts away from trying to lower my environmental impact. I noticed myself leaving some lights on, cranking the heat and of course going through boxes of tissues.

I do admire those individuals who carry a handkerchief to wipe their wet noses. However I wonder if these folks use them when fighting a pesky virus? That would be one interesting load of laundry, full of sticky handkerchiefs.

We are on the mend and feeling better around here and just in time for a delightful snow fall! Madison got 3-5 inches last night and it's still coming down. There were multiple instances overnight where one of us jumped from bed to peek out the window and see how things were coming. We woke early with anticipation and by 8am we were outside shoveling the driveway and sidewalk...hopefully without waking our neighbors.

I've only recently become so excited about the snow-season in Wisconsin, after finally accepting the fact that I live here....and not somewhere tropical. In the past I would walk around in the winter with a light weight coat and leather clogs, complaining about how cold and miserable I was. After some initial investment in some "real" winter gear and some awesome winter toys, I'm ready to play outside! Granted it took me almost 30 years to figure this out.

This afternoon Mike and I took a nice walk in the snow to the Babcock Dairy Store for some lunch. http://www.babcockhalldairystore.wisc.edu/
Babcock Dairy is the University of Wisconsin's Dairy Plant that is mostly staffed by students and covers 100% of its costs through the sale of the ice cream, milk and cheese produced. Unfortunately for us, the store doesn't serve lunch on Saturday, so instead we purchased some fresh cheese and ice cream! I suppose that is about as local you we can get within the city when it comes to cheese and ice-cream production. It's delicious, locally produced and within walking distance.

To the gentleman leaving Babcock this afternoon with two bags full of ice cream and an ice-cream cone in his hand - Right on man! It's never too cold for a Babcock ice-cream cone.