Thursday, April 22, 2010

Days 3 & 4 of No Impact Week

Happy Earth Day everyone!!!  We were joking around at the table last night about my husband and my dad riding the tandem bike into the city today in celebration (the tandem is my husband's nemesis)... I would have made him do it too, but he had to do a work trip in the opposite direction today (how convenient!)  Anyway, what are YOU doing for Earth Day?  Feel free to post your favorite Earth Day celebration acts in my comments for today. 

Again, to avoid redundancy, here are my posts from Days 3 & 4 of the No Impact Week Challenge:


Day 3 - Transportation

This one is a really tough one for me. I live about 20 kilometers from the nearest town, and 60 kms from a major city. While living out in the 'boonies' is wonderful for a lot of earth-friendly activities: composting, gardening, outdoor clothes-drying, playing in the woods/fields etc., it isn't so great for the transportation issue. I do try to bike into town whenever possible, especially on weekends, however now I have a one-year-old as my faithful sidekick. I do own a bike trailer and my son loves to ride in there, but it just isn't safe on the roads out here (80 km/h speedlimit, with no shoulder, and most drivers go WAY faster than that b/c there is very little policing out here). So, it is just not a risk that I am willing to take. Now that it is nice out, when I need to go into town (like today for example), I often throw my bike/bike trailer in the vehicle and take it into town with me. Then, while I am in town, I can use it to ride around and run my errands rather than drive.



That being said, I only go into town about 1-2 days during the week and maybe only once on the weekends, in which we always carpool with my parents (five of us in one car). So, even though our situation is less than ideal, we are cognizant of our carbon footprint with respect to transportation. I have often thought about moving into a center (ideally somewhere in BC), but right now it just doesn't make sense for us... we are enjoying a healthy, communal lifestyle with my parents living next door and I am working from home/mothering from home. So, life is pretty good.


Anyway, that is my take on 'transportation'... I promise, no more trips into town (until Saturday - and then I will be carpooling!)

Day 4 - Food

The food challenge has actually been underway since January for our family. I find that slow, steady changes lead to lasting ones, so we are taking it one day at a time, trying to make good choices for LIFE! Some of the things that we have done so far include: phasing out any/all processed foods (we are almost there!), going meatless at least one day per week, starting a garden indoors this year to extend the growing season, experimenting with lots of new/different (and in season) vegetables, buying organic produce when possible, and making a lot of my own food: bread, crackers, cinnamon buns, soft pretzels, etc. We have also drastically reduced the amount that we eat out or take away food and drink. I have kicked my 'starbucks habit' and I haven't eaten fast food in years, so that really isn't an issue anymore either. All in all, things are going well for us on the 'food front'. My biggest challenge remains to find good on-the-go snacks that my son will actually EAT. I got him hooked on natural fruit bars, but the problem with those is the darned packaging. My first go at fruit leather was kind of a bust, so I am still sorting that one out. Happy Earth Day everyone!

Another thought:


One of our biggest challenges also has to do with where we live: Alberta, Canada. Our growing season is extremely short (from late May-early September) and therefore, out of necessity, the vast majority of our food comes from far, far away. I do drink coffee (organic, fair trade), and I do use a lot of spices in my cooking - however in the case of spices, at least a little tends to go a long ways (pardon the pun).

 
Every day is Earth Day. ~Author Unknown
 
Marebare :)

First picture: not mine but find it here on the web
Second picture: Produce Stand in Chile, taken in 2007

No comments:

Post a Comment