A Place Called a Library

A public library is the most enduring of memorials, the trustiest monument for the preservation of an event or a name or an affection; for it, and it only, is respected by wars and revolutions, and survives them. – Mark Twain

Mr. Twain is certainly a genius whose wit and humor have proven to be to the point and permeated with true meaning. This is the reason I chose one of his quotes (so many of them are great!) to praise this one place that I believe anyone should acquaint themselves with. You might ask, why am I so fond of libraries and cannot wait to promote them to all? My simple answer would be how could I not? 

First, as those who have been in a library might have noticed, it generally is overtaken by cascades of books: old and new, short and long, in English and in some language you don't speak:). And books, as static and boring as they might look, could not be more alive and full of interesting and educational stories that teach us about the world we live in, about the people surrounding us, and most importantly, about who we really are. 

Second, borrowing a book instead of buying it actually contributes to the agenda of being green. I am by no means opposed to buying books; however, with the latest craze of everyone writing a book and pushing to sell as many copies as possible for a profit, it is hard not to notice that quality is many times sacrificed at the expense of quantity.

So do not be afraid to open a window to knowledge, and save some paper (a.k.a. trees you know...) while you are at it, by visiting the local library. You might be surprised and intrigued by what you find there. And no, I don’t  mean the homeless lady talking to herself. Although, she might teach you something cool too:).

Earth Week

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet! It's Earth Week folks! Tomorrow Friday April 22nd is Earth Day! How will you be celebrating?

Source

I recently came upon this website where you answer a few questions and it calculates your carbon footprint and other measurements of what your impact is on the planet.

Well I did mine and I received a 5.69 meaning if everyone on the planet were to follow my lifestyle, we would need 5.69 Earths. Ouch. I can't tell if that is below or above the national average as that statistic is not shown on the website but regardless of where I stand relative to others, I know that is a number I need to work on.
Some suggestions made by the interactive quiz to reduce my impact:

- Drive less (I live in Houston, not easy to do)
- Choose sustainable design features for my home (I have long been wanting to get solar panels)
- Take shorter showers (I definitely am going to work on this. I've reduced my time to 30 minutes but my goal is now going to be 15 minutes)
- Buy recycled products (I already do this with paper towels but I want to start looking for clothes and home goods that are made from recycled products and start 'thrifting' more in order to consume less new and shiny things)

What about you guys? Have you taken the quiz? Do you already do the things I mentioned above?

Resources:

Earth Day Events


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Be Green

One goal that I decided to set for myself ever since I bought a car last year, and consequently increased my carbon footprint, is to try and live green to my best ability. I have researched the issue and started going regularly to a local Farmers Market to obtain delicious produce and support local farmers. I also started recycling everything that could be recycled. Before becoming hard-core environmentalist, however, there are a few simple actions that can be taken toward becoming green. I have listed the ones I am currently working on, but these are definitely not the only ones. 

To reduce paper use, take no receipts when possible, especially at gas stations.

No bottled water. I mean, seriously.  Bottled water is in many cases no better than what we can access from the tap and the plastic bottles it comes in are a huge hit on sustainability and being green. A couple of easy-achieved alternatives to bottled water are purifiers (which could be recycled) and reusable bottles that could be refilled for the road, work, etc. 

As a follow-up to point #2, no Styrofoam cups please. Bring your own coffee mug to work and help save the planet. 

Another easy way to avoid plastic products is to bring your own utensils from home instead of using plastic ones at work.  

Choose a reusable bag when shopping please! Keep a couple in your car so you can never forget to bring it along (I’ve heard that excuse before). Also, if you must use a plastic bag in the store (e.g., for fresh vegetables), keep it and bring it back next time you shop and re-use it. 

Reduce your use of paper towels and opt for cloth towels that can easily be washed with a regular load of laundry without taking any extra water. 

If you use a lot of sandwich plastic bags regularly, you might want to consider containers instead that could be washed and re-used. 

This is just a basic list of small actions anyone can easily take toward the road to becoming green. If you have other suggestions or something that you do, please do not be shy and share them with us!

-          Krasi