[Red text = updates for May & June. Green text = updates for January - April.]
Resolutions that will need to wait until 2010:
- Watch King Corn. [I am moving all movie resolutions to next year's list. I just don't have time to watch TV, even documentaries, that aren't suitable for children. Any good environmental DVDs for toddlers?!]
- Watch Affluenza.
- Watch Supersize Me.
- Watch Blue Vinyl.
- Watch All in this Tea.
- Watch The 11th Hour.
- Watch Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price. [This has been sitting beside the DVD player for weeks and I still haven't found time to watch it. I had this DVD for at least 3 months and never watched it. Sent it back to Netflix and canceled my account.]
- Watch Who Killed the Electric Car?
- Watch Six Degrees Could Change the World.
- Watch Too Hot Not to Handle.
- Watch The Future of Food.
- Watch Harvest of Fear.
- Plant an apple tree. [Decided to wait until next year on this due to financial considerations.]
- Install rain barrels. [Will not have the money for this in 2009.]
- We will add insulation in the ceiling above our family room. [Ironically, this would likely help lower our bills, but we don't have the money for any extras now.]
Education-focused resolutions:
- Read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
Read Serve God, Save the Planet.- Read Radical Simplicity. [I'm halfway through this book. It isn't what I'd call an easy read, though I think it is definitely worthwhile. But I put it down to read a dog training book since we accidentally adopted a rescue dog... I'll put a review up as soon as I finish the book - Radical Simplicity, not the dog training book! Haven't opened it again. Nor did I finish the dog training book since our dog settled down once we fenced in the yard. However, I have started Your Money Your Life, which is mentioned in Radical Simplicity and Serve God, Save the Planet.]
- Read The Omnivore's Dilemma.
- Read A Year Without "Made in China".
- Read How to Grow Fresh Air. [I read through this book and made a list of plants I would like to have. Now I need to cross reference the list w/information about plants that are toxic to children & dogs.]
- Read Food, Not Lawns.
Plant blueberry bushes.[I planted six 3-year-old blueberry plants, purchased from Finch Blueberry nursery. Two of the plants have tiny little blueberries!]Plant strawberries on my back deck.[Done! I also planted a lipstick strawberry plant on the hill behind the deck in the hopes it will spread quickly.]- Plant a summer garden: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, okra, squash, cantaloupe, peas, beans, watermelon. [Well, I killed the first tomato seedlings by putting them outside too early, but I have started new seeds, and I'm still optimistic! Also started from seed: zucchini, crooked-neck squash, thyme. And two little basil seedlings are hanging on, after the majority have died. Planted in the garden: carrots, rattlesnake beans, lima beans, sunset runner beans. Planted in pots:the rosemary & oregano I started in the garden last year. To be planted this weekend: cantaloupe, watermelon, more squash & zucchini. To be planted soon -- I'm going to get some tomato plants from my grandparents. I have 7 thriving tomato plants: two from my grandparents and 5 from my neighbor. (My first tomato will be ready to pick today or tomorrow!) I also have a cherry tomato plant that my grandmother started from seed. It has about a dozen little green tomatoes on it. I have eaten green beans from my garden several nights. The lima beans will be ready soon. My cantaloupe & watermelon plants look great, but no signs of fruit yet. The zucchini & yellow squash plants look okay, and have great blooms, but no sign of fruit yet. ]
- Add to my herb garden. [I have started some sage from seed. My thyme died, but I didn't plant all of the seeds, so I'm going to try again. I think it got too hot/dry, so I'll keep it inside longer this time. I replanted a lot of seeds in pots, but nothing came up. I don't know if it was just too hot or if I used the wrong dirt. I do have a few little sprouts of basil from seed as well as a spicy basil plant from my mom.]
- Start composting.
- Research local green energy options. [So, the local Electric Membership co-op would be our best bet, but they are under investigation for fraud. I sort of put this on hold for a little while.]
- I will learn to can tomatoes.
- I will put up a clothes line in my backyard (if allowed by local ordinances?) or in my basement. [We got old T-shaped posts from my grandmother's backyard about 2 weeks ago, but my husband hasn't had time to put them up in our yard. Still laying there..Pollen season will be over before too long, so I need to get these up soon. ]
- I will buy a battery charger and rechargeable batteries.
- I will participate in at least three green challenges issued by eco-bloggers in 2009 to stretch my green-ness to new limits. [I joined Crunchy Chicken's Food Waste Reduction Challenge. Although I didn't report my waste as I should have, I didn't have much waste, either. Most of what I did waste was related to my 2-year-old asking for a snack and then not finishing it.]
- I will learn to knit. [I had my first knitting lesson with my grandmother. I've made half of a dishcloth!!]
- I will bring some non-toxic houseplants into my house to improve air quality.
- Join Riot for Austerity. [I signed up for the 90% Reduction Yahoo! group, so I can learn more about Riot for Austerity.]
- I will focus on the priorities that led me to start on this green journey: the health of my family; better choices for the environment; a frugal lifestyle that encourages me to spend more time my family. [I'll be honest, this is harder as I have a need to work more. But I'm determined not to lose focus.]
Switch to natural bar soap (with little packaging and preferably local) at bathroom sink.- Make it a habit to ALWAYS unplug laptop charger, cell phone charger and the Roomba when not in use. ALWAYS! [I'm making definite progress with the laptop. I rarely use the cell phone charger and don't remember to unplug it after my husband uses it. The Roomba is in constant use these days. I'm still blaming the toddler.]
- I will check the water meter once every three months for leaks. (Check the meter before leaving the house empty for 2 hours. Check it again when I get back to make sure it hasn't changed.)
- I will make it a habit to take my own to-go containers when eating out. [I cannot seem to remember this.]
- I will reduce food waste in my household. [Crunchy Chicken's challenge helped with my awareness this month. I've found I like to cook extra sides one night and have a vegetarian leftover meal later in the week. I am doing really well with this for my own part, but we still throw away more toddler leftovers than we should.]
- I will make my own bread at least once each month. [Well, I tried a couple of times, but Brian didn't really like it, so I'm still buying bread for him. I don't eat that much loaf bread, so it seems silly to make it just for me. But I have a lot of flour, so I'll keep experimenting with recipes.]
- I will be more vigilant about declining catalogs through www.CatalogChoice.org AND I will buy from merchants who support CatalogChoice and honor opt-out requests. [So far, the magazines I've received are ignoring my requests on CatalogChoice, so I've called them directly. I've also called all of the credit card companies that have sent applications and a few other companies. And I've mailed off forms generated by the opt-out option at DoNotMail.org. We've made definite progress here. There are even days when we get no mail now!!!]
- ... um.... diva cup.... I can't talk about these things online.... [So I can't bring myself to do a whole post, but I totally recommend this thing. Maybe I'll link to some other bloggers who are less concerned about personal boundaries :) Or email me privately and I'll tell you about my learning curve.]
- I will push my comfort level with the thermostat, even if it is just one degree each month. [I'm embarrassed to admit how high our thermostat is, but we've dropped it two degrees this month. I don't know how far we'll be able to go as I have a toddler who won't wear warm, footed pajamas and freaks out if I cover him with a blanket. Didn't do very well in February. We're doing pretty good keeping the A/C off during the day. Brian can't sleep if he's hot, so it runs a little in the evenings. Thermostat is set at 80 during the day. That means it is about 83 upstairs. We drop it to 76 in the evenings for Brian. And rainy days like today — I turn the A/C off and open the windows. So nice!!]
- I will research every personal care product I buy on the EWG's Skin Deep database.
- I will conserve water by catching water used to wash veggies to reuse it for watering house plants or garden plants and by catching warming-up shower water to water house plants.
- I will take my own cup when I visit my husband at his new restaurant, and I'll ask him to keep some plastic containers in his office so I can use those to bring my leftovers home.
- Each month, I will support and blog about at least one company that is making eco-friendly choices. [January - I bought my first To-Go Ware. February - I wrote about local handmade soap. Who am I kidding? I don't have money to buy anything right now!]
- I will track energy consumption at my house, striving to reduce numbers compared to the same period last year. [Totally forgot about this one, but Brian did comment that our bill is much lower than it was last summer.]
- I will track water consumption at my house, endeavoring to reduce numbers each month. [March was our lowest water consumption month since we moved to this house about 1.5 years ago. Consumption is up as I'm now watering my veggies. need.rain.barrels.]
- I will check my tire pressure quarterly to ensure proper inflation, which affects fuel efficiency. [Well I had to buy new tires, so they are at the right pressure...]
