Blog Action Day- GREEN-OCITY
Today is Blog Action Day- hooray! I live in Austin where “Keep Austin Weird” bumper stickers are on at least 25% of all cars, Whole Foods is headquartered and new homes are frequently built to be “green.” That said, I have never been a big tree hugger, nor have I smelt like patchouli or been vegetarian. Although the sack boy drives me crazy when he asks me if I want my groceries bagged in plastic bags before he puts them in my recycled cloth grocery bag, I try to be understanding. Regardless of your degree of “GREEN-OCITY” as I will refer to it as, we can all take steps toward nurturing our Mother Earth. Listed below are a few things that I do that I know are easy to adopt; I’m lazy-ish so my ability to do these small tasks should inspire your “GREEN-OCITY”!
(1) I recycle anything I can- I’m even the nerd on the street that separates, de-tags, rinses and crushes my recyclables even though it’s not required.
(2) Unless I’m going on a massive shopping spree, I use my cloth bags to sack my groceries. If I have to use plastic bags, I keep them and reuse them (can you say kitty litter?).
(3) We live in an amazingly efficient Ryland home. To reduce energy use, we keep lights off when we’re not home if we don’t have company, we keep the home cool by closing the wood blinds. In the extra bedrooms, we close the blinds, curtains, vents and doors to reduce energy consumption.
(4) Showers are short. Not naval academy (water on to wet hair/body, water off while sudsing/shampooing, water on to rinse, water off- done) short but we keep it short.
(5) I don’t kill bugs. Caveat- ants aren’t bugs. If I can catch them, they go outside but we have so few despite what you think about Texas.
These are just five tiny ways that I try to tap my inner “GREEN-OCITY.” I’ve learned that as I age it becomes more and more important to me. I’ve learned that when I see pollution when I visit other cities, I fear it could happen here and I become more aware of my consumption. Sure I drive an SUV but I don’t often make trips “for fun.” How do you harness your inner GREEN-OCITY?
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Be sure to check out these other Real Estate blogs that signed up for the Blog Action Day:
Agent Genius
Single Pointe Realty- Austin
Karen Rhodes- Chattanooga
Real Central VA
Central Denver Blog
Karen J. Kehoe- Charlottesville
The Preva Report
EKDAY- Orlando
Geoff Green- Saratoga Springs
AllCary.com- Cary, NC
Teresa Boardman- St. Paul, MN
Joanne Hanson- Summit Co, CO
Building Real Estate Results
Diane Aurit- Mooresville, NC
Jackie Colson-Miller- Tampa
Get Staged To Sell
Real Estate Remix
Paula Henry- Indianapolis
Sadie’s Take on Delaware Ohio
Jennifer Wilson- Agent Solutions
Reverse Mortgage Daily
Ines & Rick Garcia- Miami
Knox Bardeen- Cobb County, GA
Cindy Jones- Northern Virginia
Vicki Brannock- Prescott, AZ
Jeanean Gendron- Redding, CA
Miriam Bernstein- Westchester Co, NY
Jay Thompson- Phoenix, AZ
Sean M. Broderick- CCIM, California
My Tech Opinion- Technology for Real Estate
Miranda Marquit- Mortgage News
Steven Campbell- Toronto
Green House Real Estate- Oakland, CA
Ashley Drake Gephardt- Albuquerque, NM
Andrew Stone- Salt Lake City, UT
Vicki Moore- San Mateo, CA
Stephanie Edwards- The Woodlands, TX
Gena Riede- Sacramento, CA
Tanya Busch Team- Maine
Cynthia Rowe- Maine
Jim Lee- Knoxville, TN
Daniel Rothamel- Charlottesville, VA
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From Blog Action Day’s website:
On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.
Blog Action Day is about MASS participation. That means we need you! Here are 3 ways to participate:
Post on your blog relating to the environment on Blog Action Day
Donate your day’s earnings to an environmental charity
Promote Blog Action Day around the web
October 16th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Lani - it’s funny that your post reads “this entry was posted on Tuesday 16, October” and I’m reading it on Monday….are you trying to confuse me??
Thanks for the mention and I love your concept of “GREEN-OCITY”…how do you come up with these? : )
October 16th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Ines- my WordPress timestamp is on vacation- after it sleeps off the mojitos, it will be back to work properly!
Thanks for the compliment
I come up with clever things by building on my own odd sense of humor (see Bubble Gum interviews) plus that of others (see Kia’s TV campaign using word+ocity that I can’t take credit for). :p
October 16th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Blog Action Day: The Environment…
On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talk…
October 16th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Opps forgot about this one. Go Earth!
October 16th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
I use the flourescent light bulbs. I pay to recycle anything I can. I drive a MINI that saves on gas. We don’t leave lights or televisions on and we adjust the thermostat whenever we leave the house.
And often I ride my bicycle to the office which saves on gas, pollution, congestion with the added benefit of helping me to have a healthy heart (for the day I get hit by a HumVee running a yellow light).
October 16th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Lani — This one is funny, but oh so true! I try to do my small part in the world to become more green. I placed new door stripping around the doors, I purchased the cool twisty lightbulbs to conserve energy! As far as plastic or paper — paper at Central Market for me…I like the handles, but I save them and reuse them for my Goodwill donations!!! Finally, I am from Texas but that’s why I live in the City — all bugs better see the signs I have posted on their level — “Do Not Enter or You Will Be Raided!” I don’t like them!
October 16th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Chris- way to hippify things
Eric- you’re a bug killin’ thug
October 17th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Thanks Lani…
I do kill bugs…too many roaches….but a “stomp” works…no pesticides in my home, or my food! And I tell my children they must bathe at least once a week
October 17th, 2007 at 12:07 am
oops…forgot…my little “stickshift”, convertible roadster beats my SUV on gas mileage, so I drive it most of the time! It holds four bags of groceries…in brown paper, of course
October 17th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Oh, I forgot. I also never bag my grass clippings. I use the mulching mower or put in my compost pile. All of these are very small items. But if everybody did them…
And I notice we don’t see Jeff “james watts” Brown on this posting.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Thanks for the link love Lani! I wish I could say I took short showers, but I try to make up for it other ways. We installed a tankless water heater for hot water and another one for our in floor radiant heat. We keep our thermostat down and put on another layer if we are cold!
October 17th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I’m not the guy you want to hear from on this sorta topic.
I go out of my way to throw away anything folks beg me to recycle. My favorite thing to do is walk my trash bag with its dozens of aluminum cans making my favorite sound - just before they plop into the trash bin.
I always use plastic whenever possible.
My car won’t run on anything but premium, and not just any brand. It gets a combined 14-16 MPG. If I catch it doing better than that, I goose it to 120 for half a minute to keep things on an even keel.
Whenever I have lunch at Mom’s place, which is virtually every week, I grab one of her hairspray cans, and spray a little into the air. You know, freshen things up a bit.
During the recent San Diego hot spell, the AC was left on 24/7 for three weeks. There’s nothing better than knowing a cool home awaits you.
A super-short shower is five minutes. I take about 12-14 a week due to daily workouts. The water stays on while brushing my teeth and shaving - and I have to shave twice as long as most men.
And that’s the short list for me.
In the next 5-10 years science will tell us they have empirical evidence global warming isn’t what’s been advertised, just the normal ebb and flow of the planet. It’s been happening since WAY before we got here.
Energy ditto. We’ll have more energy than we know what to do with, and yes, despite claims to the contrary, it’ll still mostly be oil based. (we have more than we can use now too) Of course, we could decide to go nuclear on a large scale, but that won’t happen cuz it makes far too much sense.
I’m designing, along with my trophy wife,
a house we’ll be building. It calls for using old growth lumber whenever possible. Why not? It’s already proved its incredible durability, right? 
I am, however, a staunch supporter of keeping Austin weird. I want absolutely nothing, nada, zip, zilch to change about that cool and amazing city - and that includes Lani and Benn, the city’s two best attributes.
They’re both natural resources well worth conserving.
October 17th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Now you know why I called him Jeff “james watt” Brown.
October 17th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Jeff, you’re officially on Al-Why-The-Crap-Did-He-Get-The-Nobel-Prize-Gore’s watchlist- you’ll be bugged by the end of the night. Enjoy your old growth lumber while you can
October 21st, 2007 at 12:30 am
[...] is the new rage. Even bloggers did the whole green thing on October 15th called Blog Action Day. Now Forbes magazine, yes [...]
October 25th, 2007 at 5:27 am
Kudos to you for participating in blog action day.
I decided to write a post of my own about an environmental issue that
might strike a cord with some real estate agents: Brazilian teak hardwood
floors and the destruction of the rain forest.
http://www.realestatetwincities.net/brazilian-hardwood-floors-can-you-say-
slave-labor/
Normally I don’t ask for a backlink, but the cause might be worth it.
Keep up the good work.
October 25th, 2007 at 5:29 am
Sorry. The link was too long.
You can find it at http://www.realestatetwincities.net/blog/.
It is the most recent post.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I got a kick out of the bagger asking if you wanted plastic in your grocery bag…sometimes they just don’t get it. I did see a great way to make bags…take a T-shirt, cut the sleeves off and sew up the bottom, then use where the arm holes are as handles. Haven’t tried it yet but it looked like a great idea.
Go Earth!
March 17th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Nice site!