Grateful At This Holiday Season

Getting caught up with friends and relatives during the Christmas season is almost as natural as breathing. It’s something I do every year. But now that things are getting back to normal, I’m writing again.

And, I’m thinking about how blessed I am. I’m grateful that God sent his Son, Jesus, into the world to save our souls.

I’m also thankful God allows me live on this beautiful planet, with gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and so many brilliantly colored plants. In gratitude, I vow to take care of it next year.

Wasting Energy During the Holiday Season

No, I’m not recommending wasting energy during this, or any, season. From living through a number of Christmases, I know how easy it is to use more gas, electricity, and just blow money during the holiday times. I’ve listed some don’ts to mention ways that we’re apt to fritter away energy resources. Do’s list how to be good at still saving at this busy time of year.

Don’t:

1.      Go shopping without knowing what you intend to buy. That goes for food and drink for the holiday table as well as presents.

2.      Drive all over looking for things on your list when you can find a number of items at the same store.

3.      Buy items that will waste energy when there are energy-saving products available at a reasonable price.

4.      Say “Yes” to all parties out. It will blow too much gasoline money and you probably have offers that are more appealing anyhow.

5.      Leave your Christmas lights on all night. There are timers that will automatically turn them on for a limited number of hours.

Do:

1.      Use public transportation to visit relatives if they live a distance away.

2.      Go shopping with a friend. You will use one less vehicle, less gasoline, and also have someone along to help decide if the price is right.

3.      Some of your shopping online. This saves energy since one delivery person can bring a number of items in one trip. I like to see most items I buy–not just a picture of it–but do buy some things online.

4.      Turn the heat down if you’re out of town. Why have it 70 degrees when your houseplants will survive at a much lower temperature?

Conservation: Two Steps Back and One Forward

I’m back in town after a week of helping my daughter and her husband fix up their recently purchased home. My husband and I helped with cleaning and patching to make it livable. When we left, the inside painting still wasn’t complete. Thank goodness professional installers will put in new tile and carpet.

I must admit that I took two steps back in my earth friendly lifestyle during this period away from home. Recyclable items were thrown in the trash all week long as we rushed along to finish things like cleaning bathtubs and closets. And, we used many paper towels as we worked. There’s a neighborhood recycling service but the recycling bin hadn’t arrived yet at my daughter’s home.

A step forward was when the air conditioner vents were either cleaned or replaced, as needed. This should allow better flow of air and cut down on electrical usage.

The majority of us environmentally concerned folks have good days in taking care of the earth as well as not-so-good-days. If most days are spent doing the right things to conserve energy, our good days cancel out the energy wasteful ones. We can still make a difference in the world we leave behind for the next generations.

I thank the great teacher who motivated me–as a college sophomore–to start thinking of leaving behind a greener planet. I just need to keep listening to good advice on how to preserve our resources and pass on that knowledge.

I’d love to see middle school children learning about how to preserve and protect our planet. If only half of them start living an earth friendly life, what great changes could occur in their lifetime. We still can’t say, “It’s up to the next generations” but we need to continue to save energy and keep on picking up trash.

Note: Before publishing this post, I got a message from my daughter saying the needed painting was finished!

Whatever Happened To the Skunk & Other Concerns

As I write this, I reflect on picking up roadside trash, the job I just finished again. The thought I had last month about my neighborhood drinker–who throws empty cans alongside the road–turned out to be untrue. He or she didn’t go to Alcoholics Anonymous and quit drinking. There were next to no beer cans along the road last time I cleaned the roadside but they were back again today. I found the same Keystone and Coors containers. I was rooting for you in your recovery Buddy!

The roadkill skunk was still on the side of the road also. It’s no longer giving off that distinctive skunk odor. I don’t pick up dead animals for two reasons:

(1)  I don’t like to deal with dead, rotting carcasses.
(2)  And, the scavenger birds and other wild animals need food and this is part of their diet.

I’ve done things to make my surroundings look more pleasant other than picking up trash.  In the past, I took a Master Gardeners class and cut back the overgrown rose bushes around the courthouse in my community. I didn’t keep up this effort to “Keep America Beautiful” after leaving the organization. I also found out my plants don’t thrive unless I plant something that’s considered to be a very hardy plant. (And, if you haven’t heard of Master Gardeners, it’s a good organization that teaches people how and what to plant in the area where they live).

 I still do the planting needed to keep my yard looking decent and grow edible vegetables that thrive best. But, picking up trash is the easiest way for me to improve the area around my home. I enjoy hearing what other people are doing to make their area a better place to live.

 

More About Using Free Water For Plants

Straying from my blog subject:

In this Thanksgiving season, I’m grateful for God, family and friends. Especially for my husband, who often solves my problems such as: “Where did I put my keys?” (When they were in the wrong part of my purse.)

Last week I wrote about using air conditioner condensate to water my plants. This water drips from the part of my air conditioner which is up in the attic. Until recently I’ve been watering my edible plants–like tomatoes and onions–with this water I accumulate in a 5 gallon bucket.

As I made plans to start this blog, I researched information about using this normally wasted water. After reading a number of articles, I stopped using this water on my edible plants. The more scientific articles mentioned it wasn’t potable or the stuff we should drink. One source to look into this on your computer or hand-held-device is ‘Alliance for Water Efficiency’.

As I thought about this decision, I thought of the bird droppings that fall on my car. They also fall on my garden.  And, I usually eat produce purchased from the local grocery store without even rinsing it. I wondered how this is better for me than the health hazards found in the water from my air conditioner. People have been eating unwashed produce from gardens and farms since the time of Adam and Eve. I don’t remember anything about God saying, “Be sure to wash the fruit you can have before eating it.” I decided that it is not dangerous for me to eat unwashed fruit unless it has garden soil on it. And, it’s probably not unhealthy to use condensate water on plants I end up eating.

My decision to not water edible plants from my bucket wasn’t a wasteful decision. I can easily use all of the collected drippings on my trees and flowering plants. I always need some faucet water in the dry climate I call home. Xeriscaping–planting only desert-type vegetation around my home–would eliminate this need for any extra watering. I’m not giving up my roses. I love greenery but do try to pick plants that aren’t water hogs.

0rdinary People Saving Energy

Most of these tips came to me from listening to what other folks were doing. They may be “old hat” or new to you but I think they’re worth mentioning.

If you live in a normally hot, dry area like I do, you need to water your plants. Since there’s water dripping from the air conditioner condensate, I have a bucket under it catching the constant drip. The 5 gallon can is full in about a day and a half and this water can be used to water trees and flowers. My husband also has about a 55 gallon drum catching rain water to water grapevines. If collecting water for edible plants, be sure to use a clean container that hasn't been used for chemical products and is not rusty.

With these collection methods, not enough accumulates to water the yard. I could install a drip system to maintain a green lawn but decided it would be too wasteful. And, my neighbors with nice lawns have expensive water bills. When it rains, my grass is green. When it doesn’t, it’s brown.

To save water when showering, start by rinsing off the body and wetting the washcloth, then turn off the water. Wash the body with a soapy washcloth before turning the water on again to rinse off the body. This saves even more water than turning off the water when brushing your teeth, a suggestion I’ve heard from a number of electric companies.

Whenever time allows, think about combining errands. For example, when I go to my exercise class, I often make other stops before or after class. By planning ahead, I can stop to get gasoline, pick up a package at the post office or a few items from the grocery store. Why make two trips when I can go a little out of my way and do at least two things in one outing? It saves on gasoline and the time spent going out a second time.

Need a new piece of furniture? Why not look in the resale stores before getting new? Luckily, I think furniture built 20 or more years ago is often better quality anyway. I find items I love, they’re less expensive, and I recycle for my own use. If resale stores don’t have what you want, then look at new items.

This works both ways if you don’t need a piece of furniture anymore. Is it still in decent condition? If it is, those same resale stores will sell your used furniture and you’ll end up with a little money. Or, the Salvation Army or Goodwill will take your unneeded item and do good things with the money they receive by selling it. And, you didn’t trash something that could be used to furnish someone else’s home.

A lot of people save heating and cooling costs by having the house a little cooler in the cold months and warmer in the summer months. We know a sweater will keep us warm if the house is colder and sleeveless shirts are more appropriate for summer wear. I don’t go overboard in extremes but find 78 is quite comfortable in the summer and 68 degrees is acceptable in the winter. Opening up doors and windows in the early morning also helps keep my house comfortable. I do this when the temperature outside is less than about 73. Some people live in areas where they wouldn’t feel safe with windows and doors open. We need to do what is appropriate for where we live.

There are so many ways to save energy in our daily routines. Find what works for you; I’ve mentioned some saving tips that work for me.

I'd love to hear about ways to save energy or protect our environment that I haven't mentioned.

How I Got Concerned & Trash Pick Up Adventures.

In this second blog, I wanted to mention how I got interested in conserving resources. Years ago, in about my second year at Thomas Nelson Community College, I took a biology class with a professor who was a real promoter of “saving the environment” issues. I still recall some of his ideas that were very radical to me. He was opposed to the idea of owning much in the way of land, unless one had a definite purpose for the land (such as farming). Land should be shared by the masses in his opinion. He and his wife owned a garden type home; he could cut his yard with a Weed Eater. They decided not to have children since they thought there were too many people in the world already. I don’t agree with the logic about not having children, but it did make me think about our overpopulation problems on earth. His enthusiasm about saving resources and making our planet a better place to live started my concern and led me toward being a good steward on this planet. If you are a teacher, or know one, who is teaching about conservation, you might be planting seeds that grow. The unconcerned students may be changed, like I was after being influenced by this professor.

After discussing what led me to the point of writing the blog, I’ll mention two days of picking up trash in the last few weeks and some points of interest.

Day one:

At a clean up the lake near my home sponsored by the “Keep America Beautiful” group. I picked up three thirty gallon bags of trash. It was easy to find the trash since it appeared that some people were dropping their household trash in areas where there were cactus plants. (I live in an area where cactus plants grow not far from the lake.) I learned a lesson about the plants: the thorns will enter your skin even if the legs stepping next to the plant are covered with jeans. And, they sting for a day or so.  I’ll have to admit to longing to sit down and weep when I saw the mess left behind by uncaring people. Instead of giving in to emotion, I picked it up. This area looked better with just a few hours of about 30 people working together, picking up garbage left by others.

About a week later:

I picked up trash along my normal route next to my home. I live in a rural area where there are no sidewalks and no city teams to clean the streets. Two things caught my attention as I walked along with my grab stick and trash bag. (1) My neighbor, who I’ve never met & normally throws out his–or her?–Keystone beer cans, has stopped littering the street with them. Hopefully, he’s now an Alcoholics Anonymous success story. And, (2) I went by a roadkill skunk that still gave off his/her distinct odor.  Knowing how skunk spray clings to a body–when I was growing up, the family dog met up with a skunk now and then–I hoped this little creature was really dead as I passed it on the other side of the street. Since I wasn’t sprayed, it was.
Next week, I hope to have a new blog ready midweek.

Sharing Tips on Saving Energy & Protecting our Environment.

Anyone reading this blog is likely to already be concerned about our impact on the earth we inhabit, just as I am. We may do different things to save energy, but that's okay, we have a goal in common.

I take care of my surroundings since I know God put me on this planet. The least I can do is take care of it during my time here.

What are my concerns?

1. Conserving electricity.
2. Conserving water.
3. Conserving fuels such as gasoline.
4. How much garbage will I leave behind in my lifetime?
5. Recycling and reusing.
6. Fixing items rather than buying new whenever feasible.
7. Picking up roadside and public use area trash.
8. How the products I use effect other forms of life on this planet.

In future blogs, I'll discuss ways I keep the earth as trash free and beautiful as possible.
I hope to gain more knowledge about conserving through the input of readers and other materials (such as other blogs) that I read.