Next Christmas

Wow, what a whirlwind the Christmas season this past year has been. Forgot to mention one of my new year's resolutions which has to do with both my non-environmental and environmental goals: 2013 will be the No Gift Christmas. Not quite sure how I'm going handle this with the family - DH is already grumbling that I won't be able to get away without any presents for the family. I'm going to do it - I'm going to ask for nothing and tell folks what I'm up to. It will be an interesting experiment and a practical one, as well.

I'm already feeling conflicted about it, and I haven't even started blathering to everyone I know about this idea. Part of me says, "well, you could buy second-hand or make things for people." I do this every year, to some extent. This year I started a batch of Kahlua that I have yet to finish and the holidays are already over! My point is to see how far I can go without buying gifts. I've ALWAYS been a gift-giver over the holidays, no matter how poor I've been. This next year I expect to be in better financial shape than ever, so why not splurge? I certainly splurged this past Christmas.

My intention is to point out that Christmas is not about giving or receiving, but enjoying the precious moments with your family and friends. You have a harder time enjoying that time when you are scrabbling for gifts or worrying about how much money you're spending doing it. On the other hand, I might find myself being more uncomfortable if I don't participate in the yearly money-toss at businesses, local or otherwise. I'm not sure what's going to happen.

So, my first accidentally environmental project of the New Year will actually take place a little less than a year from now.

And I have to set guidelines for myself, or I'll be slipping and sliding all over the place.

New Year's Resolutions

I go through this every year - I make resolutions to do better, be better, and mostly for the environment. This year, however, I'm making more resolutions to get our home and finances in order. This year I resolve to:

Get our house cleaned out of junk, especially in the workshop so we can turn it into a game room for DJ. Haven't decided whether to have an actual garage sale or lawn happening (where we give everything away).

Get our finances in order - now that we are a two income household again, I want to start saving up for a second house and/or a second car (yes, a second car!). The second house will eventually be for DJ and his eventual family.

Lose weight and start running again. I've already lost a bunch of weight, now I need to lose more and get into a running shape so I can join in the Princess Half-Marathon in 2014.

Okay, those are my non-environmental resolutions. For the environment:

I resolve to ride my bike more.

I resolve to participate in at least one, week-long accidentally environmental project (I think it will have something to do with beer).

And that's pretty much it. Eminently achievable, just have to plan and get serious.

The AE approves

Eating breakfast at DJ's Bagel Cafe and realized that they follow the middle ground I try to walk i.e. they use ceramic plates and foam cups - I also noticed that the cup says it's recyclable in Los Angeles. Hmm, that doesn't help cause we're in Arizona!

Oh yeah, the food is awesome here, too!

Water Conservation, Arizona style

So far, this is the only attempt I've seen at water conservation at our hotel. The place is like Disneyworld in the southwest - a Disney-twist to a desert habitat. Will post more as I see more of it :)

How to Take a Shower

Now, I'm the last person to tell ANYBODY how to take a shower. I bathe maybe twice a week, following the gauge, "do I work in a coal mine? No." Or, "do I work on a farm? No." And that helps me determine whether or not I need to bathe daily. See, these are very taxing, sweaty, jobs to have, and unless I come home every day caked in coal dust or earth I don't think I need to take a bath.

But I think we need to start thinking about how we shower in this country, especially in thirsty parts of the country like Florida. That's why I'm advocating not only less frequent showers, but showers in which you leave the water on to get wet, turn off the water, soap up the parts that need to be washed, and then turn on the water again to get rinsed off.

Now I know that less frequent showers evokes an "eww" response in many people (the more people I talk to the more I realize how outlier my bathing habits are) so I'm not saying you HAVE to reduce your showers per week. A blogger I used to follow was part of the 90% Solution movement and only spent 3 minutes a day using water for her daily ablutions. That equates to about 3 gallons of water, depending on your water pressure. You have to go with what you're comfortable with - if you don't like the thought of going without a shower each day, at least consider shortening your showers. I've read in places that you can use a timer, although that seems kind of lame, because what happens if you are in the middle of the most intense part of your shower (hair) and the timer goes off?

Set a limit and stick to it. Whether it's taking a long, hot shower twice a week (which is my current desire) or taking shorter daily showers, find what's comfortable for you and start conserving water. There. I said it. CONSERVE!!!

Underwear in the mail

I'm more enamored of the bag than the contents.