Tag Archives: ecochic

Save the Earth.

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save-the-earth

5 Ways to Save the Earth every day — from your desk!

1.Turn off your monitor when you leave your desk for more than a few seconds. It saves energy. Also, when you go home for the night, don’t forget to turn your speakers off if they are separate!

2. Use Blackle instead of Google.

3. If you drink a lot of water at your desk, bring a reusable water bottle instead of plastic ones. You may have to search out a bubbler, but Mother Earth will thank you for saving her from the plastic.

4. Use a travel mug to bring tea/coffee to the office, and leave a mug there for tea/coffee at work. I have a few of each, in case I leave a travel mug at work, and I try to use one for tea and one for coffee because coffee smell tends to hang out.

5. Use paperclips instead of staples. I have this paperclip holder on my desk! Or a stapleless stapler!

Bonus: Reuse the paper you use to printer out directions, lists, emails, etc. etc. If you use both side of each piece, think of all the paper that won’t be made into trees.

Riding the Metro, in L.A.

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metro1For those of you who have seen the movie “Crash” you know that it’s a bit taboo to ride the public transit in L.A. Or, so I thought. I had been told that the subway exists, but most people seldom use it.

Well, today Jeff was on a film shoot, and I was going to be the only person in the office. How was I to get home? Well, I looked at a map of Pasadena, and determined it was only a mile and a half to the train station.

A mile and a half, I said to myself. Nothing. True, longer than the walk from my old apartment to school, but I could walk a mile and a half. I’m on my way to RUNNING one, for goodness sake.

So, today I wore my sneaks, and when 3:30 rolled around, I locked up the office, put my backpack on, and headed to the train. Luckily enough, I ran into K who also works at Poly, and he told me he was also on his way to the train! So off we went. He chuckled a little when I mentioned that a) I was going to walk and b) that I had never taken the metro. He takes it every day, over an hour each way, from way down by the water. That, my friends, is a hike.

Because I was with K, the walk was short. We got to the metro, he showed me how to buy a ticket, and off we went. He even switched to the same line I was switching to, which made it really easy. The metro is just as clean (and sometimes just as dirty) as Boston’s T, or Chicago’s El. I was surprised to learn it’s only $1.25 each ride, thank you very much. From my stop to the apartment it’s a mere half mile, which rounded my walk off to 2 miles. When I got home I wasn’t angry from driving, my back didn’t hurt from clenching, and I had learned a lot about my coworker and listened to some tunes.

It took about an hour and a half, and driving takes about an hour. But, exercise was about a half hour, so I’m pumped.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll take the train, too. Anything’s possible.

Eco Chic: Bring the environment to my urban life.

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I love the city. I love living amongst lots of people, seeing events taking place a block from my house, enjoying 24 hour marts for those “just in case” days, and always having something to do somewhere, for free, for cheap, for a lot, for birthdays, holidays, any days, rainy days, etc. I loved Boston, I love L.A. (although could do without the smog) and I can’t imagine living anywhere but in a bustling metropolis.

That said, I also love nature: hammocks hung between the branches of an old tree, corner stores that close at six p.m., back yards with pools, gardens, fire pits, a place for the dog to run, a place for the inner child to come alive. I love driving through the country and seeing nature at its finest, indulging in a hummingbird’s momentary rest, whistling to the chickadees, spending time in the car stopped next to a herd of deer. I love gardens with tomatoes, eggplants, squash, sunflowers, and the occasion berry patch. I love eating something I’ve helped grow, along with some lemonade squeezed fresh and a hot dog, for good measure.

This past weekend, I decided to start small on an attempt to bring the ecourban lifestyle to my apartment. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? I have a large ledge behind my kitchen sink, and for the longest time it held planets my friend Ki had given to me when she moved to nature in the North. They died when I went home for Christmas, and I decided that piles of dead planets in my home weren’t quite the ecourban chic I was going for.

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So I took the existing pots:

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And I got some fancy soil and some gloves:

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And I took note of the planet I already have, Mr. Potato:

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And I soaked the soil for 1/2 hour, and cleaned the bathroom while I waited for the lady bug to ring…

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And then, I stuck a match (from a matchstick garden kit) into each pot.

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And now, we’re waiting for my garden to show me how it grows…We’ll see, we’ll see…

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