No Impact Week is Next Week...

…technically, it starts on Sunday.

I decided to participate in my university's No Impact Week Challenge--and to blog about it. My posts, insights, and embarrassing admissions will be shared with those of other guest bloggers on the site for the next seven (+) days. I'll also blog--with a few more expletives---here too.

To be honest, I’m a bit of a snob about the size of my carbon footprint. Back in 2005, while I was busy working on a degree in graphic design my car was busy working on an expensive mechanical problem. When I got the estimate for this latest procedure—a new alternator—I told Edwin, the mechanic, to keep the car. The bus ride home to my Mt Vernon apartment solidified my next move in my mind. A bicycle was definitely in my future. I’ve been a bike commuter ever since.

When hubby and I met, we knew it was a match made in heaven. He had given up his car in favor of the bike over twenty years ago.

all that and he fixes flat tires, too!

My green snobbery doesn’t end with my mode of transport. I’m also pretty proud of my low electricity and fossil fuel usage at home. On this topic, you do not want to engage me in conversation. It’s quite likely that I will quote usage statistics and utility bills from seasons past.

Of course, even with my exceptionally green personal life there are still several areas for improvement and contemplation. One aspect of life that is less than awe-inspiring is my online shopping habit. While I choose my airplane, car, van, and train travel wisely, my Amazon packages don’t have that luxury. My online purchases may come from Maryland, Michigan or even Manitoba, traveling mostly by plane. This means that my carbon footprint is bigger than its face value.

It’s easy to infer the same about my favorite foods from the grocery store. My weekly fruit/ produce allotment usually come from sunny California and Florida, tropical Costa Rica and South America, and sometimes China or South East Asia… the contents of ones fridge should never be more well-travelled than one’s self.

I have no idea what I'll do about my recent daily fresh-squeezed pink grapefruit juice all week!!