Practically Green (AKA – My New Addiction) Find Out How Green You Are
I’m not even sure how I ended up there but I was very excited about the concept. You answer a series of questions and they give you a “green rating”, there are ten levels, from barely green to superbly green. Based on your level and the areas you need to work on they give you steps to take to improve your green rating. Each action has a description of why it’s an important environmental step and gives you the option to commit to it.
I’m one of those odd people that has always loved to take tests, so I dove right in and answered all the questions. I scored 7 out of 10, “Adventurously Green”, definitely not good enough for me, but then I am a little obsessive about tests, I like to see that number “one” followed by two big fat zeros or I’m not happy. The website gave me my list of things that I could improve on, but as usual, lack of time got in the way and I had to go back to actually getting some “real” work done.
A few days ago I was lucky enough to get a phone call from Sarah Finnie Robinson, the VP of Social Programming for Practically Green and give her my story. Sarah was a real sweetheart and I really enjoyed talking with someone who I’m (pretty) sure wasn’t rolling her eyes as I was speaking about my efforts to live greener (that was especially a treat since I come from a family of ostriches when it comes to learning about the environment.)
After speaking with Sarah I decided to give myself as much time as I wanted, guilt-free, to spend finding out just how green I really am. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I’m actually even greener than I thought, “Wicked Green”, in fact. It turns out that there are things I’ve been doing (and that a lot of people are probably doing) that it didn’t even occur to me were green. Selling unwanted stuff on eBay, buying previously owned furniture (my husband has a thing for antiques and I love to take something old and ugly and give it a new life), taking shoes off at the door (growing up, this was always the rule in our house) and donating clothing to charity are just a few of the things we do on a regular basis that I had never thought of as eco-friendly.
Despite the excellent results I received (I think I got off too easily), it still wasn’t perfect, I want that 10 out of 10, “Superbly Green” rating so I made it my goal starting this past Saturday to go down the list of recommended actions and commit to five new ones every week.
This week’s commitments are:
1- Shopping at a Farmer’s Market Each Week in Season- We have a small farmer’s market close by that is only open Saturdays. We got there a little late and the only vegetables available were Pak Choy and green beans so those are our vegetables for the week. I’m going to have to get creative.
2- Drive the Speed Limit- This is going to be a tough one for me. I’m not very patient when it comes to getting places and I always go a little over limit. Cruise Control helps with this one, though and so far this week I’m doing okay.
3- Switch to Cloth Napkins Regularly- I thought I had solved the whole paper napkin issue when I stopped buying paper towels and paper napkins. My husband has decided that, since I won’t buy those, he’ll use Kleenex instead (I think it’s his revenge for me using a clean cotton cloth to soak the grease off of the bacon and thereby foiling his last defense of paper towels.) So this week I am using some leftover very Retro fabric to make some reusable napkins.
4- Switch to All Natural Lip Gloss- This is a fun one and a great project to do with kids. My four year old and I found basic instructions in The Woman’s Book of Healing Herbs
5- Turn Down Hot Water Heater to 120 Degrees- This one I had to get my husband on board for since I have no idea how to do it. I’ll probably have to remind him a few times but if he sees me heading towards the tank with his tool box I’m sure he’ll be on it within seconds.
I love this website, it’s totally addictive and a lot of fun and it’s a great way to challenge yourself to be even more environmentally friendly. If your new at this whole “living greener” thing and you’re not sure where to start then this is definitely the site for you.
Disclaimer: No compensation whatsoever was received for this blog post. I just loved the website so much that I thought it was worth sharing.
@J-Alternative Housewife
I'll have to look for that article on aggressive driving, sounds intriguing
Most of the counts I fail on come from living in the boonies, no public transportation, nothing close enough to walk to…..I guess no matter where you live there are pros and cons.
Love it, although the site made me feel a bit guilty as well. Some things we really should do, but other things are just expensive and I do feel a bit less bad about those ones. If I could afford it, trust me, I'd only shop the farmers' market.
If it makes you feel better, I actually read recently that aggressive driving actually saves more gas than always going the speed limit. As in, gunning it up to a red light apparently isn't as wasteful as I always assumed. I'm not a math wiz but I did see an article on it.
Going cloth took time for my husband but after awhile of no paper towels, we actually both love it. It saves a ton on how often garbage goes out and we are both cleaner in the first place… It's a lot easier to make a mess knowing you can wipe it up with a handy paper towel.
Most of the counts I fail on are from living in an apartment complex. An apartment complex that blows leaves in the middle of summer twice a week. LE SIGH.