It's SOOO easy being green...

Sarah w/ Toast and Tables has tagged me- and I am to post how my life is green... easy enough...

In high school I took a course on Contemporary History- it was sort of a mini-UN format, with students participating around the country. Each class was assigned a specific country and then students were divided into smaller divisions, which they would then debate world polotics and policies with all the other countries once a week. I was always one who worked better alone, thus I allowed my peers to sign up as they may and took the one division that no one really wanted. They quickly knabbed up all of the "cool" foreign polocies and I was left being the head of Environmental Technologies of Chile. My hours and months of research on wind and water and air seemed at first to be a little "Captain Planet"-like... but soon I was convinced of the greater good that all of these technologies provided and became not only the Environmental Ambassador to Chile- but also an advocate in my own little neck of the woods...

Here are a few:

1. I use compact fluorescent bulbs. I know- as an event designer that appreciates the importance of good lighting, I was a little weary at first as well... but there are really soooo many options out there. The CF bulbs are no longer associated with harsh lighting- they have plenty of warmer options, and also can hook up to dimmers- imagine that! They use only 1/4 the engergy of a regular bulb and last 10X longer... AND produce much less heat...

2. Both of my bathrooms have the Bricor Elite 8psi Showerhead. I rent, thus I am not able to invest in the tankless water heaters or low-flush toilets yet... but I do what I can in the bathroom... these showerheads offer strong water pressure, but their "vacuum flow restriction technology" allows them to save about 3650 gallons of water a year... not too shabby... and at $65 a pop- they are able to pay for themselves rather quickly.

3. Also in my bathroom, you will find only Green Cotton Towels. I was not completely sold on this idea for quite some time. I felt like this was just yet another marketing scheme- I mean how can a towel NOT be green? The truth is that cotton is produced on over 90 million acres spanning over 80 countries. These cotton fields consume 10% of the world's pesticides and 25% of the world's insecticides.... this equates to about 12lbs of insec/pest for every acre. These then run off into the ground water, which accounts for 50% of the drinking water in the US alone. Seven of the fifteen chemicals in these are considered probable human carcinagens.... THAT is why it is important to have Green Towels, which are produced of only organic cotton... so there.

4. The newest addition to my house is the ISOLE IDP-350 Powerstrip. It has the usual 8 surge-protected outlets... but six of these are motion sensored. This is great because I can leave my computer on indefinately... but the lamp, printer, radio, etc in my office only turn on when the motion is detected at my desk- now nifty is that?!?

5. Lastly- I would like to Share with you "The Green Office"... this is where I purchase the bulk of the items for my home office. They have great product reviews and ingenious ways to go green without sacraficing both style and budget-conciousness. Plus, it is just as easy for me to go here, as it would be for me to order online from OfficeMax or OfficeDepot.

6. I live in Jacksonville, Florida- the biggest city in the entire United States (size wise)... and also the slowest to progess with public transit. I could complain about that for many many hours- but will not. Instead, I will say that I have solved this little dilemma by getting a vespa. While I can not travel all the way from my home in Riverside to Ponte Vedra Beach (a little over an hour commute- yes the city is that big)... it is great for all those little errands that I need to run around my side of town. I am currently looking into the green SUV's out there as it is necessary in this line of work to have a vehicle with a lot of storage space...

So there you have it- just a few ways that I go green without causing any inconvenience on my day-to-day life... and with little effort. I am tagging each and every one of you- If you have a blog GREAT share your green living with the world... and if you don't then share them in the comments.... Remember that October 15th is Blog Action Day- and start getting those amazing green posts ready!