If everyone grabbed a bucket...

 I’ve been reading a book about World War II lately (“December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World by Craig Shirley) and it’s interesting to compare the 1940s mentality of disaster with today’s. In the 40s, Americans were told to ration items (gas, sugar, steel, panty hose…) in order to support the war effort. They were told to participate in black out drills so the enemy couldn’t discern targets (like, what? The Johnson’s lawn jockey? But I digress…). They were told to carpool, plant victory gardens, to ‘use it up, make it do or do without’. They raced to get to recruitment centers and were upset when they were deemed unfit for service because they were too old or too married. These were the hardships of the 40s, but the thing is, Americans did them all. And willingly. Its an interesting comparison to today, where we have all these luxuries that we take for granted and no one asks us to cut back or go without (Could you imagine George W. Bush asking Americans to cut back on sugar after 9/11? LOLOLOLROFLROFLROFL…sorry, I lost the plot there for a minute…I’m back). I just wonder how many Americans will take a moment this week and say ‘no latte for me today, I’m making a donation to the Red Cross instead.’ If everyone grabbed a bucket, the water would be gone from the flood zone. (pick any flood zone you want, it doesn’t have to be the one Sandy caused, because there will be another flood next year. In Iowa, in Nashville, in New Orleans, in Manila…somewhere.) And I can guarantee you that pick 2 flood victims and the one with the more simplified life is coping a lot better than the one who can’t charge their iPhone to play Angry Birds or order take out or watch Netflix.

Water, Water, (redux)

I often get a lot of flak for not having a toilet tank at my house in Maine. Last year the water in it froze and it cracked the porcelain. The bowl remained intact, but the tank was unsalvageable. So thinking I was lucky that I had a toilet that was 2 pieces and it was a popular and prolific brand (American Standard), I figured finding a replacement for the tank wouldn’t be too difficult to do. But alas, despite web searches and even calling American Standard, they were unable to match up the model numbers on my toilet to anything in their system. So it’s been a year of me having to manually flush my toilet (for those of you squeamish out there: it’s called fill up a bucket, dump it into the bowl quickly, gravity does the rest. I think this is a skill that everyone should have in their back pocket, it will make losing power for those with electric water pumps slightly less obnoxious).

But it seems like the more crap (no pun intended) I get from friends and family, the less I want to actually have this issue fixed. It’s not a hassle for me personally, and well it is my house, right? But there are other reasons: it’s a silent protest against products created to have interchangeable parts, but when one of those parts is impossible to find, it defeats the purpose of having interchangeable parts.

And what I feel is most important, that filling that bucket of water every time is a conscious reminder of the fact that 3 BILLION people on this planet don’t have clean or safe drinking water. I pause and say a little thank you for what I have. I take a moment and remind myself to not take for granted the water that comes out of the tap….that I don’t have to walk 3 miles to get that gallon of water….that wars are not fought so I can drink it…that I don’t have to boil it to make it clean.

Kilowatt Killing

Always looking for a new way to save energy… but often feel like I have ‘picked all the low hanging fruit’. Enter the Kill-a-Watt meter, which I was able to check out for free from my local library. It’s a small device that you plug your appliances into that gives you a read out of how many watts of power they draw… on or off. That’s the key here, there are so many appliances that are energy “vampires”, sucking power even when they’re turned off. I’ve got a few power strips for my television and cable and my desk, so that I can hit the kill switch when I’m done for the day, but for items plugged directly into the wall socket, I wanted to find out exactly what was up.

Reading Lamp with a 60 watt incandescent bulb: 57 watts,
With a compact fluorescent bulb (comparable luminance to 40 watt bulb): 9 watts
With a LED bulb (comparable luminance to 40 watt bulb): 6 watts
Verdict: it’s easy to see that the CFL and the LED bulbs are HUGE power savers. This was my first foray into the LED bulb and they are expensive (I got a deal for a $12 bulb, but the 60 watt equivalent would have been $40), but the power savings is considerable. The enclosed CFL I originally bought was too noisy but will switch some lamps to the coil versions. I now know that 40 watt equivalent is just not bright enough for my needs. Lesson learned.

Christmas Lights: regular incandescent 38 watts, LED version 3 watts.
Verdict: another considerable savings. I plug these in for a good 6-8 hours a day (I like the way the light it makes my house look!) The LED version aren’t cheap compared to the old fashioned kind (for a strand of 100: $25 versus $3!!) but again the energy savings will add up.

Refrigerator: as it sits idle: 0 watts, when running 400 watts.
Verdict: Can’t do much about that, living in a colder climate, it kicks off less frequently. But my next fridge will definitely be a more compact version and a higher Energy Star rating.

Computer on: 30 watts
and Printer: on but idle or off: 3 watts, printing: 15 watts
Verdict: No brainer here, unplug them both when not using!

Television: off 6 watts, on 150 watts.
Verdict: Another easy way to save, just unplug that TV when it’s not in use!

Dehumidifier: a necessity living in a damp climate with a finished basement…off: 1 watt, running: 390 watts.
Verdict: I’m most likely just going to keep this one plugged in all the time, since the unit has a humidity sensor telling it when it needs to run.

Electric Space Heater: Here’s the doozy: off: 0 watts, Running on low power: 860 watts, on high power: 1500+!
Verdict: easy to see here that electric isn’t the most efficient way to heat. I’m only using this one sporadically for little quick blasts of heating.

Only nine easy ways to fit in more fitness??

9 Easy Ways to Fit in More Fitness

Caught this aol article about 9 ways to 'fit in more fitness'...

but ... how about taking the stairs instead of elevator/escalator, parking at the first available spot (instead of driving around for 15 min trying to find the closest to the store), better yet just walking there instead and carrying your purchases home in a backpack), raking your leaves instead of using a leaf blower, shoveling instead of a snow blower, push mower instead of a gas-powered mower... All of which are much better for the environment too!

Simple way to cut your paper usage by 75%

If you're like me and already use the backsides of pre-printed paper for draft printing, here's another simple way to get even more from a single sheet, if you're printing multiple page documents. PDF the document you want to print, then select 4 from the 'Images per page' drop down box (you can go up to 16 pages per sheet if your eyesight's that good!). Click on 'scale to fit' and 'fill entire paper' and voila, 4 pages for the price of one. A great and easy way to save paper.

Simple Solutions: Helping the Gulf and Getting Back on Track

I've been out on the road for about 45 days now and while I'm the first to admit that I have slipped in my attempts to live the simplest life possible (my credit card statement is the smoking gun) I am trying to get back on track to living the life I truly believe in. News of the devastating oil spill in the Gulf region just crushed my heart this week, but in the midst of this tragedy I discovered an organization that has found an amazingly simple way to help. Matter Of Trust is an organization that has been using natural and man made surplus products in creative ways to solve ecological issues. What's so amazing about this organization is that they are collecting hair clippings (and wool and fur trimmings) to create 'hair bats' and 'hair mats' to help adsorb oil from the water. And while I don't personally have an excess of hair clippings, wool snippings or fur trimmings, there are 370,000 hair salons in the U.S. that average a pound of clippings a day. So I decided my mission this week (having a little down time here in Chicago), would be to take my daily walks armed with Hair Mat Oil Spill Program flyers and just stop by any hair salon or pet grooming place I passed. With my 20 second spiel, I let the flyer speak for itself. One salon I went to had even just been talking about the program before I walked in, and one of the pet groomers was by far the most excited about the idea. It was quite possibly the easiest and simplest environmental activism I've ever attempted.

Jumping in the Freecycle Pool

Well, I've taken the plunge and joined the other free-cyclers in my neighborhood and I have to say what a great way to both get rid of something you don't use and also try to find something you truly will use all without spending a cent. I lurked on the message boards for a few weeks before trying to decide what it was I wanted to ask for (a battery operated pump for my balance ball-still no offers though) but after seeing a WANTED post for a Roomba and realizing mine was just sitting in the utility closet collecting dust, I figured why not pass it on to someone who could appreciate it. Most freecyclers arrange time and place to make their exchanges, but the cheapest and easiest way for all parties I figured was to just leave the item on the porch and the WANTER could just pick it up at their convenience. No fuss, no muss. And no hard feelings if or when the item breaks because it's all for the low low price of FREE! And even better there's no obligation—say you really need a new blender, what do you have to lose by posting a request? If you find one, you've saved yourself the money (and the manufacture of a new product), if you don't find one, you're no worse for trying. To find a group in your area: www.freecycle.org
And Freecycle's not the only place Care2 ran a list of 5 other online free or trade sites.

Take that Swiffer!™

I'll be the first to admit that my kitchen floor is pretty disgusting. The linoleum is probably at least 20 years old and no matter how clean the bottom of my shoes are, it always seems to attract dirt and grime. So early on, I gave up even trying to keep it clean, just seemed simpler to let nature take it's course. And don't think I wasn't slightly jealous when I watched my friends using their fancy new Swiffer-type mops with built in cleaner in the handle. I thought, 'At last, here could be the solution to the issue at hand.' These fancy cleaning tools only run about $20 for the hardware and then $6 or $7 for the refill wipes, but before I succumbed to the temptation of just letting corporate/chemical America fix it, I decided to see what a little ingenuity (with a big dose of inspiration from the hard working Props team of AGT) would get me. The simple solution? Take an old mop (one of those rectangular sponge types), 2 rubber bands and an old terry cloth towel. Rubber band the towel to the mop head, and use a spray bottle of vinegar to hit the spots you need to clean. No rinsing, no toxic fumes, no fuss, no muss. Voila, in your face, Procter & Gamble! With this simple (and practically free) solution, now I'm at least 14% more likely to clean my kitchen floor more than once a year.

A Simple Saturday in the Big City

What a great day today-spent it walking all over Georgetown (I mean that's one benefit of global warming, enjoying a 60º day in November walking around D.C…. maybe?) Needed a formal dress for the big gala in a few weeks and literally tripped (those Georgetown streets are very rocky) over a Second Time Around consignment shop and was able to find something to wear. Opted out of the beautiful brand new red satin Ralph Lauren cocktail dress (original retail: $450, here: $72) in favor of a simple black Jones NY number. (Even simplists have a fashion gene!) Total cost to me? $19.08. Did a quick climb up the 'Exorcist' stairs (oh you think you're gonna make it without losing your breath, but once you're up there you realize how winded you really are! Then despite browsing at the Georgetown Public library, (no national library cards… yet!) headed over to Books for America, a great local used book store that not only sells used books but also used the profits to make donations to local schools, shelters, correctional facilities, etc. etc. Four books in almost as new condition, cost to me? $12.72. Some days the gods of simplicity just shine down and show you the way.