Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today’s theme is green! Green Beer! Green Potatoes! Green Small People! Green Blogs! Green Lifestyles! Mostly those last two…

My first entry was kind of poking fun at being “green,” but since November the reality of Green living has become something I am much more willing to adopt. I try to turn off the lights and water when I don’t need them, and I still recycle as much as I can. On top of the other small-time changes (toilet paper, dish soap) I have in-store for myself, the subtle-eco-consciousness to Spoken Contract’s bike-riding-commuting-lifestyle-blogging has caused me to mull over the shade of Green I might already be (I’m thinking Asparagus, but that might just be a result of liking the taste of it). In yet another attempt to free myself of some guilt, I’ll admit something to you right now:

I drive at least 10 miles every day. Usually I am driving solo. I don’t even want to think about my carbon karma. I drive for 14 minutes per day. The alternative? Walking 20 minutes to take a bus for 20 minutes to take another bus 20 minutes and then doing that all AGAIN to get home? We’re talking 2 hours of commuting if I decide to give the Earth a big fat kiss every day. Does it make me an asshole that I can’t afford the time it takes to commute consciously? I have things to do, Momma Nature, I’m sorry! Right now, I don’t really feel like I have much opportunity to be greener in the ONE way it would really make a difference.

However, lots of big changes are in the wind for me:

1. Graduation from College

2. Getting a grown-up job

3. Moving into a new apartment – one in which I will really settle without expecting to move in 4-8 months – in a city with public transport just around the corner

There are small choices to be made within those big changes, and those small choices will be steps towards British Racing Green. I can choose to work someplace near where I will be living so my commute is minimal. I can get a bike (much more functional in a city than in suburbia/country where I live right now). Working full-time means I can afford to drop the extra dollars on organic and local products. I can buy used and recycled housewares. I will start all the DIY projects that ReadyMade has inspired me to undertake.

A suggestion for you (I’m still working on implementing this one): Unplug your computer whenever possible–if you have a laptop, and you turn it off at night, it doesn’t need the power that’s still surging through it. A really simple way to make sure you’re not wasting your electricity – turn off all your surge protectors every night.

What kinds of changes have you made since you starting hearing about Green living? Or since getting guilt-tripped by un amigo about driving? Or since seeing “USDA ORGANIC” on half the things in the grocery store? Or since watching An Inconvenient Truth?

– Emily