The Greening of the Old Man...

Today is Earth Day 2009.

I never been known as the "Green Guy", in fact I've been a little antagonistic. A year ago I joined Adam in cleaning up and planting a portion of the shoreline along the Duwamish River. It was miserable weather, wet and cool. I helped remove weeds and sticker bushes. It reminded me why I was renting and not pulling weeds and mowing grass (tired and lazy).

During the last 12 months I've confered to my son's regular encouragement (nag) to act green. So here are a few of the changes I've enacted this past year.

1. Change my car garbage bag from paper to cloth.

2. Add a recycle bag in my car, also cloth.

3. Moved to Shoreline where they provide cans to separate garbage and recycle, both Sharon and me have gotten in the habit of separaating stuff.

4. Made a real mental effort to reduce the number of work trips, and when I had
to go, and to combine as many chores/meetings into one trip with a thoughtful
plan to reduce the number of miles traveled.

5. With the destruction of my Camry by a Dump Truck, I puchased (with God's provision) a brand new 2008 Chrylser PT Cruiser. It has a standard transmission so I'm able to coast and save gas. Although I really wanted a SUV I didn't (mostly because I'm getting to be really cheap). I don't drive it in a fashion that would burn extra gas like the guy below. Although it looks like fun!

I'm sure there have been other areas where I have made little changes. Probably the biggest change has been my thinking. I now consider my impact where I rarely did in the past.

Although it may be a slow road (too slow for some) I confident that I will continue down this path. Progress, not perfection...