Having Fun

I'm all about having fun. Whether it's youth soccer, bicycle commuting, or conservation, I'm going to put in more effort when I'm having fun.

The Carbon Conscious Consumer (C3) is making it more fun to reduce our carbon footprint. Each month, they challenge individuals to make a pledge to change their behavior in simple but effective ways. Some recent pledges have been:

• Buy locally grown food.
  
• Make fewer trips by car.
  
• Don't buy bottled water.
  
• Reduce your junk mail.
  

C3's website has articles and commentary explaining how much of an impact these actions have on our environment.

This month, C3 is asking us to pledge to reduce the number of hot-water laundry loads to 1 out of 5 loads. I'm asking you to take the pledge by signing up with C3 by clicking the C3 image at the right-hand side of this page.

Oh, and if you spread the word to others, you have a chance to win prizes.

Environmental Education. Fun facts to share (for example, each liter of bottled water takes 3 liters of fresh water and a quarter-cup of oil to put on your shelf). A cool website with an image showing how you've contributed. OK, it's not as much fun as Disneyworld, but it's not bad for helping save the planet.

Green means less waste -- and saves money

I'm befuddled by the perception that saving money is expensive. Our Federal government won't commit to reducing CO2 emissions because they argue it is expensive, but this brewery is saving money by reducing its emissions. Less water and energy usage were just two ways this brewery was helping the environment through reduce, re-use, and recycle.

When we were preparing for entertaining family and friends over this past weekend, Beth mentioned we should look for beers from the New Belgium Brewery. Although we didn't find any -- we had sketchy details on what to look for -- an article on MSNBC that was brought to my attention by the blog Rocky Hillside will help us support this brewery.