A New Leaf(y green)

I've been pondering on and off the idea of going green, going organic, using less, recycling more, reducing power consumption, living simpler, shopping local doing things "the hard way" or the old-fashioned way and any thing related to that list. There are lot's of reasons. Joining the cause to "save earth", being more self-sufficient in case of disaster, saving money on unneeded luxuries to put towards other causes, supporting small local business instead of huge corporations, and being healthier.

Specifically, I've been wondering what life would be like without a refrigerator. I read some blogs written by people who pulled the plug and saw their electric bills drastically reduce. I wonder if this would happen to us- we do use a lot of air conditioning living in Florida, so I wonder if the energy used by our fridge is anywhere near that used by the a/c. I don't think turning the a/c off is a good idea. It is over 100 most days, and VERY humid. I think we would have a very unhealthy mold colony in our house if we went that far. We do keep the thermostat around 78 and supplement with fans. I have additional doubts about the fridge shut-off because our fridge is almost brand new and is a little fancier than the regular discount model. I don't hear it run very often and it has special features like a beep when you have the door open too long. I would assume it is very energy efficient- but I still wonder.

It's also hard to resist the sale ads for the local supermarket. My frugal background causes me to wince at the thought of paying $9 a pound for organic chicken while the regular chicken is $1.99. A good solution is to eat less meat, but I live with a MAN who likes meat!

It's a slow process to change the way you have always thought about things. For example, I have a car sitting out in the driveway. It's an older car, bought used and has been a good car. A few days ago the speedometer stopped working. I don't know what that means but even before that, I was never big on driving unnecessarily. I have this fear of breaking down in the middle of a busy intersection crammed with angry unhelpful people. It's hard to explain the 300 reasons I have for not wanting to drive to someone who wants me to come hang out with them. When a car ad comes on TV, I begin fantasizing about the new car I'm sure I'll get one day soon. Which is silly- it would be easier for me to explain my absence at "brunch with the girls" if I simply had no car.

Biking, while an option in an emergency, is simply not a safe choice in this city. It's a HUGE city, very sprawled out, with friends and shops spread out over 30 miles. There are some bike lanes but motorists here are not used to looking out for bikes, or pedestrians for that matter. There is no concept of "yield" to people in the crosswalk, or look before merging over the bike lanes. Also, the likelihood of just getting shot is pretty good. All the "greenways" the city has installed currently go from nowhere to nowhere and are designed to be used for pleasure strolls, not actual travel. I'm simply not prepared to die for the cause.

The last option I considered was a motor scooter- like a vespa. I feel relatively safe about this option. The mileage is great, I think repairs would be reduced in cost, the cost of purchasing the scooter is very low, and the ease of parking is unbeatable. Only downside I see is having to visit the DMV to get a motorcycle permit.

Foodings

A few updates before I move on- It's been a while since my last post:

-I'm married now. It's great, by the way.

-We bought a house.

-Have a cat, some flowers, and even a picket fence.

-We just got back from a 10 day trip up the east coast to Atlantic City, Boston and Brunswick, Maine. More on that later.

So that about brings us up to now. I remembered I had a blog when I made some food related comments and Husband said I should write a blog about my consumer-related food knowledge. Or something like that. See, I bought some corn dogs this week (I know, I know- more on that later too). I wanted the regular, State-fair brand corn dogs. There were several boxes- however, all but one were "beef" hot dogs. The one regular box was a little crushed looking, so noting that the prices were the same for both varieties, I picked out a box of beef dogs. Well tonight, I realized there are only 5 corn dogs in this box, while the regular variety includes 6 corn dogs in a box. I can't help but feel cheated by my own haste.

It's kind of become "the new thing" for food manufacturers to keep prices the same, while reducing quantity (or quality, or both) rather than raise prices and keep quantities the same. It makes sense that this is more palatable to the general public. Many people don't even notice that their ice cream tub is .25 quarts lighter than it used to be. But the people that do notice are often angered by this "deception". I say if it must be one or the other, I'd rather take a smaller portion. I think most of us could benefit from a few ounces shaved off each meal anyways.