Going Green

I moved into my house almost exactly one year ago today. One of my goals for my life upon moving in was to be greener. I've been trying to buy locally grown produce, rather than foreign ones. This actually has multiple benefits. First, it uses less fuel to ship something from one part of England to another than it does to ship it from Spain or Chile to England. Second, a lot of the countries where fresh fruits are being grown have water shortages. And by growing fruits and vegetables, essentially what they're doing is exporting their water! Third, the food's fresher, and it stayed on the vine (or stem or whatever) longer, so it tastes better, and has more vitamins and minerals. Fourth, it supports local farmers, and helps to encourage an autonomous food supply. There are lots of other reasons, too.... these are just a few. Anyway, I've been doing a bunch of things to be a better custodian of our planet:

1. Buying local
2. Recycling paper, glass, aluminum and food/garden scraps
3. Sending things to charity shops, not the tip
4. Walking to town instead of driving
5. Keeping my thermostat a little lower and using a jumper to keep warm
6. Using eco-friendly detergents
7. Not using my dryer (as much)
8. Compact florescent light bulbs everywhere

There are definitely other areas I can improve, and that's something I'm going to continue to work on. However, I'm pleased with the steps I've taken so far. And yesterday, I took another step: I bought a bike! I'm going to be commuting into London every Monday. The train station is only a mile away, and I hate to drive down. It seems silly to pay to park all day, when it's only a mile. And on top of that, I feel guilty driving less than 2 miles. But, I simply have too much to get done to spend loads of time walking places. So - the bike is to help me gain back some of the commute time, whilst not giving up the ecologically minded transport. And on top of that? I'll get a few minutes of exercise in, every time I use it! And boy do I need that. I went out today on my maiden voyage (I was trying to remember the last time I used a bike. I think it was when I broke my hand. That was some 10 years ago!) and discovered that the hill I live on is not nearly as gentle as I always thought it was! I nearly died getting back up it. Good thing I have a couple days to recover before I have to attempt it again.