Green as a Thistle

A lot of the green changes I make as part of Green as a Thistle are written about the day I make them, which means I have yet to accurately conclude how practical they really are. So at the end of every month, I’ll post a little summary of how my life has changed — either for better or worse, for easy or downright impossible — in case any faithful readers are wondering how that eco-toothpaste was working out, whether I’m struggling with the no-styrofoam thing, etc.

So, March: This was my first month, and what better time to start cleaning up my act than Spring? I’m feeling pretty good right now, but there’s a lot of anxiety building about whether these changes are going to come back to haunt me next Winter, like running outside only, keeping my thermostat down and just eating food within Canada and the U.S. (even now I still can’t get lemons).

Product switches have all been easy-peasy. Even the Seventh Generation dishwashing powder that I complained about seems to be working better, as long as I pour a little extra in. I’ve only screwed up once so far, when I bought berries that I thought were from California but it turned out they were from Chile. I almost caved when offered a styrofoam cup of hot green tea on a rainy day, but resisted and felt better afterwards when I got home and made one myself.

As of yet, I don’t look or feel like a full-fledged eco-warrier (except for maybe when I pull out my collapsible tote bag at check-out counters and ask them to hold the receipt). Since being profiled on TreeHugger, I now get a steady readership of about 500 people a day, which I’m hoping will only go up. So with that, onwards and greenwards into April!

Well, at least I am — or riding my bike, or taking public transit — because from now on I’m leaving my car parked in the garage on weekends, from when I wake up on Saturday until I go to sleep on Sunday (so if I happen to sleep-drive at 4 a.m. Monday morning, that is totally acceptable!).

Here’s the part where everyone leaves comments like, “You know what you should really do? GET RID OF THE DAMN CAR!”). I’ve considered this, and it might be a possibility in the future, but because it takes me an hour and a half to take transit to work (streetcar, then train, then bus, then walking — it’s not my fault, it’s the office that’s in the boonies) and it takes me almost two hours to bike (I tried last summer and had to shower three times that day), yet just 20 minutes to drive, I need the car for work.

On the weekend, however, especially now that it’s Spring, leaving the car behind shouldn’t be that big of an issue. Even if I’m getting groceries over at the St. Lawrence Market or going out for a drink at night up in the Annex, I think I can manage with two feet and two wheels. Of course, like many of my green changes, I’m sure that come February of next year I’ll be crying into my homemade compost bin about it.

Photo courtesy of pastorbuhro on Flickr