Yes, it’s spring, and I’ve finally crawled out from hibernation to add a new post to my “new” blog.

The number one emailed article at the New York Times today is about a couple and their small child going to eco-extremes in a year-long experiment in living green. To wit: they will not buy any food that hasn’t been grown within a 250-mile radius of NYC and they will not buy anything besides that food. They will also not use any carbon-fuelled transportation (elevators included) or produce any trash (they are composting IN their apartment). Among the food items that are banished (or will be once they run out): olive oil, balsamic vinegar and spices! They dine by the light of candles and one fluorescent bulb. And scooter or walk to work and everywhere else.

I admire their commitment (and of others who are doing similar things), I do. I’ve been singing the praises of the environmentally-enlightened (and rightful U.S President) Al Gore since 1992. I am honestly seriously concerned about global warming, and as anyone who knows me will tell you, I consider “skeptics” to be the equivalent of people who still believe the earth is flat.

But it’s hard to walk the talk. 



I do what I can–I’ve stopped being a huge-ass hypocrite by switching to Metro instead of driving to work. I telecommute one day about every other week. My car is 7years old and has not-quite 50,000 miles on it. There are now new windows in my house, which means I can actually open them and not used the “fan” setting on my AC (more on that later). I have central air now instead of two noisy electricity-hogging window units. I recycle! And I kinda hate fast food and massive chain operations.

However, there are some things that I refuse to give up for the sake of the earth. Here’s my list–I tried to rank them, but honestly, they’re all pretty important:

I will not stop eating meat–I try to buy organic and local if I can and I don’t eat veal (OK that’s really about the meanness of it), but dammit I love me some good lamb once in a while. Or a big juicy grilled steak (charcoal not gas).

I will not stop eating seafood—I’ve done the swordfish ban, and I know most of the world’s fish are being rapidly depleted, but I’ve gotta get my protein somewhere! I’ll try to focus on the less over-fished species, but don’t take away my omega-3s.

I will not sweat it out without air-conditioning–OK, I know this is a big one, but people it is hot and so fraking humid in DC in the summertime. I can cut down but don’t cut me off! It’s a shameless excuse, but I really do get light-headed when it’s really hot out (I know, lame.)

I will not wear ugly clothing–Look. I’m not extravagant. I can’t afford designer clothes (which actually is probably less energy-intensive), which means relatively mass-produced off the rack. But I’m working on the whole “less is more” thing. And I don’t know which is less energy-intensive to produce: natural items or synthetics, but I do know this: it can’t be tacky and I am not wearing hemp.

I will not stop buying music–But I will cut down on waste by buying virtually (ha) all of my music online. And I am keeping all of my forms of Bono and the boys–all the CDs with cracked cases, the concert DVDs and duplicate online files. Yes, I did actually download AND buy the physical CD of “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

I will not give up my TV–Something has to distract me from the destruction of the Earth and the sick joke that is the Bush administration. And my TV isn’t very big–just 24 inches and a little tiny one in my room. Yes, I do read–a lot, but a world where I never experienced the X-Files or Buffy? Veronica Mars? Scrubs or the Office (UK and US)? Be reasonable.

I will not stop drinking wine–Actually, wine is produced within a 250-mile radius of my house. However, if you know anything about wine, you’ll know that much of Virginia’s wine is not just bad, it’s damn near unrecognizable as wine. And I really like a lot of wine from New Zealand and Australia. And Argentina, Spain, Austria…OK, I’ll try to mix some Oregon and Washington wines in there. And one of my Italian great-uncles used to make his own wine…

I will not stop traveling to far-flung places–I want to see New Zealand and Australia. Bali and Southeast Asia. Argentina and Brazil. Maybe India. Various parts of the US. And how can I not go back to Italy? It’s in my blood! I’ve seen the stats on how wasteful air-travel is, but honestly I don’t get to do it that often. In the past few years it’s only been a few times a year and in some years, none at all. My only excuse is that seeing the rest of the Earth leads me to want to save it. It’s a whole balance thing, I know.

And finally, I will not stop using toilet paper–One of the most fascinating and awe-inspiring parts of the Times article was that these people have stopped using toilet paper. I cannot. If forced to chose, I would give up toilet paper for some of the other items on this list, but I don’t see it happening any time soon. Don’t have room for a bidet. Don’t think they are all that effective anyway.

Forgive me, Al. I remain your dedicated but deeply flawed supporter.