Spring arrived last week and the new season seems like an appropriate time to start doing something I’ve been meaning to do with this blog—documenting my efforts to make sound environmental and health choices. I feel like I do reasonably well, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
I’ve added a new page on this blog where I’ll be tracking a Green Index for our household. It’s a completely non-scientific, loosey goosey approach, because that’s just how I roll. And it’s not purely about environmentalism—it also takes overall health into consideration, as well as other sustainability factors like fair trade and human/animal rights.
For more impressive approaches to eco-assessment and lifestyle shifting, here are a few links:
- Ecological Footprint Quiz – my score was “if everybody lived like you, we’d need 2.6 planets”
- Green as a Thistle – a Canadian blogger attempts to make one green change every day
- No Impact Man – book tie-in blog about an NYC family man going radically green
3.8 planets for me! Yikes! I’m excited to keep up with your green index and take a closer look at how green Tracy and I are living.
Ack! I scored FOUR! i so did not realize i was that bad. I’m trying to go vegetarian and everything! AH, well. I eat like crap. And i even convinced my mom to buy some flourescent bulbs, too. There should be a deduction for poor people who are trying to be better. Somebody, back me up here!
Don’t beat yourselves up! The average American footprint would require 5.3 planets.
The main reason my score is a bit lower is because I live in the heart of a big city. Also being vegan, but still if I was back in Richmond living in a house and having to drive a lot more, I’d never have scored so low. And it’s not like 2.6 planets is sustainable either! We all just have to do what we can.