Annie Leonard’s video “The Story of Stuff,” was the single strongest influence on me during my first year on The Compact (I’m almost halfway through my second already). So I was happy to see her on The Colbert Report and learn that she’d written a book of the same name. The idea that we should […]
Stop Those Catalogs and Junk Mail Once and For All
The following is a reprint of a previously published post, from one year ago. I thought I’d check in on my “baby step challenges” from last year and see how they’re going. This post was my mid-month report on attacking junk mail, and our junk mail has decreased dramatically in the past year. This month […]
Why are you frugal, or semi-frugal, or resourceful?
The following is a reprint of a previously published post. After I wrote yesterday’s post “What do you splurge on?” it occurred to me that maybe I should have started with the question “Why are you frugal?” Because there’s no point in being frugal for the sake of being frugal. There needs to be a […]
Green is Good
I’m so happy to be part of a “green roundup” at Your Daily Thread called “Five L.A. Women Bloggers Up to Green Good.” I’m included with an inspiring group: …A woman who rides the bus every day (believe me, that’s a BIG deal in Los Angeles) …A creative genius who sews A New Dress a […]
Boot Camp (from your desk)
When a friend asked me if I was interested in a Going Green Boot Camp in honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary on April 22nd, my first reaction was, “No way! I’m overscheduled and overwhelmed. I don’t have time for ONE MORE PROJECT.” But after I took a deep breath and my heart rate returned […]
How to generate less trash
Last night I got some tangible proof that our efforts to waste less food and create less trash are paying off. My husband mentioned that he was going to call the city since we didn’t need our trash picked up every week anymore, and so maybe it would cut our bill. I asked him how […]