Ghandi was a pretty smart guy, so definitely worth quoting him: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Remember how in my new year’s goals & resolutions post I said I want to make the world a better place? (If not, you can re-read the blog here and pretend like you read it the first time around). So, world, here I am, being the change! I made up a simple litmus test for myself: Is there something more, or something less, that I could be doing/using? See below for examples.
Please don’t think I’ve cured cancer or anything because these are super easy changes I should have made a long time ago. Since I’m sharing them with you now, if you make some changes with me, then my resolution is really going well and I can rename this post Top 6 Things I’ve Already Done in 2012 To Change The World!
The Top 5 Super Easy Changes Lisa’s Made
- Can I Use Less: Reusable Produce Bags. Sure, reusable shopping bags recently became all the rage, but their dorky younger brother the reusable produce bag was completely left behind in the fad and that’s just not right. I don’t know about you, but I buy like 5 different kinds of produce every time I go to the grocery store and don’t even fill up the bags 1/3 full. Two apples need a bag when I go shopping. People, I’m not a freakin juggler. It’s really not expensive at ALL – think like CHF/$15. So now we’ve made the switch to reusable produce bags and I think I’m saving at least 100 plastic bags a year from the garbage. Sweet!
- Can I Use Less: Unplug electronics. I love coffee in the mornings (L-O-V-E, like, I would marry coffee if it were legal). But why, oh why, does my coffee machine stay plugged in all day, every day? And my toaster? And my computer? And my electric toothbrush? Even when a person’s not using an item, if you keep it plugged in, it’s using energy. I just tell myself Unplug the thing, its not that much effort, you lazy bum! For some reason calling myself a lazy bum really works. Anyway, this saves money, saves energy, and saves the environment. Winning!
- Can I Do More: Register to vote. Quit being so judgmental, yes, I was already sorta registered. But I was registered in California and now my permanent American address is in New York and with all the stuff in the move I forgot to register in NY as an abroad citizen. Not only did I register Republican so I could vote in the primary but I plan to vote for… Stephen Colbert as my Presidential candidate (kidding! but isn’t he HILARIOUS?? If you haven’t seen his fake commercials from his SuperPAC, check them here. You’ll die. In a good way.).
- Can I Use More: Compost. Yes, I know it’s not super sexy to think about keeping your old, rotting food around the house and then setting it outside for bugs to enjoy and decomposition to occur. And yet… it’s actually not that bad and it’s much easier to compost than you think (there are a ton of websites out there with some great tips, I just Googled it). And don’t be jealous but here in my apartment complex we have a compost collection bin – so all I have to do is walk downstairs to properly compost so it’s beyond easy for me.
- Can I Use More: Use all my ingredients. I started making my own almond milk (since it’s CHF/$6 for a tiny little carton to buy it!) but after I got the milk out of the almonds I had no use for the “pulp” of them. Enter recipes for almond biscuits, almond butter, and almond over greek yogurt snacks. In other words, I didn’t just throw away the leftover pulp once I got the almond milk I wanted, I actually used all of the parts. Hey, more delicious food is always a good thing in my book.
Like I said, these weren’t earth-shattering changes, but at the same time if everyone did little things like this, we’d be HUGELY better off. Ok, now I’m off to the lab to cure cancer.
