Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Putting the "earth" back in "earthchick" one step at a time

So a long time ago a friend dubbed me "earthchick" (a previous friend had dubbed me "Granola Gal" but that didn't seem to stick). I guess I was your basic earth-loving tree-hugging Birk-wearing crunchy grad student. (My boyfriend's nickname was "Eco-Boy." He's an organic farmer now, so I think he's living the dream a little more than I am. He also, interestingly, has twin toddlers [as I do], as does a previous ex-boyfriend.)

For 13 years I've used "earthchick" as my handle pretty much everywhere online. Well, there was that one bizarre and brief exception where I went by "Charlie B," but I digress. Despite the fact that I've kept the moniker, I haven't kept the spirit of the name as much as I would've liked.

But now I'm trying to turn things around. #4 in the list of my goal for my 36th year was to live my values a little more concretely in my daily life. In particular, I'm trying to be more mindful about the toll my lifestyle takes on our planet, and I'm trying to get more conscious about what it means to live a sustainable life. It's a little overwhelming, and very difficult to live gently on the earth in our modern, industrialized nation. For now the best I think I can muster is baby steps.

Today, my baby steps took me all the way to work and back. I've decided to try to get to work by alternative means once a week. For me, this means by foot or by bus for now, because my bike is not fit for riding. The church is a little less than 2 miles away, so it was a pleasant 30 minute walk. (The walk takes me right by an LYS downtown but given that I added 48 minutes to my daily commute today I couldn't really afford the time to stop!).

I didn't get to knit this morning because of leaving for work early, but I did think about knitting a lot while I was walking. Not that that counts towards any FOs. I'm hoping that tonight can be all about finishing up some FOs (dinosaurs and Baby J's baby booties). Basically this means a lot of seaming, stuffing, and a couple of i-cords. So not really knitting.

One of these days I will post actual knitting content, with pictures and everything.

3 comments:

essjay said...

Sounds like a great plan - that is one of the benifits from working at home - no commute! I think you should invest in a wrist pouch and knit while you walk - it can be done! Good luck with your journey - it is an important one!

Becka said...

I was about to suggest the same thing Sara said...wrist pouch!
What a great plan that you have! I hate making icords, mine are always wonky.

BrownBerry said...

I loved reading this!! I've got somewhat of a "nature girl" reputation myself, and would love to be living it more outwardly than just talking about it.
Recently I've tried to do more recycling than consuming. It's hard to do when my hobby list keeps growing, but I get such joy out of reusing or repurposing something instead of just buying it. I look forward to hearing more about how you're achieving more of your goals for this year.