I want to have clean living, too!

Wouldn't it be great if you could manufacture in your own living space the energy that you need to do all the things you need to do each day?  Capturing those little bits of light into computers, microwaves, ovens, washers and dryers, pumpkin night lights and whatever tickles your fancy.  Like the fairy godmother in Cinderella with her wand that could light her way, I would like to have that possibility to channel energy for use.  I would invest in a neighborhood energy source, rather than building some huge energy producer miles away that has to run miles of high voltage wires.

But, I don't know enough yet to make it happen.  I am looking forward to understanding that for myself and my home. Here is what I do know.  You have to take first steps for everything.  So, I am putting that in place by trying to understand how to undo bad habits that I have gotten into over the years.  And I guess that is how you get there.  First steps, from the homepower magazine is seeing:

The Big Picture
Energy efficiency is always the most affordable and environmentally sound place to start when approaching renewable energy. By doing something as simple as swapping out incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescents, you can decrease the number of PV modules needed to power your lighting by up to 75 percent. This principle applies to all choices you make as you use energy. Focusing on the demand side first will always be your best bet.
Think through your renewable energy choices carefully, evaluating where best to spend your money. Look at your energy appetite and needs, your site, and the resources available to you. As you move towards less and less reliance on nonrenewable energy, you´ll be gaining some independence from the utility companies, reducing your monthly bills, and minimizing the impact our energy use has on the environment.

Pebble 3: We will change all the light bulbs in the house with the compact fluorescent bulbs.






Note on Pebble 2:  I love the electric warmth in our bed.  You should give it a try!

Brrrr...I hate to be cold.

Ask anyone who has lived with me knows, I.hate.cold  I can pinpoint a draft in a room faster than it takes to sit down in a chair.  I hate drafts and the cold.  I call myself the original draft dodger haha.  I know the nerd in me is silly.
Anyway, I hate coldness.  And that can be a challenge when you live somewhere when the weather can look like this:

Where I don't want to be

 Not really, but when it is winter it sometimes feels a lot like this if you are sensitive to cold.  So here's the point. I want to actually make it colder in my house.  It will be a challenge to live with that. Here's my new pebble. If you missed my first pebble posting check it out here.

Tonight we will turn down the thermostat in the house and use an electric mattress pad to keep us warm instead.

Okay, I have said this out loud so now it is official.  I'll keep you posted (literally, tee hee!).

I have decided to stop sitting on my hands.

Happy new year to everyone!  Today, that seems very apparent to me because I have made a decision to commit to something.  I guess you could call it a new year's resolution, but I know this one has been percolating for awhile and today seemed to be the day to move forward.


I started this blog more or less to keep family posted about what I was up to.  And what I have discovered is that I want to spend a year talking more about being a good steward of the world, the people and our resources.  These issues are ongoing so it is a timeless topic.  For me, I have found myself moving more and more into a direction of care and protection of it.




I have made a few goals that I am going to inform you about on this blog.

1.  Find ways to support more local businesses.
2. Use less energy and support sustainability in my own small way.
3. Educate myself on the science of environment and sustainability.
4. Work to make life easier on those who are limited in resources.
5. Make my home and land surrounding it less demanding on natural resources and limit toxicity.

I am gong to make some changes to make my use of things frugal.  I want to control what I can and I know that if we all do things in small ways they have a rippling effect. 

I call these small changes pebbles. Here's my first...

Today, I am going to turn off all computers, appliances, stereos, TVs that I am not using.  I will track the difference in my bill and see how much this changes my usage.

There is the start.  I am excited to share with you how this goes.  Maybe you will have so ideas to send along to me that I can add.  Here we go into a new year!