"Who Cooked the Earth?"

....may be the best op-ed title of all time.

Actually, it's "Who Cooked the Planet,"  a piece by Paul Krugman in the July 25th New York Times.

"Never say that the gods lack a sense of humor. I bet they’re still chuckling on Olympus over the decision to make the first half of 2010 — the year in which all hope of action to limit climate change died — the hottest such stretch on record." (Krugman, New York Times, July 25, 2010)



Is all hope gone?  If the big corporations, the Pentagon, and the big polluters don't change their ways, will recycling the envelopes my mail comes in really make a difference?

As Al Gore (channelling Winston Churchill) once said, 'now we are living in the time of consequences.'  The goal now may well be to prevent a total breakdown of of water supply, air supply, and stall the end of the livability of this planet.

What dogs do

As much as I care about quote upquote saving the Earth [although I really don't], there are some things I just can't seem to get a handle on.

What do I do about my dog's...offerings?  You see, my sweet, schnooky-face, snuggle muffin has a nasty habit of defecating in public.

doggie poo..safely sealed away

Do I buy those ridiculously overpriced biodegradeable bags which might not even be biodegradeable?  It doesn't matter if they are biodegradeable if they end up in a landfill.

Right now I am using plastic bags, and not just plastic bags, but those zippered sealable bags!!

Why?  Because it is so lovely after picking someone else &$;(*(*)(  to be able to seal it up in a hermetically sealed...sealing thing.


And then I put it in the trash, where it begins it's long journey on the way to killing the Earth.

"Aaah..sweet, sweet filth."

(said the seagulls)

What are some alternatives--I'd like to know....apparently, it's not as funny a problem as I'd like to think.  Dog waste poses serious threats to water quality.

I just wish my neighborhood had one of these:

The Lazy Environmentalist

...is one of my favorite television shows of all-time!

http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/




If you subscribe to Josh's newsletter, he will e-mail you his report, "The 5 Laziest Ways to Go Green Without Spending a Dime."

He says he will e-mail this immediately...but I'm still waiting...so in the meantime, here are my top 5 lazy tips: (sorry if they intersect with Josh's, but I'm too lazy to cross-check..)

1. Stop buying bottled water - what can be easier then NOT doing something?
2. Recycle - yes, this requires "effort," but by my calculation, no MORE effort than throwing garbage away.  Please tell me you do throw your garbage away!
3. Buy less, use less - again, doing less is pretty darned lazy!
4. One day a week, don't use your car
5. Let the sun dry your clothes -again, I'm so lazy--and entitled, I might add--that I'm not satisfied unless the largest thing in the solar system takes an item off of my "to do" list!

Never Buys - Bottled Water

I really enjoy this list of things you should never buy.  I haven't purchased styrofoam cups in five hundred years. 

But there is one woeful omission.

Bottled water.

Virginia Farmer's Market Week: August 1-7, 2010

Heat Storm 2010 is, if not over, abating, and today might be a lovely day for walking and enjoying the sunshine.  Perhaps a good day to hit the farmer's markets. 

There are lots of reasons to buy locally grown food, but the most personally compelling:

Buying locally means less oil-slash-petroleum-slash fossil fuel is used for transportation. A lot less.

By the by, supposedly the first week in August is Virginia Farmers’ Market Week.  Nice, but how are we supposed to know these things?  I've seen zero signage, zero advertising.

It's Thursday, so that means the 17th Street Farmer's Market is open--it's Growers' Market today (on other days you find furniture, beer, and crafts.) [8:30 am to 4 pm]

RichmondGood Life.com has a comprehensive list of area farmer's markets, csa's [more on that in another post], local "ethnic" grocery stores...whew! I'm not even going to try to replicate all of that...yet!

I myself feel very lucky because earlier this year, the Monument Market (Saturdays, 8 am - Noon) opened just down the street from me.  Local, fresh eggs, gorgeous flowers, and enormous low-spray strawberries were on display the last time I went!  (D'ja ever notice that when you buy fruit from a local farm or farmer's market, it lasts forever? I wonder if it's too late to go berry picking...]

To find a market near you, visit the VDACS website.  Just type in your zipcode, and you're one step closer to fresh local produce.

Consignment stores

I'm excited because a new consignment store has opened on Cary Street: "B-Sides."

My first excursion was a bust because they were not open, even at 11 a.m.  So instead I visited Mongrel, The Children's Exchange (a consignment store with really quite gorgeous children's togs), Chop Suey, a great bookstore with used items and titles of local interest.

Enter stage left

I have to admit, I don't know if there are other blogs about the effort to live an environmentally conscious life in Richmond.

But here goes.


Feel free to comment, complain, kvetch, lecture, and otherwise jump on board!  Mostly I look forward to suggestions and tips on how to live sustainably in Richmond, Virginia.