Blog Action Day

Okay, so I didn't sign up, because I'm a total slacker, but today is something called Blog Action Day. Which is where if you read blogs, you are going to read all about how to save the world, er, I mean, the environment. And, because I'm a closet environmentalist, I'm totally on this bandwagon. Just don't tell Sarge. Oops.

And we all know all the little choices that make a big difference - change your bulbs to CFL's, seal your windows and doors, hang your clothes to dry, turn out the lights, sleep naked. You know, the little things.

But there's some big things, too, that we've done that were good environmental choices. But I wasn't necessarily thinking of the environmental consequences of my choices.

We chose, about six years ago, when my husband changed jobs, to live about half a mile from his job. He filled up his gas tank about once a month.

Aside from the obvious gas savings, it also made the vehicle that he had last longer. It was an eight year old pickup with about 170,000 miles on it when we moved. When he sold it, four years later, it had 180,000 miles on it. Had he still been commuting sixty miles every day, there's no way that we could have gone four years without purchasing a new one or at least putting some significant maintenance into that car. All the mathemeticians (ahem, Dad, cough) can figure out for me how many miles that would have been more that he would have driven. And gallons of gas. Remember? I'm lazy. And a slacker.

When we moved again a little over a year ago, we still stayed close to his work, but this time, my one major requirement was that we'd be close to the elementary school, because I wanted to walk to and from school every day with my children. Sarge is a little further away from his job, but now it's like two miles. There are days that I don't even get into my car, and there will be even more next year when the little one goes to school there too. So now, instead of driving 4 miles every day to drop off and pick up my children, we are getting exercise, and talking with friends, and even, sometimes, stopping to roll down a hill. And watch ants decomposing a grasshopper.

Also, these choices that we made affected our quality of life. We have two more hours each day with Sarge that we wouldn't have had if he were sitting in traffic instead. We have friends that we chatter with to and from school each day, and we are active in our community because we see and interact with our neighbors everyday. And we are healthier, because we exercise a little every day (it's not far, but still!). And that's all big, too.

So there you have it. Not choices that are everyday choices, but it goes to show that each decision that we make, whether we want it to or not, affects the environment.