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December 29, 2004
Not so virtuous
I once wrote an article called "Losing My Friends While Saving the Earth." That was after my first environmental book came out (Home Ecology, published in London in 1989, in the US in 1990). I tried to do everything then: my new baby was in cloth diapers, I scrubbed the tub with baking soda. (And this wasn't because I had time or money to spare. We were dead broke, and I was working two part-time jobs and juggling a baby and a toddler. I was hypercharged, a woman with a mission.)
What I found is that while some green tips are easy, clear, and really do the job, others just plain didn't work. And as I got to know other authors, I discovered that they weren't quite as rabid as I about actually testing what they recommended. I starting collecting the weird advice people dished out to an unsuspecting public ("Write small so you'll use less paper." "Use lemon juice instead of bleach.")
As a result, I lightened up (a little). I changed how I approached each task, and focused more on what you might call the "lifecycle" of any given activity. How much damage does my oven cleaning do to the planet? Not much, considering how rarely I do it (every five years or so). In my life, ovens are definitely the small stuff, and I am not going to sweat it. Each of us needs to find a balance that allows for doing good and staying sane, after all.
But I'd love to know whether baking soda (or something else) works for you. Here's one method to try: Nontoxic oven cleaner.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 2:06 PM | Comments (0)
December 28, 2004
New Year's cleaning
While we still talk about "spring cleaning," I notice that autumn's a time when a lot of people get rid of junk, and I feel the urge to clean about now. It's ridiculously cold so I can't throw windows open, but there's a lull between Christmas and New Year that makes me feel domestic. And I like the idea of starting 2005 with clean moulding and shelves rearranged.
And with clean ovens, too, after the Thanksgiving and Christmas baking. Like you, I've read those Green tips about cleaning an oven with a paste of baking soda and water. Forget it! The crud in an oven is baked on. I actually have two ovens to clean. One I did with the dregs of a can of oven-cleaner, and lots of scrubbing. For the second, I actually used the self-cleaning system (after 10 years in the house I got it to work!).
Neither method is at all green. The first uses strong chemicals in an aerosol can; the second uses a heck of a lot of electricity.
I've learned two things: (1) it's really nice to have a clean oven (as you can tell, this doesn't happen to me very often--maybe every five years), and (2) prevention is the name of the game, in cleaning as well as personal health. I don't want to go through this--the smells, the guilt!--again soon, so I'm going to put a baking tray on the lower shelf to catch drips, and use larger baking pans so food doesn't spatter. Easy stuff, isn't it?
Posted by Karen Christensen at 4:39 PM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2004
January thinking of June
The first seed catalog has arrived (yes, really!) and I’ve spotted a couple things worth mentioning to those who are planning weddings. Nichol’s Garden Nursery in Oregon, which has been providing guidance about growing herbs and exotic crops like elephant garlic since I can remember, now offers an “Herbal Wedding Toss,” a pretty mixture that “doesn’t sprout into weeds or harm the birds.” And for wedding favors, they sell a variety of seed mixtures (“Pretty in Pink,” “Wild Flower Bouquet”) for your guests to grow, as well as small seed envelopes to be filled and tied with ribbon. What a lovely idea.
They’re one of the best sources of Asian vegetable seeds, too, and have always been organic gardeners. Nichols Garden Nursery.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2004
Cost to benefit ratio
On a busy Monday morning it's tempting to throw the clothes into the dryer. Hanging them on racks in the spare room (it's below zero degrees F. outside) just takes too long. But I compromise, because I know it's silly and wasteful to dry heavy clothes with fossil fuel derived electricty when they'll dry just fine without it. I hang 'smalls' on the little rack over the dryer (see photo), put big heavy things in a basket to go to the spare room rack, and toss the rest of the smaller, lighter items into the dryer for a very short cycle. Not perfect, I know, but okay for today.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 6:50 AM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2004
Greens in the snow
I'm not a homespun Martha Stewart by a long stretch, but I do exult in minor gardening triumphs like being able to pick food from my garden in December. I learned in London that some greens--like arugula--can survive freezing. This year I planted mesclun (a seed mix) and mustard greens in late August. As you can see, even after a couple of snowfalls, the mustard looks beautiful (and has a sweeter taste, I think). I pick it frozen and after it thaws in the house it's crisp enough for a salad, though it's also good stirfried with a little garlic.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 5:56 AM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2004
Out of the Armchair
I haven't exactly been rushing into the subject of fitness here, so you'd probably never guess that The Armchair Environmentalist is a sports enthusiast (and even the coeditor of the huge new Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport, out in April 2005). While I don't have anywhere near enough time in an armchair, I haven't been outdoors and exercising as much as I'd like because I've had an injury, something called plantar fasciitis since July. For a while I could barely walk, and actually - confession time! - had to have someone drive me to and from work, even though it's only five minutes' walk down the hill. What a lesson in patience, and in all kinds of techniques I would never have thought of, from a night splint to hot soaks and massage.
I've started going to yoga classes again (you'd be amazed by how much an injured foot can ache doing plain old triangle, so I had to stop for a while). I happened to go to a new teacher, Ann Greene, who turns out to be something of a specialist in hand and foot care. She was disapproving about the tape I had used to strap my instep before class: in her view, I need to get my own muscles to give me that support! I now have a set of exercises to do daily. Finally, after all these months, I'm thinking about strenthening my foot instead of just protecting it.
Tomorrow, thoughts on how this relates to the environment.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2004
Greeting Cards
When I open an envelope this time of year I find myself hoping for more than just "greetings" from the people I really care about. I want to hear what's really happening with them. I want to connect myself, in return, with more than a hasty signature at the bottom of a card. The waste of exchanging holiday cards bothers me, but it is the one time of year that we reach out to a lot of people who aren't a regular part of our lives, and that's a good thing.
This year, as my live changes in the course of starting a new publishing business, I have a yen for paper and pen and the time to remember just why I'm staying in touch . . . time to tell certain special people that I care, and catch them up a little on what's really going on in my life.
Here's my plan for the hectic holidays of 2004: I'm going to write real letters to a dozen distant friends, old-fashioned letters with an enclosure or two, an article they might enjoy, or a copy of an old photo. Then I'm going to email another dozen people I've lost touch with. This is going to be my season of renewing connections, and for that I don't need a box of greeting cards.
(By the way, aren't e-greeting cards the worst idea ever?)
Posted by Karen Christensen at 6:47 AM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2004
Witches' Knickers
I've been in Florida visiting my father-in-law. It's a good thing to get a look at what's Green (or not) in another part of the United States (Florida's an interesting case, too: a "red" state with a large "blue" population, at least in winter). I saw a "Pesticide-Free Park" sign, which I've never come across before, and a huge "Organic" sign in the supermarket. It was a wooden sign (or wood look-alike rustic) and hung at the front of the store above an alcove of packaged foods. We saw it only after checking out! (Talk about a half-hearted effort by Publix.)
And the checkout people wanted to pack every single item in a separate plastic bag. I know that paper bags aren't a benign choice, but hadn't realized just what a global problem plastic carrier bags had become till I read an article in New Scientist called "Battle of the bag" (11 September 2004) which explained that the mobility of plastic bags makes them far more dangerous than they might otherwise be. They're called "'witches' knickers' in Ireland, 'white pollution' in China." Estimates are that we use 150 bags per person each year - a million a minute!
It's a surprisingly hard habit to kick, I find, as I endlessly remind my husband to take bags with him to the supermarket. But it's easy to say 'no' to them, as I did even at the airport on the way home yesterday.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 5:38 AM | Comments (0)
December 4, 2004
Winter Composting
I realized too late that we hadn't dug a hole for the solar compost bin I ordered in June. If there's a thaw, I'll have Tom get out the pickaxe, but it's more likely that we'll have to get by with the regular bins again this year. We trek out in the snow to throw the kitchen scraps into the bin (the challenge is keep a route clear) and when spring comes it'll all thaw and begin the fermenting process that turns it into the soft dark compost we use. Compost chez Christensen is always coarse because I insist on throwing in odd sticks and branches and even old blue jeans (everything rots except the thread!). But the garden soil's getting better and better, and even in December we're eating beautiful mustard greens and arugula, and picking parsley and other herbs.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 6:28 AM | Comments (0)
Snuggle Up
Winter's here, and it's cold in the Berkshires. We have a big Victorian house and the only reason our oil bills are fairly low is that we keep it so damned cold.
When we first got an adjustable thermostat (something I definitely recommend) I set the temperature to 60°F day and night, which is what I recommended in my first book. Then I set it to drop to 55° at night.
Somehow the settings got messed up this year so we're at 55° all the time. Though the kids complained a little, no one has realized that the setting is different from last year. I've decided to keep my mouth shut (and put on another sweater!). Our supply of soft woolly blankets is crucial. I bought eight inexpensive yoga blankets from Fishcrane and we use them all the time, while watching TV, reading, and even sitting at the computer. This is definitely scrooge mothering, but we're all healthy, we're saving money, and we're being Green, too. And we have plenty of reason to snuggle up!
Posted by Karen Christensen at 6:15 AM | Comments (0)
December 2, 2004
Water, water
"Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink."
That's what the Ancient Mariner said, and that's what many people will say in years to come, as we finally tune in to the fact that fresh sweet water is a precious natural resource. 2003 was the International Year of Fresh Water, and it's well worth Googling "fresh water" to read about just what the issues are. And at home it's easy to make a difference: just turn that tap off, take a shorter shower, fix drips, and water your garden in the evening or very early in the morning.
Year of Fresh Water
Posted by Karen Christensen at 6:00 AM | Comments (0)