Today is the last day of the month. August was the first
month I decided to start blogging about my green adventures. The blog has made
me examine and explain myself and I feel much better for doing so. I am getting
quite a few views a day. I like to think that I'm building a good back stock of
posts for others to read when they first get here. I'm still taking suggestions
and I plan on posting with the same frequency until I completely run out of
ideas (which shouldn’t be any time soon).
On to the challenge for September: My girlfriend and I have
lived together for almost 8 years. We have changed schedules a lot over the
years but now she has a set schedule and mine is a little more fluid. She goes
to bed at the same time every night and many times I stay up much later. How do
I spend my time? In most cases I either play video games or I watch movies.
Some times I read. I use one lamp (with a cfl bulb of course). I have on the
television, the xbox, and the dog and I stay up playing video games. So for the
month of September I'm going to try something a little different when my
girlfriend goes to bed:
No electrical use for entertainment
No unnatural light
Not as much sitting
Basically I'm going to light the room I'm in with soy
candles (I would prefer to use beeswax and will have some in the next few weeks
but I can get soy candles today). Most candles are made of paraffin wax that
can release toxic fumes as they burn. I do have a few paraffin candles left and
will use them first because I don't want to waste even half used candles and
there are only a few remaining in the house (remember that being green means
using up everything you have first before replacing it with a greener
alternative).
So what am I going to be doing in the dark aside from
barking my shins on things?
I've always been an avid reader, mostly novels but a bit of
everything. I have quite a little library (I know, I'm using paper but
books—especially well made one—are a bit more permanent than ebooks, plus I can
read them with no power source). And to quote Richard Steele, "Reading is
to the mind what exercise is to the body."
I'm also a writer. Not just this blog either. I've had a few
hundred articles and a few short stories published over the years and I do like
writing by hand. I have a refillable fountain pen I can use over and over
again.
And last and probably least, I am also a visual artist. I do
little doodles and have had a few commissions in my life. I'm not great but I'm
not terrible either.
All those things involve sitting still, so what am I going
to do when I'm not sitting. Chores don't stop just because it is night. And it
is always better to wash your dishes and do your laundry at night when the
power companies aren't using peak energy.
So let's see if I can make it a month with no video games…
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