Uh…Electricity, Eee-lec-tricity (anyone else remember Schoolhouse Rocks?)

There’s a million ways to save on electricity.  What’s one we can all do?  Turn off the lights!

I think I’m pretty fantastic about turning off the lights…maybe even a bit obsessive.  I may have or may not have been grounded for leaving on lights as a child.  Multiple times.  I also may or may not have been grounded because my mom left the lights on. 

My parents claimed I had to turn off the lights to save money (or foot the bill myself) but I think they were just secretly world savers in a time when it wasn’t as cool to be green.  Oh, those secret world savers... 

The Contest is Still ON -- Don't miss out!

Thank you to all the lovely world savers who have entered the contest thus far.  If you have not yet entered, don't be sad--you still have plenty of time.  I'm accepting entries until Friday, July 28th at 11:59 PM cst.  All you have to do is write in the comments of the below blog post what you have done to save the world this today, this week, this month, or this year to save the world.  Go, world savers, go!

CONTEST! Win a PRIZE!

Seriously, I’m going to give away a hand-crafted, super awesome, “tool” that every world saver needs.  I thought about not telling you what the prize is because, quite frankly, I’m concerned you won’t be as excited about the prize as I am and you won’t participate in the contest because you don’t care about the prize.  Then I said, “No, Jen.  Your readers are better than that.  They want to save the world.  Or they at least know someone that does.”  So here it is. I’m giving away 1 handmade (by yours truly) lunch bag (as seen this post).

All you have to do is...(*drumroll*)…tell me what you did to save the world this week.  Remember, my definition of world saving habits is pretty broad.  So, respond in the comments with what you are doing by Friday, July 30^th (I’m giving you plenty of time to do something just in case you haven’t so you don’t have to lie).   I will use a random number generator to select the winner.  Since it’s a random number generator, I suppose you could say you’ve done nothing at all or write gibberish and it won’t really matter…but you wouldn’t do that, would you?  Only 2 comments per contestant please (2 is my favorite number).    

Just to entice you further, I’ll let the big winner pick the colors of the lunch bag .   For those of you who already received one of my lunch bags, I do think it will be a good gift.  Or you’ll have a spare.  When I wash mine, I don’t dry it, so I could use a spare myself.  I’ll mail you the prize as soon as I finish it.  It will be “soon” but I don’t know how soon (I’m a busy girl, people, saving the world is not easy work). 

Things I “Can’t” Do

Ok, so there’s lots of world saving things I realistically can’t do ever or can't do just yet.  But there are also a few very obvious, reasonably easy things that I FEEL like I CAN’T do.  I’m human with faults, you know.

What am I struggling with, you might ask?  The first one, is a doozy.  Paper towels.  I can’t see to let go of over using paper towels.  They are my security blanket.  I use paper towels for much of my cleaning—from every day stuff like wiping the counters to more serious jobs like washing the windows.  Go ahead and shun me, but I even use them to dust.  I know there’s no good excuse for this naughty behavior, but, truthfully, re-using dish clothes and rags just grosses me out.  I can’t explain it.  I’m not an overly obsessive neat person.  I don’t think I’m a germ a-phob.  But it literally makes me sick to my stomach to regularly use the same dish towel.  AND, I don’t like washing those towels with my other towel or my clothes. 

I don’t know how to get over this.  I’m here, though, seeking your help.

PS.  I’ve got another “can’t” I’ll be sharing soon. 

PPS.  I'm behind on posting because a) we've been very busy remodeling our bathroom and b) we had a brown-out last night--we had one working light and a sort of working fridge.  Excuses, excuses, I know. 

Cool as a....Melted Popsicle

Anyone who has every paid an electric bill knows that running the air conditioner uses an excessive amount of energy.  Boo hiss, right?  Running the AC less = saving the world.

Our cozy home has a single window unit to cool all 600 square feet.  Luckily, Chicago’s summers are relatively mild.  At least they were until yesterday when someone turned us to “high broil.”  Seriously, it’s hot as Hades out there.   

Being sweaty-hot really doesn’t bother me---I very much prefer it to being cold.  However, I share my home with my husband and can only force so many of my world saving habits on him, so I can’t exactly boycott the AC.  But, I’ve uncovered many things I can do to minimize our use of the AC and optimize its refreshing-ness when it is on.  There’s: closing the blinds when we aren’t home enjoying the sunshine (something I’m TRYING hard to remember to do), minimizing use of the stove/oven (easy peasy—who wants hot food when it’s 100+?), opening the windows (duh), turning off the lights, and turning off other heat-producing appliances (that stinkin’ laptop AGAIN).   I turn it off when my husband isn’t home.  

Also, I am lucky enough to not have central AC at work.  I know it’s hard to tell when reading, but there was zero sarcasm in that statement.  It seriously negatively impacts my work productivity if I am in an office that’s freezing in the summer.  And I don’t get to wear my cute summer apparel.  Anyway, I have a window unit there as well, and, since I have my own office,  I can suffer all I want.  I’ve turned my AC on exactly once (on low, yesterday) and turned on the fan exactly once (today). 

AND *poof* I’m using less energy.   

Sew Saving the World

Exhibit A

I’ve taken up sewing rather recently, and at some point tossed around the idea of starting some craft blog for novices like myself but opted to save the world instead.  That being said, I’m certain that sewing plays an integral role in my plan to save the world.  Let’s review Exhibit A.  That’s my lunch bag, made with love by my dear mom.  I take my lunch to work in this reusable bag almost every day.  And, I’ve shared the wealth.  One of the first things I created when I started sewing in my adult life was a lunch bag for a friend.  And then some more lunch bags (Exhibit B).  Then I sort of went crazy with the lunch bags.  Anyway, using my lunch bag (and giving others lunch bags to use) is definitely key to my world saving activities simply because it’s reusable.  Reusable=less waste.  The math is simple. 



Exhibit B



Sew saving the world?  Why yes, I think so. Oh, how I love a good play on words….