The LEAF

I sooo didn't want to go to the LEAF event today. When I got home from work, the house was cold so I snuggled under some blankets to watch TV. I got very comfy, so I was having a hard time convincing myself to leave the house. But, since I started this blog to keep myself accountable, I knew that I would have to write that I didn't go, and that would make me feel bad. So, I managed to put on a presentable (and even kinda cute!) outfit and go to the event. WIN!

Of course, when I left the house, I accidentally left on the television, the cable box and my laptop. FAIL!

But anyway, back to the event... They gave out free t-shirts and had some people that could answer questions about the car. One of the local Nissan dealerships was also there, taking down names and e-mail addresses so that they could contact you when cars were available. Reservations for cars will be taken beginning in March of 2010, with the cars actually arriving in December. I'm seriously thinking about reserving one, and then making my final decision after a test drive. I just hope that the cars are available for sale, and not just for lease, because I have no desire to rent a car for 4 years. That's just not my thing.

I have absolutely no idea what I should do for New Year's Eve. I am thinking that since I have made no plans, I will likely just wind up at home watching TV. That's ok, though. TV is cheap entertainment, and I need to save my dough for solar screens, power strips and a solar PV system.

If anyone reads this, have fun and say safe this New Year's Eve!

Solar Screens and Randomness

This morning, Dan from Solar Screen Solutions came to my house to give me an estimate. I have decided that solar screens are a necessity in Tucson, since it gets so hot here, and solar screens keep the heat from the sun from even reaching your windows. My bedroom is the hottest room in the house, and hopefully some solar screens will keep me from cranking up the AC this summer.

Later today is the Nissan Zero Emission LEAF tour. I really want to go, but I'm so sleepy. I don't know if I'll be able to stay awake. What do you think of how the LEAF looks? I think I like the Prius better, but 100 miles on a charge is tempting...

Is Botox eco-friendly? The idea of injecting a toxin into my forehead seems a little crazy, but every body's doing it, right?? I mean, after all I did jam barbed wire into my forehead the other day. How much worse could Botox be?

I went a little crazy on iTunes today. I consider buying music on iTunes green since you save all the waste from the packaging. I bought John Mayer's "Battle Studies" and Michael Buble's "Crazy Love." Plus about a million other songs. Yup, I'm saving the planet through iTunes.

Fellow Greenies

I found a few other eco-conscious people at work over the last few days. I spent a few hours the other day talking to one dude, I'll call him Buddy, about electric cars and composting. Another guy, I'll call him Hamster, and I were hanging out talking about carbon emissions. My friend, code-named Insight, loaned me a book on solar power. It was really cool to have a few guys to talk to who don't look at me like I'm an alien when I talk about this stuff! So far, there are 4 people out of 300 in my workplace that give a damn about the environment. That's what happens when you work for The MAN.

I was stabbed in the head with barbed wire today. And guess what? I did it to myself. I just didn't realize that strand of barbed wire was so close... Thank goodness I had just received a tetnus shot a few weeks ago. Have I mentioned that The Green Lilly could just as easily be named The Clumsy Lilly?

Did you know that John Mayer is trying to be more green? I read about his tours trying to be more eco-friendly. Because of this, I feel that it is totally ok to drool over his dirty, tatooed musician hotness. Don't tell The Husband.

Green Christmas

Is it wrong that I'm eating blackberries in December? Should I be eating only food that is in season in this hemisphere? Am I going to eco-hell for eating some fruit? (I do however, know that it's wrong that these blackberries taste a little bit like oranges. That's f#@%ing weird!)

Well, no one "adopted" any animals for me, so I went ahead and adopted a Sumatran rhino on my own. I gave my boss a Terracycle recycling bin for his office. (Hopefully he will now stop throwing away all of his Vitamin Water bottles!) I reused a gift bag for Isabel's gift. I bought Snuggies (those crazy blankets with sleeves) for The Husband and me as to avoid turning up the heat, and I brought a plate and bowl with me to work so I won't have to worry about using a Styrofoam plate again. A fairly eco-conscious Christmas, I suppose.

I figure that one of my biggest carbon emissions is driving to and from work. I try to carpool with a guy that lives close by, but we never seem to have the same schedule anymore. I am thinking about buying a DriveNeutral.com carbon offset, removing an estimated 7.02 tons of CO2. I think I'll pay the mortgage and see what I have left for offsets.

Did I mention that I freaked out on a co-worker that threw a non-recyclable plastic fork in my recycle bin? He actually apologized for using a plastic fork in front of me. I think my co-workers are getting scared of the Green Lilly, the Green Freak. Are there other office Greenies out there like me?

I talked to The Husband about reducing our electric usage. I told him I wanted to get some power strips, add some weather stripping around the front door, and get some solar screens for the windows to help cool the house in the hot Arizona summers. He seemed OK with it, so hopefully I will find less Gremlins in the house. Considering I spent $400 more on electricity in 2009 than I did in 2008, something has to be done!

Not quite...

So today we had our work Christmas pot-luck. Since I don't eat beef, I was stuck eating nothing but side dishes and desserts. I brought in several bags of chips, and proudly showed off my reusable pink tote bag that folds up small enough to fit in my purse.

But alas, I have failed today in my eco-endeavor, as I am eating my macaroni salad and tortilla chips off a Styrofoam plate. I should have brought my own plate. I always have a fork and a spoon in my lunchbox, even a cool pink travel coffee mug, but no plate. Crap.

At least I remembered to unplug my computer and phone charger before I left home. I really want to greatly reduce the "phantom loads" in my house, but it's kind of a pain in the ass to unplug everything. I'm thinking I should get a few power strips, so all I have to do is flip a switch. I think The Husband will derail some of my power saving hopes, though. He has what he calls "Gremlins." Yeah, seriously. Every time he leaves a light on, he disavows responsibility and claims it was the Gremlins that did it. I think those Gremlins are costing me serious money on my electric bill. I come home from work almost every day to find lights and fans that he has left on for hours even though no one is home. Damn Gremlins.


I asked for a symbolic animal adoption for Christmas this year. I asked for a polar bear (my favorite animal), a three toed sloth, or a sumatran rhino. The adoption comes with a stuffed animal - WooHoo! Who knew they even made sloth stuffies? I should know in several hours if I am now the proud 'parent' of an endangered species.

The photo to the right is from one of my favorite websites: http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ It mostly features cats (or kittehs, as they are called on the site) but they occasionally have other cool animals on there as well. All of the pictures have funny or strange captions, usually in Lolspeak. A great website for a pick-me-up that The MAN hasn't blocked yet.



Speaking of sites I love, what happened to F#@% You, Penguin (http://www.fupenguin.com/)? It was a hysterical blog, they even had a book published, but there are no new posts. I guess all good things must come to an end, but I miss you, F#@% You, Penguin!

Electric Cars

So today I decided to surf the internet to educate myself about electric cars. I wrote to Mini USA to find out when the electric Mini Cooper would be available mass market. (Right now, it is only available for lease in certain areas.) Apparently the electric Mini is only in the "Field Test" stage, so I don't expect to see it in Tucson anytime soon. Although I think that Mini Coopers are some of the cutest cars on the planet, I am a little leery of paying $50K for an electric. I mean, seriously, it's going to be TWICE AS MUCH as a normal Mini?

The Nissan LEAF is scheduled to do their Field Test here in Tucson, so maybe I can get in on that. It is expected to be more reasonably priced, starting at $25K, with a range of 100 miles per charge. Considering my commute it 39.25 miles each way, I should be covered, but skeptics are saying it will likely only make it 70 miles under normal driving conditions. That leaves me stranded 10 miles from home. There is a LEAF tour event here in Tucson in a few days; I RSVP'd for that event, so maybe I can get some questions answered about that vehicle.

Tesla is also making electric cars. Their cars are more expensive, but the Roadster is said to go 244 miles on a charge. The Roadster costs $100K, but they are expected to release a sedan in a year or so that should be much more affordable. Too bad there are so few Tesla dealers around!

I'm actually thinking seriously about a Chevy Volt. It's a hybrid, but according to the Chevy website, it only uses gas when the charge runs out, which is after 40 miles or so. That means that I could get to work without using any gas. And if I could plug it in at work and let it charge, I wouldn't have to use gas going home, either. The question is, do you think my employer (aka The MAN), who is supposedly oh so green, will allow little old me to plug in a car? Or will The MAN call it stealing?

For now, though, I will be driving my Altima.

How many trees can I hug?

OK, so here's the plan: I will go green in 2010, and this blog will help keep me accountable for my actions.

You see, it's a little hard for me to be eco-minded, because not a lot of people around me seem to care. I love animals and want to recycle and reduce pollution, etc, but I am often teased and tormented by co-workers. On my facebook, I became a fan of Al Gore and was quickly ridiculed by people I know (including my mother!) I already recycle everything I can, have stopped eating beef, and will hopefully soon install solar panels on the roof of my home. But I want to do more. So, starting January 1, 2010 (or maybe earlier), I will start blogging about my successes and failures, as well as the responses I get from others about what I'm doing.

Who's with me?