The Fun Times Guide to Living Green posted on Earth Hour… and steel-chair-wielding Pandas… Great post, which reminded me to share with you guys that I am participating this year!
Last year, I will admit, I did not. I forgot about it. Until the next day.
This year, the list of people involved is only growing, as awareness of Earth Hour and its purpose spreads. Even our favorite green dog, Johann, wrote a fantastic post on Earth Hour and the WWF. The posters this year (there are three) are Shepard Fairey originals (the guy who brought us the Obama poster, in case you are not familiar).
Really funny, two of my favorite celebrities (Janeane Garofalo and Alanis Morissette) have promoted Earth Hour 2009 through hilarious videos. Please take the minute and a half to watch them! Heeaha
This year, I vow to get turned off. How? What will I do?
I will turn my lights out. I will also not be using anything requiring battery power. That is just energy I will be making up for later when I recharge those batteries or replace them.
A Saturday night, from 830-930 pm. No power.
No going to a local bar. That’s cheating.
Candles. Some yummy food. Maybe easy, raw meal (no power for having cooked it). Or maybe just something precooked and yummy leftover. Maybe I will not be with Marc. I will be alone. Maybe reading. Maybe drawing. Maybe playing board games with my sister and my bro-in-law. Maybe I will be with Marc… in which case, I am sure we can find ways to stay entertained in the dark for at least an hour.
You could have a game of backyard hide-and-seek by moonlight. You could get a glow-in-the-dark golf ball and practice your swing on the local course (probably not a great idea, actually, trespassing and all). Get a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee and play outside. Go sit by a river and listen to the water with someone you enjoy. Opportunities abound!
How will you spend Earth Hour?
How will Alanis Morissette spend Earth Hour?
Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
PS. If you want to take your Earth Hour to the next level, take the Earth Hour to Earth Day challenge as mentioned on the Fun Times Guide to Living Green!
I do not know about your week, but betweeen life, work and elections, the first three days of this week were pretty high-impact, so I am taking a long deep breathe today to relax with clips from my last trip to the park.
Marc and I went up to Shelley Lake Park recently and I took a few minutes to catch some clips of people relaxing outdoors. this is kind of like the last two minutes of my favorite show, CBS Sunday Morning, but without the talented photography work…
Enjoy, breathe with purpose and let this minute and a half calm you so you can get on with your work.
If watching this reminded you that you need to get back in touch with breathing and focus, try yoga. Even puttering around with a few poses can be a tremendous relief if you take the time and do the poses with focus (in other words, clear your mind). If you need a yoga mat, consider buying a Harmony Mat by Jade and this is why. Yes, consumerism is bad, but on Allie’s post, you’ll see reason to find another use for your plastic, toxic yoga mat you already have. It’s such a great post.
It’s a little anti-climatic though in the sense that, like Valentine’s Day or 9-11, it’s a little bogus to have it shoved in our faces and for each of us to feel super (romantic/patriotic/) eco-minded if it’s only going to be for the one day.
For that reason, I say in lower-case “happy Earth day”. And to further sound like a hippy, let’s toast to a “Happy Earth Day!!” some time next week… and sometime in June… and just because, sometime in September… you know?
Apologies… this is the cynic in me talking.
OK. I’m smiling again… now, let’s have that toast and then you can remind me that more and more people celebrate the Earth year-round, and the movement/evolution is only getting sweeter and bigger all the time.
Cheers!
Did anyone see that AMAZING freak weather on Sunday night??? Here’s a pic, and I’ll post more tomorrow, along with some video. Check in to see it ~ TRUST me. It was so beautiful and bizarre:
Crazy crazy crazy cool… and a complete fluke Marc and I saw it at all. Stay tuned.
From Durham to Raleigh to Pittsboro to Chapel Hill to Clayton to Wake Forest, the entire Triangle is getting down and getting dirty to celebrate Mother Earth this Saturday (April 19th). Here are some of the Rockstar events going on THIS weekend, as well as which ones you are apt to see me! (more…)
The NC State Board of Elections sent out the 2008 NC Primary Voter Guide last week, and I wanted to bring to your attention that our NC Primary Election will be May 6. In order to vote in the much-hyped North Carolina election, you MUST register in your current address, and you MUST have it postmarked or delivered in person by 5 pm on Friday, 11th April 2008.
Random fact I learned on the NC SBOE page: North Carolina has WAY more democrats registered to vote than republicans (2.5 million registered democrats and less than 2 million registered republicans). I did not expect that.
Check out the NC Center for Voter Education for other great information, podcasts and interactive information for us, the general public.
Check out NC-Politics – Triangle for links to local media, news and political blogs (from both citizens and elected officials). Great resource, and if you know of other links, you can add them.
Why do I push politics on a green blog? Because the differences we make start at home and educating ourselves on the candidates ~ regarding sustainability, education, energy, human rights or otherwise ~ will be what shapes our society’s future, far more than just bickering about who’s running for President.
Truly, if you want national change to happen, you have to pay attention to who’s running here in NC.
Do you want more focus on railways between Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle? Do you want Sharon Harris to stay a primary energy source, or do you want to see wind turbines in rural fields? How do you feel about the decline of farming, tobacco or otherwise, in NC? Do you feel we should tap into more domestic oil reserves, grow more corn and switchgrass fields, or focus money toward hydrogen technology?
Our State representatives often voice what they feel is best for both our state and nation, and if you don’t vote locally or don’t know which candidates carry your political sentiments, forget seeing changes that you agree with, in your backyard or nationally.
Straight from my inbox to you (Love and Sustainably Yours, Ashley Sue!):
Meet filmmaker Jeff Barrie and see Kilowatt Ours on March 27 at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham!
See the newly edited national edition of this award-winning film and learn about local energy conservation efforts.
Award-winning filmmaker and environmentalist, Jeff Barrie, will present his documentary “Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America,” on Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 PM at the Museum of Life and Science, Durham. This film spends as much time talking about solutions as it does challenges, and includes practical steps that all of us can implement.
Barrie will be on hand to lead discussions about the film and energy efficiency efforts after the screening. Doors open at 6:00 PM with displays from local energy conservation companies and non-profits. Beer and wine will be available at a cash bar, and you can purchase your own copy of the DVD at the event for $20. Tickets are $5 and are available online now. (Proceeds will go to the Kilowatt Ours Fund). Limited seating is available.
In the film, Barrie traces the wires from our light switches to the power source, revealing how electricity is generated in the United States. This acclaimed documentary provides a hopeful look at how energy conservation and renewable power can help to improve the quality of life in America and provides practical solutions that are accessible to everyone.
The heads just snap on and off, and thus your trash is drastically reduced every couple months when your replace your toothbrush. And I get them at Wholefoods, but Harmony Farms also sells them, and I’m sure you can buy them online.
Small as they are, tossed toothbrushes certainly do create a lot of waste. Indeed, some 50 million pounds of them are tossed into America’s landfills each year.
And that’s 50 million pounds ~ when you KNOW that most people are not replacing their toothbrushes every three months like they should!
So smile more in 2008!! Or, even if you’re disgruntled, no one wants to sport dirty teeth.
OK, guys, tune out now ~ as this next resolution is for the ladies only (and or drag queens) ~ as I resolve to buy only earth and woman friendly products for my toiletries and makeup. Here, I talk deodorant, makeup and tampons (see).
First, I made the change to natural deodorant a couple years ago ~ I use Crystal Body deodorant spray (not the rock ~ I don’t like the crystal rock). Nope, not spray in the sense of aerosol, but as in a little bottle with a spray pump that finely mists you with a four-ingredient water solution.
I used to hate the fake-flowery smell of the tradition and popular deodorants anyhow, much less that atrocious stickgrip feeling it left under my arms for the next day ~ and I tried all of them (including other natural types). You see (TMI), I have what I call an overactive armpit, and no deodorant was able to stop the b.o.. Even within a couple hours, I’d smell like a mix of old wet dog and a cheap drugstore deodorizer… yuck. With Crystal, Marc no longer hears me say “Crap, I smell myself!” on a daily basis. I’m totally neutral smelling (uh… usually!)
A smorgasbord of green rolled up into a messy little sushi just for you:
A. I know my title looks crazy right now ~ and yes, I changed the blog name… a whole post will soon follow, as well as some meat on it in the “who’s ashley sue” page, which will also be updated this weekend. Hopefully by this time next week, my blog will look normal (whatever that is) and will be completely stable.
B. Check out this fantastic little ditty that Ginny from the Blog posted on recycling and new years resolutions and frustration, and see if you can help inspire Joey down in the comments section…
C. Check out this great link sent to me via Lisa that shows the Raleigh Philosophical Society’s stance on the necessity of consumerism to the vitality of our downtown… sadly, I can’t disagree… perhaps we can have cool stores like Father & Sons instead of Targets though…
D. Hands down the best 30 minutes you canspend watching the internet is this nifty whiteboard magic… seriously. I was really skeptical of sitting through a 20 minute video, but it pulled me in and gave me food for thought for the last two days. I’ll be posting more about it later.
First, I made the change to natural deodorant a couple years ago ~ I use 
