socially-responsible

It's primary voting day today in Pennsylvania and I'm heading out in a few minutes to cast my ballot. I'm really happy that my county changed their minds and went with paper ballots that are optically-scanned rather than the all-computer method they had originally decided on. The lack of a paper trail didn't sit well with the people who live here and the reversal is a direct result of the power of citizen activism. Yes we can (and that's a hint if you're wondering who I'm voting for).

It's also Earth Day today and I thought I'd share something I read yesterday. On Saturday I went to our local library's annual book sale—and what better way to recycle and to save money at the same time than to buy used books. I actually didn't buy any books but I did get a stack of twenty House & Garden and Martha Stewart Living magazines from last year—for 10 cents apiece! I don't usually buy either of these magazines but I figured I'd find 10 cents of information or photos to clip.

House & Garden is a little too upscale for my tastes but I love their monthly column called Domestic Bliss: At Home With ___ that features a famous person in the design world talking about their personal style. With cool photos, of course. The one featuring Paulette Cole, who has reinvented ABC Home (part of her family's ABC Carpet & Home store in NYC) as a socially-responsible business but who also lives "green" at home fits perfectly into today's "green" theme. The article mentioned her organic food and cleaning products buying habits, but what stood out to me were her comments about collecting antiques—"Antiques are the greenest choice you can make." How true. When we're hauling home our finds from the flea market we're probably thinking about how cool they are and how little we paid for them, not that we're recycling. But that's exactly what we're doing. Not that we really need another reason to buy antiques—but that's certainly a good one.

She admitted that many people are daunted by the idea of committing to living green but sees it as a journey—"My mantra is 'continual improvement'. Our goal should be getting a little better every year."

With that in mind, I'm going to be conscious of my carbon footprint today. I plan to hang my laundry outside on the clothesline (and sleep on wonderful-smelling sheets tonight) and plant some of the early cold-hardy things (lettuces, radishes, spinach) in the vegetable garden. Hmmm, the polling place is right down the road—maybe I'll dust off my bicycle, too!

How are you living "green" today?