Green Leaf Report

My Earth Day resolution this year was to continue to chip away at the personal and professional challenges to living right.   In honor of Earth Day, this past week I’ve:

1. Planted another tree in my yard. It’s an apricot tree- so hopefully it will have a dual role of absorbing CO2 and providing local fruit.
2. Updated my company’s internal web site with Telecommuting options and encouragement quotes from four of our Vice Presidents to telecommute.  Getting those quotes was a logistical challenge, but worthwhile.  And I’ll kick a chair if I hear one more person quote the EDS CEO’s recent statement any job that can be done from home can be done from India. 
3. Put in an order for cloth diapers- those suckers are amazingly hard to find in local stores.  The places that do carry a variety are sold out of all sizes- I like to see that sort of demand.
4. Taught my toddler how to say “I like solar panels”, though the letter “s” is still an issue.  I call it educating the next generation; my spouse calls it green(brain)washing.
5. Refrained from computer use and driving as much as possible.  The computer use part is quite difficult for a blogger and technology worker, but I’m trying to avoid those long periods of thinking in front of a powered up blank screen.  Instead I’m walking outside and thinking.  It’s far more fun- which of us really gets to see sunlight anymore with all those hours spent in cubicles?
6. Finally saw ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’  I’ve put it off for years, thinking it would be too depressing.  It wasn’t.
7. Attended a green fair at the Heard Museum.  I saw my coworker Paul Westbrook, who has been instrumental in bring LEED certification to TI, I talked with Green Mountain Energy, inspected a bunch of native plants, talked to various other vendors and took about an hour video of my toddler in the petting zoo. 
8. Sat in a Prius, though didn’t test drive it because it was in the middle of the fairgrounds.  Very comfy.

And next week should be even better than this last one…