What I Do, and What I'd Like to Do Sometime Soon....

Here are some things I try to do.  Perhaps laughable.  Not sure how effective it is, especially when I listen to Democracy Now too many days in a row and I go from feeling inspired by the amazing knowledge and research and activism going on in the world to demoralized at how little I am personally doing...

• Recycle (is this really doing anything?  what happens to all of the recycling?  do the processes involved in recycling have unwanted environmental impacts?  I heard that 90% of the recycling goes to a landfill in orange county, never verified that rumor, but still.....)
• Compost
• Re-use - really, my partner Todd leads the way in this respect.  Also this is encouraged by the fact that we are usually broke.  He did make an entire front porch out of reclaimed wood.  And a stand for our rain barrels.  And lots of other things.  But then, we got too much left over crap in our back yard and we had to get rid of it and almost got fined by the city for having it all piled in front of the house for a few weeks while we were trying to figure out how to get rid of it all.  Other re-using:  jars, plastic containers, plastic bags, interesting boxes (my daughter's favorite toy)....
• Use rain barrels (this was effectively reinforced the one summer that I did water....  it was extremely dry and our garden was extremely big.  and our water bill was more than FIVE HUNDRED dollars!!!!!!)
• Yard austerity - we try to get rid of all the grass we can.  Areas of lawn are allowed to grow whatever it can, with no watering (except when my kids swim in the kiddie pool).  The garden itself gets watered out of the rain barrel or kiddie pool.  If that's not enough then that item will no longer be featured in the garden.  The only inputs are seeds, some plants, and the cheapest mulch we can find, and manure from the riding stable I teach lessons at on weekends. No chemicals.
• Try not to drive too much - for a long time we were part of a collective which shared cars (as well as finances and childcare.  More on that later.)  Now my husband and I share a vehicle, and I carpool to work on a daily basis or ride the bus.  We are looking into getting another car.  We can't really afford it right now, so it is kind of moot.  Even once we get another car, I hope to continue car pooling and/or using public transportation.  I really wish there was a Zipcars program around here, that would be much preferable to buying another car.  We don't need one all the time, and I am afraid if/when we get one I will be seduced by ease into driving it all over.  But the times we need a car, we REALLY need it.  As I'm sure millions of people who don't have a car agree, it really sucks to take an entire day or half-day off from work to go to a doctor's appointment just because it takes so damn long to get from your work to the doctor's office.  Or anywhere else you need to get to.
• No paper towels.  We use dishrags and cloth napkins.  When my mom comes to visit, she always gets me a roll.  It is usually gone in about 30 minutes.  Paper towels are addictive.  I do, however, use disinfectant wipes on the bathroom.  It is the only way I can get myself to clean the bathroom in less than 90 minutes more than once every 6 weeks.  
• Trying to address racist comments in public settings--  As a white person, I often find myself in conversations where another white person thinks that, because I am white, I am okay with them using a racist word or making generalized statements about people of color in a negative way.  I try to address this when it comes up.  I also let them know that I am not interested in seeing the racist email joke that is going around or try to address it if it comes to me.  For this I am regarded as "politically correct."  That's fine with me.
• Trying to buy local and organic.  There are a great number of organic things that I can't afford.  But when I can, I try to.  I also try to buy local.  I'd rather buy from a local farmer than an organic farm in California.  These efforts are frustrated by time and money.
• Bartering.  Sometimes a the only way a given thing gets done.  Privileged, because I and my partner have been able to gain a lot of skills through a range of our life experiences, and we know people who have a wide range of assets and skills.
• Keep the heat down and the lights off.  Even though it is cold as crap right now and I am tempted.  This is for our family's bottom line as well as the environment.  Brr.  

Some some things I'd like to do sometime soon:

• Set up a gray water system for our washing machine.   Seems the most accessible.  Not sure what the hell we'd do with all the water, might include fruit trees and/or aquaponics depending on the amount of filtration we can do. 
• Looking into graduate school.  Interested in alternative/sustainable economics, contract law, and cross-functional outcomes measurement/mediation. Hmmm.
• Supporting the local alternative currency project.
• Creating a resource center for local micro-enterprises.

When it gets to the things I'd like to do soon, I get kinda stumped.  Everything seems so big and huge.  Where do I start?  How do I get past the one-drop-in-the-universal-ocean stage and get committed and planning for larger change?  How do I fit that in?

Hello World!

Here I am, just another person posting my random thoughts to the collective electronic soup of the blogosphere.  Hello world!!!  I, too, have something to say, time to say it and access to a computer and the internet so I can post it to the interwebs and to any space aliens bored enough to intercept our satellite pulses.  Well, well, well, where do I start?  So many thoughts these days.  I go to work, come home, try to be a good mom, try to be a decent partner, try not to let the house get too disgusting, drink a few beers and in the back of my mind I am thinking "how the hell am I going change the world at this rate?  Everything's going to hell in a handbasket and here I am just trying to get the dishes done 3 out of 5 nights of the week."  I went to a liberal college, joined clubs, volunteered, and tried to figure out how to get involved in real social change once I got that piece of paper in my hand.  Fast forward fifteen years....  two kids, one partner, many attempts and some spectacular failures on trying to "do" change.  I am guessing some of the details will be future blog postings.  But basically I wanted to make a list of things I try to do each day to make a bit of difference that will hopefully add up and have some impact.  I also want to do some theorizing, speculating, philosophizing, and bullshitting that will maybe help me crystallize the next BIG PLAN.  If you happen to intercept some of these commentaries, feel free to add your two cents in.  I am open to suggestions...............