Earth Day Challenge: Day 2.

Continuing my baby steps: today I

• brought my lunch to school
• did not stop to purchase anything on the way to school
• am not going to take a break between meetings to go purchase things
• will not purchase things on the way home from school

I have tried to make adaptations in my life of late that are more earth-responsible--eating locally grown and produced foods, taking my lunch, hanging most laundry to dry, rather than using the dryer, saving up dishes for a full-load of dishwashing, saving up laundry for fuller loads, etc. My main earth-unfriendliness, I think, is driving, which I haven't figured out a way around. During my sabbatical, I intend to do more walking--the library is not too far from my house, nor is a grocery store, the bank, and the post office. In fact, I could do a lot of walking if I plan for it.

Associated with driving, though not directly caused by it or stemming from it, is the huge amount of consumer activity I do. So one thing I know I could do to improve my relationship with the earth is to shop less--to buy less stuff, which consumes less of the world's resources to begin with, let alone contributing less to general wastefulness. My not stopping to shop today is a conscious nod to that, even though there is a lawn chair on sale at Target that is calling my very own name.

Also, I did not drop-kick my laptop today, when it was clearly provoking me by being laggardly and slow. Because computer waste is toxic, very unfriendly to the earth.

n.b.(9:30 p.m.): poem.