Why do YOU ride Metro?

So I missed a week of “living green,” and I figured I ought to do something big to make up for that (doing two regular things would be too simple).  My brother and I were discussing the issue of going green the other day, and he said, “If people really cared about saving the planet, they wouldn’t buy a Prius… they would stop driving.”  I replied, “People aren’t committed enough to saving the planet to give up their conveniences.”

For the next week, as long as time permits, I will be taking the bus to work.  This means waking up an hour and a half earlier than I usually do, which will be tough, but manageable as long as I can get to sleep on time.  Here’s the route Metro.net suggests:

Ride Metro Bus 20( DOWNTOWN LA – 7TH-MAIN) heading east
From: WILSHIRE/PARK VIEW(SW corner) Lv: 07:27AM
To: 7TH/OLIVE(SW corner) Ar: 07:37AM
Pay $1.25 + $0.30 for Transfer., Monthly Pass: $62.00, (EZ Pass accepted)
Ride Foothill Transit Silver Streak( MONTCLAIR TRANSIT CTR) heading north
From: OLIVE ST/7TH ST(SE corner) Lv: 07:47AM
To: EL MONTE STATION Ar: 08:18AM
Use Transfer or Media + $1.00, Monthly Pass: $80.00, (EZ Pass accepted)
Ride Metro Bus 176 (FIGUEROA-YORK) heading west
From: EL MONTE STATION/LOWER LEVEL BAY B Lv: 08:30AM
To: FLAIR DR/TELSTAR AV(NE corner) Ar: 08:37AM
Pay $1.25, Monthly Pass: $62.00, (EZ Pass accepted)

and the Metro.net calculated savings of

*Driving cost: is about $9.51 (based on AAA’s formula at 56.2 cents/mile)

Which I know can’t be right, or I would have to gas up every week, but I will be saving a nice amount of pocket change.  Conservation for the planet AND my wallet.  Can’t really beat that.

Next Wednesday, I’ll stop by Home Depot to check out the showerhead that Fred recommended.

The War Has Just Begun (The Diet, Month 1)

Recap
Before this little experiment began, I was heavy on the greasy fast foods, and low on the fruits and veg.  I took my cholesterol medication sparsely and showed little concern for my own well-being.  One month in, as according to the plan, I’ve had no fried foods, no red meat, and no fast food, while eating a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables.  I still forget to take my medication about once a week, which I’m working on, but the regularity of my medication has improved significantly.  And the results?  I’ve got my cholesterol level down to 161, HDLs at 66, LDLs at 80, and most importantly, my coronary risk ratio is at 2.43, putting me at low risk.

Health Update
I have lost about 8 pounds due to the diet, putting me at a healthy 154.  I’m fine at this weight, but I am a bit worried that I might continue to lose weight.  Honestly, cutting out unhealthy foods hasn’t changed my energy on the basketball court.  Or I haven’t felt any different out there.

The thing about being at 161, is that I’ve been on a pretty strict diet.  Hopefully, with the addition of regular exercise, it can drop even further and I can take myself off the meds.  If my cholesterol levels can continue to drop, I know that after the three months are up, I can partake in the occasional pastrami sandwich, or prime rib, or french fries, or krispy kreme, or…

Pleeeeeeeeease continue to drop.

Delay
The earth will just have to wait a day or two.  I usually do my green updates on Wednesdays, but I was swamped at work, trying to get everything taken care of before the holiday, so I will be doing the green update on the weekend when I have some free time.  On a side note, I have been washing my hair before I’ve been getting in the shower, and the only problem so far is that when I’m standing in the bathroom with no shirt on in the morning, it can get a bit chilly.  Solution?  Just hang your towel over your shoulders and that should keep you from freezing your nips off for that minute.

The Big Cooking Post (The Diet, Days 13-30)

Cooking has always been a joy of mine, and the benefits of preparing your own food take a large part in trying to lower my cholesterol.  It helps to know exactly what is going into the food that you eat and lets you prepare food while considering the restrictions of your diet.  Over the weekend, a friend asked why I don’t put up recipes to help people who are on similar diets.  The fact of the matter is, when it comes to cooking, I only do as I’m told.  I’m no trailblazer in the kitchen.  I follow instructions and can usually follow them well.  I don’t possess a complex knowledge of what flavors and spices go together, only a decent understanding of how things should look and taste when I get to the end of the recipe.

Literary Resources
Truth be told, I own a copy of Giada’s Everyday Italian, but I’ve stashed it into the dark recesses of my cupboard.  But if a book like that, or even Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals, can get you back in the kitchen, I’m fine with it.  If you want to use the recipes I’m using, the following books occupy my kitchen shelf:

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book by Nancy Silverton
Les Halles Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain
The Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman
The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee

Of the four actual cookbooks, three are from California chefs.  I just had to have Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, even though I have yet to use it.  The bottom three serve more as reference manuals.

Internet Resources
There are basically three things that I consistently use from the internet.  Simply Ming is great if you don’t have the time to take a course on food prep and knife handling.  It has a small video library that includes breaking down a chicken, filetting a salmon, and many other basic tips for mise en place.  Although I’m not a fan of most of the programming on Food Network, their website is the best resource for looking up Alton Brown’s recipes and instructions.  And of course Youtube is an endless source for cooking videos.  Unfortunately, like the rest of the internet, Youtube is filled with clutter from every Tom, Dick, and Jane having an opinion about how to cook something, so I mostly use it to watch the cooking segments of Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word (this link is to a user profile that hosts many of Ramsay’s cooking videos, including a segment with Martine McCutcheon, the “chubby” hottie from Love Actually).

Back to the Diet
The point of all of this is to control what I eat, and it has seemingly been going well.  Of course, I’ll find out whether this has been working when I get my blood test results back (I’m getting it drawn tomorrow morning).  In addition to the diet, I am starting to work on a plan to train for a half marathon, which I’ll document on here as soon as I get started (hopefully next week).  Cross your fingers, folks… I should get my results on Wednesday if the lab stays open, otherwise it will be next Monday.

Going CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs)

Before I embark on these little projects, I do some research and get some background about what I’m getting myself into.  A little late on the uptake, I’ve decided that I should finally make that switch to CFLs, so I hit up the usual suspects: TreeHugger, ApartmentTherapy, eartheasy, etc…  And as usual, I found the information I need, but unfortunately, there appears to be a lot more to switching lightbulbs than meets the eye. 

I will lay out what I think is the pertinent information and provide links if you are interested in learning more, but I think what I put up should suffice in getting you prepared to make the switch as well.  Through the week, if what is important to know and not know changes, I will revise this post and add new posts to supplement this one.  I have about ten bulbs that will be making the switch, including floor and desk lamps, wall sconces, ceiling lights, and outdoor lighting.

Saving Money and the Planet from Energy Star:

ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. 
Save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb’s lifetime.
Produce about 75 percent less heat, so they’re safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

Types of Bulbs from environmental defense:

Energy-saving light bulbs now come in all shapes and sizes. Choose as many or as few criteria as you like and we’ll recommend bulbs that match.

Some fixtures can be challenging to fit, so read our reviews, check the side-by-side pictures, and consult our tips for buying energy-saving bulbs. Thanks for helping to save energy and cut pollution!

Converting Wattage from GE:

	Standard Bulb		CFL Bulb
	60w	=	13w-15w
	75w	=	20w
	100w	=	26w-29w
	150w	=	38w-42w

Because the wattage of a CFL bulb is much lower than that of an incandescent, you can use higher wattage CFL giving you the equivalent light of a higher wattage incandescent. For example: If your fixture says not to exceed 60 watts, you can use a 15 watt CFL to get the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb or use up to a 42 watt CFL and increase the amount of light.

Dealing with Mercury from TreeHugger:

There has recently been some concern over the possibility that broken CFLs can be an important source of exposures to mercury, a toxic metal and a key component of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). Although mercury is a toxic pollutant, mercury exposures from broken CFLs are not likely to harm you and your family. This is due to several factors, including the amount and duration of your exposures and the specific type of mercury that you are exposed to.

Disposal from GE and Earth 911:

Like paint, batteries, thermostats, and other hazardous household items, CFLs should be disposed of properly. Do not throw CFLs away in your household garbage if better disposal options exist. To find out what to do first check www.earth911.org (where you can find disposal options by using your zip code) or call 1-877-EARTH911 for local disposal options.

5 Minute Showers (Update)

This idea turned out to be much easier in practice than I thought it would be.  I usually shower in the morning and don’t have all the time in the world anyway.  (Quick tip: soaping up is much easier with a full bar of soap.  I was down to a sliver over the weekend, and using them increased my showering time a full minute.)  In fact, I will be consciously making this effort for a while, as I haven’t really experienced any sort of emotional or physical change - I don’t find myself missing longer showers, and I’m pretty sure I’ve maintained the same degree of hygiene.

Food for Thought
If I could have a shower like the ones at the beach, would that be so unbearable?  The kind that requires you to push the button every 10-15 seconds to keep the water flowing.  Think about how much water you could save while you are putting on soap or shampoo.  Most water conservationists already recommend shutting off the water while you are soaping up, but frankly, I don’t want to bother with that.  However, if the water were to stop on its own, I wouldn’t have a problem with that either.

Or what about wetting your hair and shampooing BEFORE you even turn the shower on.  This might not work for women or for men with longer hair, but most men only need a handful of water in their hair to get a good lather going.  I’m definitely going to give this a go, and I’ll see if any complications arise from it.

Going Paperless with OptOutPrescreen.com
The Good Human (thanks to Genevieve @ StylishGuide.com for the link) did a post entitled 35 Low-Cost Ways to Green Your Lifestyle, and #13 provides a link to OptOutPrescreen.com, a service that will stop the insane torrent of letters you get in the mail from credit agencies letting you know that “You’ve been pre-approved!”  I’ll sign up and see how it goes over the next few months.