Living Green (Intro)

For the last few months, I’ve been learning about and dabbling in living green.  I could go on and on about what humans, particularly Americans, are doing to this planet, but I think you’d be better served picking up a copy of An Inconvenient Truth.  Whether I agree with or believe all of what is said about what is happening to this planet is irrelevant; the fact is, it isn’t hard to reduce your waste, and many of the things involved in protecting the environment also make life a bit simpler.  Plus you might just save a few bucks here and there.

The Plan
Each week, I will tackle a new project that will benefit the environment.  Projects can range from tiny tasks like buying canvas bags for shopping to large undertakings like replacing a leaking pipe in the sprinkler system, and everything in between.

Throughout the week, I’ll report on what I’m up to, challenges I’m facing, and any other experiences involved, and I’ll also provide you with enough information to get things moving yourself.

Goals and Motivations
I’ve been meaning to “go green” for a while, and the weekly task should get me on track.  Hopefully, I can inspire other people out there to get out there and tackle similar projects of their own to take their part in cleaning up this world for our children.

Going Paperless
To kick things off, I took some time out during the work day to collect all my bills, statements, catalogs, and other junk mail.  From energy bills to retirement fund reports, I changed my accounts to only receive online statements and cancelled all paper statements.  For catalogs, I either visited their websites or had to call their 800 numbers to let them know that I no longer wished to receive their catalogs in the mail.  I had the companies that I still order from either send me online catalogs or nothing at all.

This entire process ate up 15 minutes of my day.  A bill, a few sheets of paper, isn’t that big of a deal to me, but you add that to each different bill you’re getting, and each different credit card or bank statement, and every different catalog you may have once ordered from, and multiply that by twelve times a year, and you just might end up with a significant pile of wasted dead tree.

For tips on going green, check out TreeHugger, or any of the other sites out there you can find by simply typing “Go Green” in your Google search bar.

The Diet (Intro)

Among other things, I am going to start using this blog to track my eating habits and slowly hop on a course towards a healthier lifestyle.  Although dieting is typically associated with weight loss, the goal of my diet is to lower my cholesterol, which has been high my entire life.  I’ll update from time to time about what I’m eating and what’s going on in my beef-starved head.

The Plan
For the next 3 months, starting on October 20th and ending on January 20th, I will be living with the following rules concerning my diet…

1) No Red Meat – Technically, red meat includes beef, mutton, horse, duck, and goose
2) Nothing Else High in Cholesterol – Including but not limited to eggs, butter, lobster
3) Nothing Deep Fried
4) No Fast Food – Subway is okay.  That’s about it
5) More Fruits and Veggies - 1 cup of fruits and 1 cup of vegetables per day

I’m giving myself 2 days of exemption from the rules in preparation of the looming holidays – one day for Thanksgiving (deep-fried turkey) and one day for Christmas (roast).

Plan Length
You might be wondering why I’m only doing this for 3 months and not shifting my entire lifestyle.  Well for one, just taking on an instant lifestyle change is hard.  I can’t come to terms with never eating red meat for the rest of my life.  And more importantly, I don’t believe it’s necessary to entirely cut red meat out of the diet, nor is it necessary to live by such a stringent set of rules.  As long as everything is done to its own degree of moderation, you can still live a healthy life.

But for now, 3 months seems like a good test of wills and an accurate glimpse into what life without red meat might be.

Saying Goodbye
For the next 3 months, if you ever find me fetal in the corner of a room with a bad case of the shakes, it will probably be due from withdrawal of one of the following things: El Taco Nazo fish tacos, milanesa sandwiches from Tito’s Market, #19 at Langer’s Deli, beef dips from Philippe’s, prime rib, In-n-Out burgers and fries, and Popeye’s fried chicken.

Goals and Motivations
The main goal of this experiment is to prevent having a heart attack at 30.  Most people that know me know that I have a family history of high cholesterol; coupled with poor eating habits, my cholesterol is at dangerously high levels.

But on a lighter note, I also hope this whole journey will provide some insight into myself.