1. Wake up to sunlight, birdsong, early morning traffic and The Toddler shouting "Mum! Up!'. Clock radio? Who needs one?
2. Do washing. It's a hot day: set spin cycle to lowest speed. Hang washing on clothes line.
3. Have a short shower. I've been pretty lazy with this recently, I'll admit. Set timer. 4 mins.
4. Meet friend for coffee. Ride bike instead of drive, even though I've got a bit on today and time is a bit tight.
5. Buy rennet to make cheese. Could this be the end of packaged cheese for my little family? We'll see. The challenge is to find some milk I can buy that's not in a carton, and that I don't have to drive a two hour return trip for.
6. Put shopping in calico bag that I ran back inside for at the last minute before leaving the house.
7. Drive the 12kms to work, paying close attention to driving smoothly and with gentle take offs. This simple action improves fuel efficiency and until I can afford a Prius this will have to suffice.
8. At work (teaching primary students), turn the lights off. When students ask, "Would you like me to turn the lights on?" respond with, "No thanks, I think it's light enough already."
9. Reset refrigerative aircon in classroom from 18℃ to 22℃.
10. I didn't eat any meat. Not any at all. Nope, not even bacon. And let me say, this was no mean feat. I was at my friends' house for tea. Given that it's a Friday night and none of the four adults present had foreseen that we would need to eat dinner, we threw together a meal consisting of salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes from the garden, carrots, pear, a pickle) and some sort of crumbed substance posing as chicken. Now, anyone who has known me for a while knows how much of a weak spot I have for processed meats. I try to avoid them most of the time, I really do. Give me the opportunity though and I will delight in a hotdog, a thin sausage (those ones that are a uniform flesh colour), mortadella, crumbed fake chicken - anything. So refusing this "chicken" was a big deal. And an even bigger one considering how much peer pressure I had laid on me to give in. But stay steady I did. Stay tuned for my memoir: This Vegetarian Life.
Yes Leanne, you deserve a merit badge after one day of vegetarianism.
I'm almost embarrassed to read this list. I look at it and think, "That's the best you could do?" But then I think: yes. Today, this is the best I could do. Given the circumstances, I did what I could. I'm not going to berate myself for the fact that it's not grand, or that it's not enough. I'm going to stand up a little taller and know that I showed up. I was present in my decision making processes regarding my energy consumption. And that is something Worth Doing.
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