What do you do when you go from having unreliable electricity that cuts out after three cloudy days in a row to a constant supply regardless of weather? How do you react after living for a year with a finite water supply stored in the ground outside the house when you move to a home where water flows freely every time you open the tap? Does your behavior change when you can simply turn the heat up if you are cold, instead of having to build a fire to warm up?
These were the issues I faced upon moving back into a conventional house in Colorado after having spent an ascetic year living off the grid in New Mexico. I had prided myself on having a near-zero ecological footprint, and yet I found myself compromising my conservation habits out of convenience once I rejoined the mainstream.
Like most Americans, I found myself trying to get by in a tough economy. There are hundreds of books and blogs offering thousands of tips to green up your life, from buying a hybrid car to replacing old appliances. Yet such lists of suggestions can be overwhelming and sometimes inapplicable in people’s lives, especially if they involve spending more money.
The purpose of the Thrifty Green blog is to explore how making conscious decisions and deepening your connection to Nature can result in conservation of both the earth’s resources and your own money. It is based on the fundamental principle that conservation, not consumption, is the key to responsible stewardship of the earth.
Now let’s get started.
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