Unplugged

This is the outlet near my night stand where a lamp and alarm clock use to be, you will find outlets like this one all over our home; we are almost completely unplugged.  A power cord still draws energy even if the item is not in use, so we no longer leave small appliances and chargers plugged in. The kids no longer have their own alarm clocks; they did not use them anyway, and their lamps are only for decoration. Our coffee pot, cell phones, hair dryer, and all other small appliances are unplugged when not in use. All of our computers and large appliances are on power strips that we turn off when we are not using them; admittedly this doesn't happen as often as it should. I have even been known to unplug the washer and dryer one days I'm not using them. I'm not going to lie and say we have had a reduction in our electric bill; we haven't but I feel better knowing that we are using less and reducing our family's impact.



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Home.

A plague o' both your houses! -William Shakespeare

A year ago we moved from Florida to this beautiful house, it was a climb up the social ladder. Inside this house lie all the upgrades that society tells us we must have for true happiness. This is a house of excess; I will admit that there are rooms in this house that were hardly visited in the last year. What lies beneath this house is 2,500 square feet of unfinished and untouched basement. I do not tell you this to boast, I am ashamed. I'm ashamed that I fell pray to the notion that this was what my family needed. The truth is that from the moment we moved into this house I felt out of place. My soul was unsettled, but I ignored it at the time. Before moving here I was passionate about being "green" and the longer we lived here the more that passion faded. I was living in excess and I felt guilty, and no amount of CFL's could ease it. One week from today we will be leaving this house and I am looking forward to feeling a sense of peace. The reasons for our move are complex and not directly related to going green; however, I will use this opportunity to celebrate the fact that we are reducing our families' footprint. So here's to moving on and living consciously. 

 

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