The 4 R's: Reduce

In honor of Blog Action Day, I thought I'd do a little recap of the 4 R's of environmentalism etc., one each day consecutively this week. Up today: Reduce.

Reduce: Reducing energy usage.

Finally, draft snakes for my room. These windows leak air like crazy. Guess that's what you get for living in an old SF house that's been converted to 2 flats: really bad insulation [but some nice charming details!]. I had the janky style draft snakes up for the longest time [read: rolled up towels and, because I ran out of towels, pillow cases, socks, whatever I could find. I hereby dub myself Queen of Janky.]

But yes. Reducing energy usage. There are so many things we can do to reduce, but usually when we think about "Reduce," we tend to think about reducing the material goods that we consume. Electricity, even in the form of heat, is something that we consume, but I'll bet it isn't the first area of your life that comes to mind when you hear the word "reduce."

Not quite matching, naturally. I've got really long windows in my room. I'm spotting 2 of my dad's old shirts, a thrifted curtain, and random scraps from the stash. <3<3. Reducing waste. Beautiful.



On a separate note, I realize I've been keeping this blog for exactly one year now. Yeay me! Its amazing to think how much the crafting/eco/personal development blogosphere has enriched my life in this past year ... not really in terms of new friendships, because I am horrible about commenting and even more horrible about replying to emails, but in terms of opening up new worlds to me, sources of inspiration, and exposing me to like-minded people, so that when I am struggling to maintain an equilibrium or a little oasis for my personal values when they run counter to mainstream culture, there is a little bit of support out there, however distantly removed.