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Going Green: Part 1: The Average American Couple
By Danielle | April 25, 2009
When the issue of living a green lifestyle first arose, my husband, Matt, and I never really gave the decision the time it deserved. We are an average couple from Orange County, California where being green is usually fashionable, and being fashionable requires a six figure income. We couldn’t see the practicality of going green if it meant having to continually shop for the next green gadget. It was only recently that we started doing serious research about becoming truly green. Turns out we really didn’t know what constituted a green lifestyle. Three months later we are planning to take the plunge, and I can tell you that it won’t be easy.
Let me give you a bit of background on me and my family. I am 26 years old and my husband, Matt, is 22. We’ve been married almost a year, and live in a one bedroom, 750 square foot apartment that our friends like to call quaint. We have two cats, Sophie and Mae, that were rescued from dubious circumstances and an adopted Guinea Pig named Linus. We are thinking about adding another human to the mix, but for the time being we are focused on making some changes to our lives. As for hobbies, Matt builds computers on the weekends and writes for a computer website. I am a part-time artist and writer. We both work full-time and go to school, making for a hectic schedule. Most of our spare time is spent at home on one of our many home built computers. This is probably why we created an excel spreadsheet to keep track of our eco-footprint. My husband is not happy about spending more time off the computer, and I foresee several battles about the “unplugging” issue.
This last week has really been an eye opener since we prepared for this project by getting rid of our excess. The apartment is being transformed into a very neat and tidy little home. We’ve always been a little cluttered and this week has really resulted in a lot of downsizing. It’s amazing how much can accumulate over the years. Matt and I found things we forgot we owned. Everything we don’t need will be going to Goodwill this week. We are also donating some of our big items to charities.
When we started this project Matt and I decided to maintain an objective point of view. Our goal is to cut our eco-footprint by 75%. We are willing to try new things and learn what works for us. We are not planning on doing anything that cannot be done reasonably. We feel that we can change quite a bit this way.
We will take our project step by step, making sure that we adjust to our new lifestyle so that we can maintain it. Many people get overwhelmed by making too many changes at once, and we want to avoid that mistake. We really want to take living green one day at a time and focus on something that is sustainable. I’m a little nervous about what this year will bring but also excited. It’s going to be a very green adventure…
Topics: Green America, Green Living |
May 4th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
im from orange county originally too!! (but now im in LA)
i recently got rid of all the junk accumulating in my closet and i too was amazed by how much junk i just had lying around (and i don’t even consider myself a particularly materialistic person!)
your blog reminded me of this series i’ve been following called “30 days to a greener you.” http://www.intent.com/green
maybe you might like it?
keep the peace,
christina
May 20th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Thanks Christina. I love the website and we’re applying some of the ideas. :) Hope you have a great weekend!