I am over half-way done with living my environmentally-friendly lifestyle, and spring break is approaching quickly. Today's post will be a mixture of all sorts of things.

Yesterday at the Union Square Greenmarket I bought 6 oz Ronnybrook yogurts for 1.75 (they are absolutely fantastic) whereas the same product at Yura and OK market are $4! I do not understand why the one local product in either of these stores is over double the price it is normally sold at. I have scheduled a meeting with owners of On Madison (the "new" Yura) to discuss their environmental practices or lack there of and will bring up their total lack of local foods on that date (if anyone wants to come with me or has anything they would like me to tell Yura please email me!).

Walking. For the past two weeks I have walked everywhere. This has been one of the highlights of my project. In New York City and in the United States in general we don't appreciate the simple everyday things, the pleasures we can get from just walking for the sake of walking. I am lucky that I live in a place where I can walk everywhere, but we New Yorkers need to take advantage of this. My walk takes me from to all different neighborhoods and is the most relaxing way to start and end my day.

I am generating a list of tips that the Going Green Committee and the Earth Club are going to post around Nightingale. Here are some of them (source: "The Green Book" by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen available at bookstores and Urban Outfitters).

My Ten Tips of the Day:
1. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth! This can save 5 gallons of water a day!
2. Download music (legally of course) instead of buying CD's. Every month 45 tons of CD's end up in landfills
3. Use a re-useable water bottle. It take 1.5 million barrels of oil to supply the United State's demand for bottled water in a year.
4. Send Text messges or emails from your blackberry instead of from a computer. A computer uses upwards of thirty times more electricity per a message than a handheld device.
5. Use re-useable pens. In one year Americans throw away 1.6 billion pens.
6. If you chew gum throw it in the trash not on the street or under a desk. The average american chews 190 sticks of gum a year. All of this gum added together is equal to the an area four miles wide and six miles long full of gum.
7. Use less paper napkins! The average american uses 6 paper napkins a day!
8. Turn off the lights when you leave a room!
9. Don't use plastic bags. Instead bring your own tote to the market.
10. Eat Locally! The average piece of food travels around 2000 miles from the farm to your plate. New York City has a plethora of farmers markets (see the link above).

XOXO
Green Teen