Bein' Green

Take it and Run Thursday this week is about "running green." Excuse to post a picture of Kermit the Frog? Done and done!

There are quite a lot of things that I do in my everyday life in an attempt to think green - CFL's, driving a fuel-efficient car, recycling, and waging a war against plastic grocery bags, to name a few. But I want to focus on what I, as a runner, do to be green.

If we want to save the Earth, we have to love it first, and I feel that runners especially love our planet. We spend as much time as possible outside, experiencing the elements, and enjoying the physical beauty of our surroundings. I feel a responsibility as a person to take care of the planet, but even more as a runner.

That was a lot of preamble, wasn't it? Let's throw in another Muppet quick before I continue.


That's Kermit's little nephew, Robin. Isn't he cute?

Okay, right. Running green. Here are my tips:

• Whenever possible, I register for races online. Saves the paper for the printed application, plus the envelope, plus the transportation costs to get it from one place to the other. Besides that, it's faster!


• I never buy bottled water. I have a reusable water bottle that I keep in the fridge so it's nice and cold. No waste, no needless use of plastic.


• I also don't buy bottles of Gatorade. I buy the powder and mix it in my reusable bottles. As a bonus, that's cheaper.


• I almost never drive to go running. My running routes pretty much all start and finish at my house. I am lucky to live a mile and a half away from two tracks, so on speedwork days, it's a perfect warm-up and cool-down.


• I try to race local, too. There are lots of great races in my area, and I rarely have to drive more than 5 miles to go to a race.


• I donate used running shoes, t-shirts, and other gear to charity. What no longer works for me can be a great benefit to someone else.


• When I run on trails, I keep my eyes peeled for trash. I'm not running my fastest on a trail anyway, so I definitely have time to go pick up that discarded beer can and throw it away.

Plus there's always riding your bike - cross training AND green (and an excuse for more Muppets)

Ooh, pretty

Internet! Lookit what I've got!




It's a new necklace from Tarma Designs and I *pink puffy heart* it.

They have a bunch of other running-inspired jewelry, so more shopping might have to be done. Some of you might argue that I don't need to buy 47 different running necklaces. To that, I say that this necklace is made from recycled materials, so why do you have to hate the earth so much?

Broke Down

Jack is sporting one wicked black eye. We were at the play area at the mall and he conked heads with a little kid about half his age and a head shorter than he is. The other kid was unharmed; Jack now looks like the dog from The Little Rascals. I only wish the photo did justice to the completely badass shiner that the kid is now sporting. It is amazing. I think he realizes that it looks cool, because he is perfectly willing to laugh at the fact that he got beat up by a baby.

In other news...

- Jack voluntarily ate two green beans last night. We are in shock. I was pretty sure he would never eat anything green unless it had an M on it.

- It has been freakishly warm here. All of the pretty snow has melted, and I've gone running IN SHORTS for the past couple of days. Huzzah! But also weird. My man Al Gore is silently weeping over the whole thing, I'm sure.

- I broke down and went to the doctor about my lingering (since, oh, November) knee problem. Every time I go running, my right knee hurts for a day or so. The doctor spent about ten minutes looking at it and said, basically, "Got me. Go see a specialist," so that's what I'm doing tomorrow morning. Of course, after the knee got some attention, it didn't bother me nearly as much during last night's run. Wouldn't it be great if this problem just solved itself?

- We've had a good run together, but it looks like my Nike + is dying. The sensor battery is low, and my friend the Internet tells me that they can't be replaced - I'd have to buy a new kit. Um, is it bad that I am seeing this as an opportunity not to buy a new $30 sensor kit, but rather to spring for a Garmin? Yes, there's a teeny price difference between the two, but I am pretty sure the Garmin will even do my laundry for me. I can't wait to get it in the mail.

Being Green

Living in the new Stately Wasser Manor feels like a new beginning. It's like the first day of school, when you were determined to do things a little differently, like change your look a bit, or get to school earlier. This, I figure, is my opportunity to set things up in such a way to make our lives a bit easier and more organized. Everything from arranging the kitchen cabinets to buying a new family message center to finding a spot other than the dining room table to put our mail is a great opportunity.

One of the things that I've decided to do is to find little ways to live a bit greener. Just because I can't switch completely to organic produce, buy a hybrid car, or exclusively bike to work doesn't mean that my efforts to do little things for the planet, and for Jack's future on it, are wasted.

To that end, I'm reading a book called It's Easy Being Green that offers lots of simple, actionable ideas to do your part to improve the planet. Here are some changes I'm making:

• Switching all lightbulbs to compact fluorescents. This is really no big deal to do at all, and CFL's use significantly less energy than regular light bulbs
• Re-using plastic sandwich bags whenever possible
• Only running the dishwasher when it's full (not so hard to do now that I no longer have baby bottles to be concerned with)
• Using the timer on our thermostat
• Buying locally grown produce at the farmer's market whenever possible (which is nice anyway)
• Using only a trickle of water to wash my hands and turning it off while I lather. And not running the water while I brush my teeth
• No more bottled water. I never drank bottled water because I had any problem with tap, but rather because it was more convenient. Now I have a pretty green bottle that I just re-use every day. Much nicer.
• I bring my own travel mug to 'bucks when it's time for a cup of coffee. Like the water bottle, it's actually a little nicer than it's disposable counterpart.
• At the office, I try to avoid printing anything that I could just email or read online. And when I do print something, I take the pages, turn them upside down, and use them as scratch paper.
• No more plastic bags. I bought a bunch of re-usable cloth bags on eBay and have them in the trunks of both cars. I've used them so far at the grocery store and at my favorite store, Target, and I love them. For one thing, there's that sweet feeling of superiority I can enjoy when I ask for neither paper nor plastic. And the fact that they are much easier to carry than plastic bags. And, if that wasn't enough, they're red!

I'm constantly on the lookout for other small changes I can make. It really feels important to me, and so far, none of this has been hard.