Jetsetting

I've never been to Europe, but I'd love to visit. It looks beautiful, and old, and so compact compared to Texas. I've never been to Peru, but the idea of Macchu Picchu has intoxicated me since I was a teenager and had a poster in the living room of my first apartment (is it "mine" if my parents paid for it?).

I've been to Disney World multiple times, and flying is definitely the way to go. Actually, the first time we flew (which was the third time we visited), it almost felt "wrong" because the journey getting there the first two times was so much a part of the experience. But spending more days in the park and fewer on the road, after that first time flying, I was hooked.

I spent all week in Hawaii in a state of rapture: the flowers! The ocean! The food! The people! It was a week like none other before or since.

And cruising has taken me to places I didn't even know I wanted to go, but will never ever forget. The village of Chacchoben is one of those little corners of beauty that I didn't realize existed. The island of Roatan is another.

Covid scrapped our plan to fly to California, which we promised Mal would be the last time we'd get on a plane for a while. He's pretty anxious about air travel. I was bummed about not getting to visit Disneyland for the first time, and sad that I wouldn't get to see the Pacific Ocean any time soon... but since then, we've taken some pretty cool "consolation" trips.

Last October, we drove around Hill Country and saw some very cool sites, ate some really good food, and had laid-back family time. It was great.

In November, we went to Port Aransas, which is no CA or HI, but has its own charms. My parents and my sister's family spent Thanksgiving there.

In July, we visited Dallas for a few days (a drive we have well worn over the past decade), and in August, we went to Houston extremely briefly.

In the end, I think James and I have basically agreed that air travel is just a thing of the past for us. In addition to Mal's fears, and even more importantly, we will stop flying for the same reason we got solar panels: The cost to earth is too great.

Sadly, I looked up comparative carbon emissions and saw that cruising is significantly more polluting than flying, per passenger mile. Sigh.

But once I get over the disappointment of thinking I'll never experience a Belgian Christmas, I remember other things: There are wonders everywhere. Staying close to home not only saves wear-and-tear on the planet, it also saves money. Additionally, places like Hueco Tanks park in West Texas only allows about 70 visitors per day, due to the effect of an influx of people has on the surroundings. I'm starting to realize that when we go to "exotic" places like Roatan, and the island has to change to keep up with the expectations of well-heeled tourists, it's the same effect. And it's ironic because now Roatan depends almost entirely on tourism. Here's a very well-done article on all of that.

So, we drive. And probably not too far. At least until we get an electric car and can figure out the charging situation.

What I'd like to see go away is the classist, "Oh, you simply MUST travel. It broadens the mind in ways you just can't find doing anything else." I call BS because I know a lot of people who have traveled extensively and are as small-minded and pompous as anyone else might be. I remember one night, chatting with an older couple at dinner on a -- gasp -- cruise after the magical day at Chacchoben from Costa Maya. While I reeled over the intense beauty and wonder I'd experienced, the woman said to me, "You can understand why they all want to come to America" as she shuddered a little. It was like we'd been on different planets.

Traveling doesn't mean you're worldly. It only means you have the time and means to travel. And good for you. I love traveling! But it's not morally superior to being a person who never leaves their hometown. Can we strike that down, please?

Basically, we want to be better stewards of our planet. That might involve a lot of us deciding to leave most of it well enough alone, and stick to our neighboring destinations. We're ready for that. It's probably beyond time.

Some More Changes (We're Trying!), and Spring Cleaning?

This morning, I was trying to find the Ball jar seal toppers that I knew we had in our kitchen. This resulted in not only eventually finding the lids, but also in cleaning out one drawer and two cabinets, doing a load of laundry, and doing a load of dishes. I'm a little post-workout-sore from the bending and reaching and moving and whatnot.

I think I'm in... fall cleaning mode? Is that a thing? During the past week or so, I've cleaned out my side of the closet, donating 6 bags of clothes that I didn't ABSOLUTELY love (and, yeah, I know I don't need that many clothes, let alone that many excess clothes); moved a bunch of stuff from James's office under the house and straightened and cleaned in there (it's pretty tidy for what it is, but you're not allowed to judge my house-keeping by it please); I want to get to the storage shed (again); and then today, I got a lot of stuff done!

It seems like it's finally "cooled down" (highs in the 80s instead of 90s or low 100s) enough that I have energy to do more than the normal "sweep, wipe, wash" routine that I can't avoid regardless of temperature.

So... this morning I was looking for the jar lids because it occurred to me the other day that I could make split pea soup, which is one of D's staples, for significantly cheaper than the Progresso I've been buying. Those cans are typically between $1.80 and $3.00, depending on the store. Meanwhile, a bag of dried split peas is $.80 at the most expensive local store; I used 2 onions that probably cost around $3, and then I already had spices, salt, and a bit of oil. In the end, I only had 4 servings, so it was only about 1/3 the cost of buying from the store. But I'll be able to make 6 servings, probably, when we have an immersion blender. I lost a bit from transferring the mixture to a blender, then to a bowl, then back to the pot... and then when I realized it was a little "crunchy," I moved it to the Instant Pot. But it was after I'd added milk, so some solidified at the bottom of the pot, and I didn't try to mix it into the soup in case it tasted burnt. Lesson learned: Get an immersion blender, do the whole thing in the Instant Pot, and... that'll make it a lot cheaper.

Also, it's vegetarian, which the Progresso soup is not. I like the ham flavor, and I think D does, but this stuff is good, too. We're taking further steps to move our diet more toward plant-based. James and I both like vegetarian food and often eat vegetarian or vegan dishes when we eat out. D has been more resistant to this in the past, but with our having birds has stopped eating fowl (which is in SO MUCH STUFF... like even pepperoni Bagel Bites and Pizza Rolls!!). And I think I mentioned trying to eat less beef just because of how environmentally exhausting it is to raise cattle for meat. We'd been getting most of our meat from pigs, and even then, I was only cooking meat about 3 times a week. We've been having fish about once every couple of weeks. I know that needs to come up. And D mentioned that pork isn't a favorite, so...

We switched our eMeals from diabetic back to vegetarian. We tried it and 2/3 of us loved it a year or two ago. I've since honed in to the fact that D doesn't like peppers of any kind (like me! though I'm able to eat small bits of bell pepper cooked into dishes), tomatoes, or cucumber. Actually, D doesn't like lettuce, either. Basically salad stuff. Spinach cooked into dishes seems to be okay. I'll try to choose our meals wisely to avoid these things and cook dishes we'll all enjoy.

Meanwhile, Mal has narrowed down the pool of foods he will eat to: chicken nuggets, corn dogs, French fries, apples, ice cream, candy, mashed potatoes, watermelon, cheese pizza, cupcakes, ham and cheese sandwiches, boxed macaroni and cheese, butter noodles, and the white part of a boiled egg. How is he still alive? I don't know. He used to eat a wider variety of foods, though still not a whole lot. And he's committed to only eating foods he's eaten before, so dropping things like broccoli and grapes and scrambled eggs makes it very difficult to make sure he's getting the proper nutrition. We're back on vitamins after having stopped at some point in the past when I felt he was probably getting 'most everything he needed. Sigh.

On the upside with Mal, he has started letting us use toothpaste with fluoride! Given his sensitivities (which are FAR more extreme at his age than D's were at this age), that was a hard sell! But a couple of months ago, I noticed a grey spot on one of his non-capped molars. Double sigh. However, we've kept at it and after a while, it went back to white. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow we have someone coming out to give me an estimate on replacing our windows. We do not have the money to do this, but we're also losing a lot of climate controlled air from our craptastic windows. Just to satisfy our curiosity and perhaps develop a savings strategy, we're going to see what we might be looking at. Man, trying to be energy-wise is super expensive!

Okay, idiots. That's it for today. Thanks for reading! And drop me an email if you'd like, since as far as I can tell, the comments still aren't working. My email address is firstname.lastname@hotmail.com, except, you know, with my name. Au revoir!

Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is

(I suppose we have a collective mouth? That sentence doesn't make sense, but I wrote it like a week ago, so I guess I'll keep it.)

We've been bandying this about for a while, and it seemed time to put up or shut up.

I'll admit that I dragged my feet on the global climate issue for quite some time. But now, we're at a point where it seems like a lot of action needs to be taken (ESPECIALLY by the something like 100 giant companies that produce 71% of our earth's greenhouse gases).

But, honestly, we can all act in small ways that might make a difference. You know, lots of people doing lots of small things can be a big thing.

Anyway, something I didn't even know existed and am, frankly, skeptical about, is that our electric co-op has a renewable energy rider. If you sign up for it, it costs less than $1 a month extra, and they provide your electricity strictly from renewable sources (water, wind, solar, bio fuel). I have a lot of questions about this: Is there an external source monitoring this? Do they guarantee it? Why, when it's so stupidly cheap, doesn't just everyone do it? Why didn't I know about it until I searched for it? Maybe they can't accommodate every single person choosing that? Anyway. Lots of questions. But we did sign up for it, anyway.

And now, we've decided, after ruminating for a bit, to take the plunge and get solar panels. We're aiming to produce about 90% of the electricity we use, so the financing should be about the same price as our electric bills would be during the summer. It'll be a little higher during the milder months, but also hopefully our net metering, wherein we earn credit for excess energy we produce that our electric company buys from us (at half what we pay them for their stuff, but that's business for you), will help make up for that at that time.

Regardless of if we end up paying a bit more out of pocket, James and I have both been trying to figure out ways to reduce our impact on the environment. Hopefully this will help.

Honestly, committing ourself to MORE debt (all we have otherwise is our house and car, but still...) and ANOTHER monthly payment has me all up in "buyer's remorse" territory, even though we still have three days to back out. But, again, the net is negligible. AND this is, for now, anyway, the last year the government will give us a tax credit for 30% of the cost to install. Next year, it goes down to 26%, then in 2021 to 22%... then it goes away. Also, existing and potential tariffs are affecting and threaten to affect pricing. So, again... we're kind of in a sweet spot.

In other notes, we placed one of our apple trees in a bad place, solar-wise, so we'll just have to be sure to top it in a few years, and every year after. James said that no one wants to climb 40 feet to get an apple, anyway, so this is probably just a super practical idea on its own merit.

That's it for now! Keep going, earth!

My New Green Deal

A few months ago, when we were preparing to leave McDonald's and come home, I took particular note of how much garbage was generated by one meal: the tray liner, the chicken nuggets box, the GoGurt tube, the ketchup packets (we try to use the ketchup dispenser, but it's more typically empty than not, and otherwise has a steady clientele of fruit flies), the French fry sleeve, plastic bag for the Happy Meal toy, the Happy Meal box, the juice box/milk bottle/soda cup, the box for whatever burger I get, and my cup, plus a lid and two straws. For 2 meals. They serve thousands of people per day, and we eat there a couple of times a week, at least.

When we first moved into our house, I almost ordered a second recycle bin because we were filling ours up within a couple of days after it was emptied (every two weeks instead of once per week, like regular trash). I realized that it slowed down somewhat after we stopped having so many deliveries for things like dining room chairs and other "new move-in" items like rugs and cabinets.

Still, we generate a lot of trash. We fill the recycle bin more often than the trash can, but have learned that only about 40% of our recycling is actually recycled; the rest ends up in landfills.

So I've been particularly struck by how often I run trash outside. Everything is in packaging, and when we order online, that packaging is usually in a shipping box. So it's a shipping box, usually some form of air-filled plastic shipping protector (bubble wrap, pillow things), the actual box, and then whatever the product is encased in inside. It's a lot. I think about which is better/worse for the environment: My driving into town to the store to buy things, or ordering it online where a truck that's going to be out here anyway brings it to me in an extra box that should, in a perfect system, be recycled. I don't know.

I did stop ordering from Walmart grocery when Instacart finally got out here, and one reason (which isn't price; Instacart is definitely more expensive) is that the way Walmart shops, almost every item is in a separate plastic bag. I save them and take them back to be recycled... but then, are they?

This is a very interesting video to watch, if you have the time:



One thing this doesn't address is that it DOES take some capital (money) on the front end to shop with almost no waste: glass and burlap containers aren't free; even if they pay for themselves in the long run, or it's just a principle you find important, you do have to have the cash up front to start the system. We could do it, but it would involve my driving... well, not only a lot further than our local grocery stores, but at all because I usually have our groceries delivered.

Still, I want to make some changes, so what can I do?

The first thing is straws. I drink a lot of soda, and Mal prefers straws over drinking directly out of a cup, so we've had silicone straws for a long time. I've recently stopped getting straws with drinks when we're out, and just use the ones in my purse.

Also, I stopped ordering soda cans (which I love because they're always fresh) and went to 2-liters. THEN, I bought another Soda Stream to make our own sodas in reusable bottles. I had a Soda Stream years ago, but when I was pregnant with Mal, I COULD NOT STAND the taste of the drinks. We ended up giving it to a homeschool group that was starting a co-op.

Beyond that and just being super aware of our waste and trying to pick products with minimal packaging and/or paper instead of plastic packaging, I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm freaked out seeing the piles of garbage everywhere, though. What is the next step? Any ideas?