Waste not, live lightly

Eugene's downtown transit center

So I've been pondering for a while now how to be less wasteful. I mean, I hate to waste things just on principle; living in a barn for two years on virtually no income will help you slip into the appropriate Depression-era mindset quite easily. Granted, the recent skyrocketing of gas prices has helped me along lately, too, but even before that happened, I'd started to make a few changes. Among them:

• Getting new cloth shopping bags that aren't hard to load (so grocery checkers don't give you the evil eye when you bring your own)


• Consolidating car trips so I'm not using the car more than necessary


• Buying from the bulk containers at the grocery store to cut down on wasted/wasteful packaging


• Not taking plastic bags for items in the produce section that I won't be storing in bags


• Buying at the thrift store. Seriously, I've found nice clothes there lately, and I have absolutely nothing against re-using someone else's discards. Besides, how can you complain about getting two pairs of pants and five T-shirts for $16?


• Getting chicks! Having truly fresh, organic eggs again is going to be great! And you get free, amusing chicken entertainment along with them.
  
• Night lights: I've commandeered my four really bright solar lanterns for in-house duty: every morning I put them outside to charge up, and in the evening two go into the bathroom, one goes on the hall table and one provides illumination for those passing through the kitchen. Electricity expended: zero.

Recently, though, I've taken a few more steps. Among them is riding the bus, something I hadn't done since I lived in Madrid 37 years ago. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoy being able to watch the scenery instead of having to watch the road and other traffic. Granted, the bus service here isn't nearly as frequent, but it's better than in many American towns, and there's a pick-up point for the local neighborhood connecting bus only a short block from my house. Eugene's transit center (pic, above) is pretty cool, too. Spacious, well laid out, with clean restrooms. Oh, and a monthly pass costs $37. As compared to the 3/4 of a tank of gas I bought yesterday for $54.

I've also started to ride my bike again, a much more alluring idea now that it's warmed up. I can take the river bike paths to many regular destinations relatively conveniently, including several shopping stops. The problem was how to haul, say, several bags of groceries. I toyed with getting a child trailer, but good ones are very pricey. And then I came across just what I needed completely by accident: a small dog trailer (see below.) It's been ordered, and I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival.


For quite some time now I've talked about putting raised beds in the backyard so I can grow my own veggies: better flavor, no chemicals, no energy expended to get them to me from some other state... or other country. Finally I was able to find the redwood I was hoping to use for beds, so the beds are now assembled (pic below--the white posts inside each one are 1" PVC which will hold 1/2" PVC pipes to hold up row covers), the weedblock fabric has been installed in the bottom of each, and now I just have to cart the huge pile of soil--delivered yesterday--around back and fill the beds. It's too late to start seeds, but I'll pick up some veggie starts and do what I can.

All of which should keep me busy and out of trouble for a while.