Not Easy Being Green

Happy Earth Day! Love the earth and mother nature and all that! I'm mostly pretty green-minded. I have several reusable bags, I recycle and compost, I do my best to save paper by letting everything I can become digital. For a twist though, I'm going to make my Earth Day post about the ways I have a hard time being green about.

Fast Food/Groceries

All the better if fast food comes in paper but oftentimes it comes in wax paper, aluminum foil, or Styrofoam. I do my best to avoid this by cooking at home and choosing places that I know don't use styrofoam but it is really hard to drop the habit of this convenience because it's everywhere. As for groceries... at least the little plastic bag that veggies come in is reusable/recyclable, but what about bigger things? Potato chip bags? Anything that comes in a box? Yogurt containers? When SunChips announced their new compostable packaging, I considered renouncing all other chips just to support their efforts. But that is just one biodegradable bag out of the thousands of food packaging out there.

Feminine Hygiene Products

If you're a guy, this section doesn't matter to you and you can skip down to the next one. Ladies, you feel me on this -- that time of the month sucks. I can't wrap my mind around the green alternatives -- a reusable cup or cloth. The cloth is tough since I'm sometimes out all day, for 10 or 12 hours. No way am I hauling that around with me. And the cup? Honestly, I really just don't like the idea of reaching up there. I don't like the idea of the Nuvaring and I don't even use tampons. It's unfortunate, but I just can't get green about this.

Toilet Paper

Yes, toilet paper. And its cousin, the tissue. Mental Floss has an amazing article on the history of toilet paper and discuss how other parts of the world have widely accepted water as their primary method of cleansing. How much water, money, and paper would we save if we were't using toilet paper -- or even more, if we don't use water-based toilets? I also read on Mental Floss about a composting toilet, which essentially routes your excrements to become compost rather than... well, yeah.

Too green? Maybe.

Transportation

I live in Southern California and that should speak for itself about traffic. Even with all the public transportation innovations, the choice method of getting around is still with your very own car. Things were better when I was in college in San Diego, where I walked places half the time and took buses/shuttles most of the other half, but that's because most things I needed were in walking distance. To be really green, I'd have to eat up a lot of time on buses or splurge on at least a hybrid car. Tesla Motors is looking to begin production on the Model S, the first fully electric mid-range sedan, by next year. Two years after that, they are hoping to begin production on an economy-priced sedan.

Being green is tough sometimes -- some things are just unreasonable or unfeasible, but some are our mental blocks. What are some things that are hard for you to get green about?

Healthy Morning

After yoga today, I fixed myself a little mid-morning snack of whole wheat crackers topped with Trader's Joe Peanut Butter and a glass of Naked Juice Orange Juice.

I feel wholesome and healthy. =)

P.S. I know the crackers are a little less than wholesome but I get partial credit for whole wheat, right? At least the PB and OJ are just about as pure as it can get.

Lovely 4-Eyes

I just found the lovable our.city.lights by Diana, who shared this amazing gem on wearing makeup with glasses!

I usually just never bother with makeup because I always figured my glasses block it anyway but I'm going to be part of a wedding in a few months so I have to get dolled up. This video gave a very thorough guideline about how to bring out your eyes behind glasses... she's even Asian like me, which really helps with the eye shadow portion.

Definitely looking forward to trying out some of these tips and tricks!

One in Two

Funny story - this morning, I open up my new bottles of shampoo and conditioner and proceeded to take a shower and wash my hair. Wondering why my shampoo wasn't lathering, I checked the label. It turns out that I had mistakenly purchased two bottles of conditioner instead of one shampoo and one conditioner. Go me. Total fail moment.

On the bright side, I have an excuse to make a Target run now. =)

What Changed?

Yesterday, I went shopping for a new pair of jeans. It's been a while since the last time I bought new jeans so I was really uncertain about my size. I got my second very pleasant surprise when I found out that I was, once again, a size 3. (My first very pleasant surprise came last week while cleaning my closet, where I happily found a pair of size 7 shorts that were now too big for me.)

I excitedly exclaimed to my friend, who had come along for the ride, that it felt good to be a size 3 again. She (mostly jokingly) flipped me off in response.

As I returned to the dressing room to change back into my own clothes, I had to wonder… “What changed?” This friend was a girl from high school who once shared my problem of not being able to find size 0 pants in a sufficiently petite length.

I was one of those people in high school that could eat whatever she wanted and never gained a pound. Once I hit 20, my jet-engine metabolism turned into a little water wheel machine. Everything I ate went straight to my hips. Unwilling to admit defeat to biology, I rejected the ideas of changing my diet and taking up regular exercise on the simple basis of never needing them before. But when I went up yet another size, I realized it wasn’t just me filling out anymore… I was just plain getting fat. I just wasn’t who I used to be and I needed to adapt.

Even though I still don’t exercise as much as I ought to, I’m extremely content with the changes I’ve made to my diet. I rarely eat anything fried, almost never drink soda (usually opting for water), and frequently choose vegetarian options. I cook at home often, using olive oil instead of corn oil and trying to make things from scratch.

A couple months ago, I went to In’N’Out and ordered myself a Double Double with animal-style fries and a vanilla shake, since I so rarely went there to eat. Halfway through my burger, I realized that the milkshake really wasn’t cutting it as far as thirst-quenching went. Then I thought, “I really just want some water to wash this down. Why did I even buy that milkshake?”

That’s when I knew that I had become a changed person.

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us." -John Dryden