21 days

I had a conversation today with someone at work and the topic of breaking habits came up.  I mentioned I had read articles stating that it takes 21 days to truly form a habit or break a bad habit.  While driving home from work I found myself thinking about those magical 21 days.  Panicking isn't the right word for what happened next, but let's call it an anxious moment.  I was at a stop light on Blondo and I noticed for the first time how freaking hilly Blondo street really is and cue my next thought....."how the hell am I going to bike that?"

It was like an avalanche of thoughts one after the other.  I needed a pause button for my brain.  Literally.  What at first seemed like minor changes suddenly seemed HUGE!  Individually, these things didn't seem like much, but add them together and the picture is staggering.  I'm not only trying to form new good habits, but break some bad ones as well.  So the analytical, type A side of me reared it's head and I sat down for some research on habits.  I don't want to fall flat on my face before I'm even out of the gate.  I needed more than my baby step approach.  Hard facts and numbers are comforting to me and I needed a heavy dose tonight.

I stumbled onto this link.  In the middle of the article is the six step (no not 12) 21 day habit practice. I thought step one and three were very important.  I mentioned that this blog is to help keep me accountable and for support.  These objectives fit in with those steps.  So here is my step three, my conviction, my why, and my motivation. 

My why and my inspiration was experiencing an entirely different way of life in Sámara Costa Rica. Things that I considered important prior to this trip actually don't even make the list of things that are  truly important.  To a degree I am a lazy, materialistic American with no immediate thought to how I  am impacting the environment.  I drive everywhere, and waste no time in lamenting about high gas prices.  I chose a gas guzzling Jeep and I choose to drive that vehicle daily.  The United Arab Emirates didn't make me buy it or drive it.  I made the choice and have continued to make the choice.  I discovered that I can make due without my Jeep, without my cell phone, and survive without modern conveniences.  Much to my surprise, not only did I not have a seizure or go into a prolonged state of catatonia, but I ENJOYED every minute of my experience.  If there was a way to thank every single person in Sámara for this experience I would.

I didn't find the kinds of facts I was looking for tonight.  I did strengthen my conviction for why I'm doing this.  Obviously, there are some limits to what I can change here.  Omaha is slightly larger than Sámara.  So there is my conviction and my why out there forever on the net.  It will be my reference point for when I am frustrated or having an anxious moment on a hilly road. I also plan to spend plenty of time on step five.  I'm gonna celebrate every little milestone no matter how long it takes me to get there. 

My glass Snapple bottle is the first of many to go in the bin.

:::high five:::

Recycling and other odds and ends

So, I attained half my weekend goal.  I now have three recycling bins in Casa de Caila.  One from the city and two newly purchased blue beauties from Menards. 

Also purchased was a lovely can crusher that thanks to my brother is now handily mounted in the garage by the fridge.  For any of my friends out there reading this, I'm sure we could get a significant chunk of change back if we recycled all the cans from my yearly Cinco party and Griswold x-mas get together.  Making it happen this year.

Apparently, the city of Omaha does NOT pick up glass.  Ugh.  I gave up pop for Lent so my new habit in a glass bottle is Snapple.  I will need to make a trip periodically to drop that off.

 I updated the links to include the city of Omaha's website, wasteline.  Lots of great info on recycling and other things regarding waste/trash pick up.  You can also sign up for a monthly recycling newsletter. 

I also bought some reusable grocery bags.  I will take the remaining plastic ones back to the store to be recycled.  Plastic Fiji water bottles are now a no no as well.  In its place will be a lovely water bottle from home.

I've searched high and low for my pedometer and have had no luck.  I'm pretty sure I have in my house somewhere at least two if not three pedometers.  Nearly every pharmacy convention I've ever been to has handed out free ones.  The irony here will be thick if I can't locate any of them and I end up having to actually buy one.  Since I will be making an effort to walk and/or bike more I want to be able to track how far I'm walking. 

On that note, the spreadsheet is not complete. Started, but not complete.  I kept coming up with more variables and things I would need to keep track of.  So far I have vehicle 1, vehicle 2, bike, bus, and cab.  If I travel out of state by plane I will need to factor that in as well.  However, I'm going to worry about that if and when it should happen.  Really close to the final number for my carbon footprint. Hopefully, that will be up on Wed or Thurs. 

It's late and I'm exhausted.  Sorry if this entry is a bit jumbled.  Here's hoping tomorrow is a bit less of a scorcher in the heat index dept.

Until next time!

And so it begins....

I have spent entirely too much time trying to get the "look" of this page exactly as I desire. I finally threw in the towel and just went with a generic background. I had to remind the OCD part of myself that I want people to read the blog not stare at it.

This is a huge work in progress (both the blog and my goal) and I will be adding things along the way. Right now my goal is to get organized so I can jump in with both feet. So what is the goal exactly? Well, I'm appalled at my own personal carbon footprint. I had never given the topic any thought until I started required reading for a study abroad class to Costa Rica. Looking back it was the equivalent to opening a huge can of worms. I became slightly obsessed trying to get more information on the topic. In a nutshell, when I returned I had an entirely different outlook on my own personal life and decided to make changes. So this brings us to the goal.

I intend to make changes to my lifestyle in an effort to make myself as carbon neutral as possible. I know I can't put in solar panels, but I can drive less and walk more. I can recycle. I can use public transport. I can remember to shut off the appliances when not in use. I can certainly use less water when I'm in the shower. All of these things are attainable but not necessarily easy. The blogging process is a way to help keep myself accountable and also for support. Perhaps it will also serve as a good venting session from time to time.

This weekend I intend to sit down and try to come up with a hard number for my carbon footprint. I need to look at a lot of things. I'm not going to go super science geek on this, but I want to try and be as accurate as possible. I also need to come up with a template to track not only my mileage but my mode of transportation as well. None of those sound like any fun, but I need to get them done. When I'm counseling people trying to lose weight or to stop smoking I always stress that they need to make small changes first. Too many changes or too many big changes can be a set up for failure. So with that in mind, my first "change" will be to get my recycling in order. Baby steps.

Finally, I hope this blog is informative and at the very least an entertaining read.

Later gators!