Diamond-Cut Life

by Alison Wiley
Asking Linda Quirk of Run 7 On 7 to buy carbon offsets for her extensive air travel (see last post) reminded me and my husband to buy our offsets for 2008 (we can estimate the carbon we’ll burn for the rest of the year).
Note: while I think that buying carbon offsets is necessary [...]

[Read more →]

by Alison Wiley
I have been corrected. Supporters of Run 7 On 7 (see earlier post) have told me that Linda Quirk is traveling to all seven continents to run marathons by herself, and is not taking others with her, as a runner here in Portland had reported.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I think it’s great that [...]

[Read more →]

Later this week I plan to post on election results and also on how to save 40-50% on your electricity bill like my household does.
But this morning is that one single morning of the year in which daylight savings time yields us an extra hour — which we can fill as we choose. Given that [...]

[Read more →]

A 78 year old woman emailed Tom Brokaw yesterday to ask this question of  the two presidential candidates in last night’s debate (I’m paraphrasing):
“What sacrifices would you ask of the American people, given that we’re in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression?”
John McCain replied that as president he would probably have to cut [...]

[Read more →]

Do you suffer from time poverty, i.e. feel that you don’t have nearly enough time? I periodically do, and I’ve seen it termed an American epidemic. The irony and the good news is that many of what I call the over-activities eating up our time and stressing us are the same over-activities that are eating [...]

[Read more →]

Even when we love our work, it can land us in places we wouldn’t have chosen. I’m currently in a luxury hotel, the Intercontinental Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia, because that’s where the transportation conference I’m attending is being held.
The overconsumption, the wasting of resources, is setting my nerves on edge. It feels plain wrong to [...]

[Read more →]

I saw this movie yesterday, intrigued by the series’ popularity among women and how it all relates to what I call the diamond-cut life.
Fact one: I love fun as much as anyone (ask my many girlfriends). Fact two: Consumption drives global warming. Science has made this clear. While we have to consume in order to [...]

[Read more →]

Here is my Portland, Oregon response to Sex And The City: The Movie. It is Green Girls Take On CRAG. Read it to see what I mean. My Green Girls social circle has more fun and is more joyful, I suggest, than the characters in the hit HBO series.
Why do I think that? We green [...]

[Read more →]

I’m sipping my coffee at 6 a.m. at Stumptown in Southeast Portland (joy). The Oregonian’s front page shows an ocean of the 72,000 faces that turned out to see Barack Obama yesterday (yes, I voted for him, too) and the lower right corner story is: “Who loves high energy prices? The environment.”

The gist is basic [...]

[Read more →]

We researched ad nauseam what fuel-efficient, low-emissions car we should buy. We finally chose the Honda Civic hybrid for its great ratings all around, plus its state AND federal tax credits. We waited and waited for it to arrive at the dealership. Last night we finally brought it home.

[...]

[Read more →]