Lazy blogger, mediocre environmentalist

It’s been over a month since I last wrote here, and I don’t really have an excuse. I think it’s because I keep coming up with blog topics that are kind of hard to research and/or comply with. Someone recently told me that it actually slows down your boiling water if you add salt to it first – I always have added salt in the beginning because I thought it sped up the process. Does anyone know what the truth is? I’m too lazy to look it up, but I would really like to know whether I’m wasting a ton of energy trying to heat up salty water all the time.

I’ve also been thinking about greening up my cat’s litter situation, but I’m totally hooked on Fresh Step (which is clay-based and not at all green, plus it costs about $10 a box). I’m not at all interested in potty-training my cats, and I’ve tried and rejected natural litters in the past. My only compromise thus far has been to minimize the number of plastic grocery bags that I use to throw the litter away in – we have a little trash can that all the litter is scooped into and then we throw out the whole thing once a week or so.

I shouldn’t even have plastic grocery bags in my home anyways, though! This really bothers me. I have been RELIGIOUS about using cloth grocery bags for the past couple of years. I always keep an extra bag in my purse, and if I don’t have a bag on me I just carry everything by hand. But somehow my kitchen cabinets are still overflowing with plastic bags. I blame this partially on Boyfriend, who is less diligent than I when it comes to shopping bags, but most of the blame should go to our friends, who are generous and bring gifts like beer and whiskey to our house, generally swathed in plastic.

Some brainy sciency-types say that my grocery bag obsession isn’t even helping the planet. It’s like cutting up plastic bear rings or turning off the faucet when I’m brushing my teeth. A drop in the bucket, they say. I’m doing my best to block them out, because I think we can use any environmentally-friendly act that Americans are willing to undertake.

Anyways, the month-long blog hiatus is partially due to all of the frustrations listed above, but mainly resulting from a highly distracting garden, some community food projects that I’ve been undertaking, and a new job tossing pizzas in Prospect Heights. But now I’m back, and I promise to stop being lazy – at least for a little while.