How the elections kicked my b.. to start blogging

It's a historic day. I am moved to write. New Pesident Barack Obama just kicked my moral bud to get to work and start this blog. There he is, walking fearlessly along the crowded streets of Washington DC, waving to his cheering supporters. The speech was beautiful, restored hope and lifted my spirit to believe that what each and every one of us do, matters. So here I am trying to commit to my cause: inspiring others by example and giving them good reasons to make environmentally friendly choices.

Yes, those lightbulbs matter. Yes, taking the bike instead of the car when you can, matters, using recycled paper matters. Thinking first matters. No, I am no green saint - yet. I still commit environmental sins, I am working on expanding my green ways though. I know the obstacles and the resistance when it comes to changing habits. Yet I see how much a difference it makes what happens around us. Here is an example. I grew up in Germany witnessing the rise of the green movement. Even without the green party people had green habits such as bringing their own bag or basket to the grocery store and dropping off glass at remote recycle containers before detailed recycling became the standard for every household. When I moved to the US my good habit of bringing my own bag quickly gave way to the convenience of having my groceries bagged. I am happy to see that the bring-your-own-reusable bag-movement is really becoming mainstream in the US. I have readapted to an old habit. I enjoy seeing less bags around my house and I try to encourage the cashiers to pay attention to people having their own bag instead of just starting to bag.

The bag is one of those easy examples how the simple things can make such a difference. According to gogreen-bags.com:

• The average family of 4 accumulates 1460 plastic shopping bags a year.


• It can take up to 1000 years for a plastic bag to break down in the environment.


• The oil it takes to produce 14 plastic bags will power your car for a mile, says Green Wikia.

That matters. Let's matter together. Yes, we can.