Going green
No, I'm not referring to my skin tone at the thought of India's Savoy lunch, but to my intentions to start writing in a more environmentally-caring manner.
I am, by heart, a nature lover and it has bothered me for some time the amount of paper I get through when I write, which, in turn, equates to the number of trees destroyed for such purpose.
Therefore, I am imposing some strict eco-rules upon myself:
1. Thou shalt use both sides of the paper at all times (unless sending to agent, publisher or competition judge);
2. Thou shalt welcome all junk mail (such as unpaid bills, bank demands, tax assessments)that fall upon the doormat and use the often-blank, reverse side to print all drafts, notes, etc.
3. Thou shalt rip partially-used pieces of paper into usable-sized pieces, place within an appropriately-sized ring binder and use for all jottings of random thoughts, brilliant brain waves, etc;
4. Thou shalt print all drafts in single-line spacing; any editing notes to be written in teeny-tiny writing or, alternatively, on paper within 'jottings of random thoughts, brilliant brain waves, etc' ring binder;
5. Thou shalt give up writing, sit in the sunshine and give thanks for the shade of the old oak tree.
Does anyone else have any other 'green writing' suggestions?
I am, by heart, a nature lover and it has bothered me for some time the amount of paper I get through when I write, which, in turn, equates to the number of trees destroyed for such purpose.
Therefore, I am imposing some strict eco-rules upon myself:
1. Thou shalt use both sides of the paper at all times (unless sending to agent, publisher or competition judge);
2. Thou shalt welcome all junk mail (such as unpaid bills, bank demands, tax assessments)that fall upon the doormat and use the often-blank, reverse side to print all drafts, notes, etc.
3. Thou shalt rip partially-used pieces of paper into usable-sized pieces, place within an appropriately-sized ring binder and use for all jottings of random thoughts, brilliant brain waves, etc;
4. Thou shalt print all drafts in single-line spacing; any editing notes to be written in teeny-tiny writing or, alternatively, on paper within 'jottings of random thoughts, brilliant brain waves, etc' ring binder;
5. Thou shalt give up writing, sit in the sunshine and give thanks for the shade of the old oak tree.
Does anyone else have any other 'green writing' suggestions?
Labels: Annie
posted by Annie at 3:50 pm
4 Comments:
6. Thou shalt get thy husband to bring home the reams and reams of virtually virgin (if it's possible to be virtually a virgin) paper from the office and write on that.
7. Thou shalt grind thy own printer ink from the husks of beechnuts and boiled onion skins.
(Don't blame me if these suggestions cause a) instant dismissal of spouse b) instant breakdown of printer. It's a worthy cause, OK?)
Writing under the old oak tree on a sunny day, particularly on recycled paper, with a pencil (equipped with eraser) - save India's printer ink recipe for submissions only - can't possibly do harm to the environment! Don't stop, Annie!
And I'll try to do most of my editing on-screen rather than on hard copy. Except more typos but there you go.
Err, 'expect' more typos.
I'm ashamed to admit that other than those fantastic suggestions you've all posted, I don't have anything to add, save sending the empty ink cartridges to the recycler, and when you upgrade your computer, to do the same with the old printers and towers - recycle or pass it on to someone who can reuse it...
As for India's marvellous ink recipe, if you keep the extra wells on top of the tower, it'll heat up. Add some garlic and balsamic vinegar and there! You not only have organic ink, but a lovely dip for your bread.
Of course, I'm not so sure that bringing cooking into a computer room is a good idea -- foraging for food is one of the few exercises I get during the day. However, we are talking about saving the earth, not our girlish figures.
Green ideas? I'm partial to blue but let me try...
Use the back of all those nonsense, useless papers your children bring home from school to take notes on. I have a whole tablet of such papers and when I'm done with them they get burned and the ashes get mixed in with my impossibly clay like soil in the yard. Makes nice fertilizer and loosens the soil :o)
Our school does a fund raiser all year long- they collect used ink cartridges and a recycler pays them $1 for each one. I've made the school at least $50 this year :D
Line my kitchen cabinets and drawers with my children's cute artwork instead of throwing it away because I have no room for it all.
That'll have to do for now because my brain just disengaged.
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