A Positively Poetic Priest

It finally got warm enough in north west Pennsylvania. My husband and I put in the first of our two room air conditioners last night. (I also ended up destroying the end of my thumb in the process... but that's another story.) The Rectory we live in does not have central air conditioning and we have found for the most part we don't really need it. The two rooms we desire cooler temperatures in during the summer are the bedroom (to sleep!) and the living room (we have fake velvet couches (which cause static all year long)).  In looking to buy these two room air conditioners, I've learned that air conditioning uses somewhere between 5-10% of all electricity. They also release millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air. There are some air conditioner makers which claim to be more environmentally friendly, but there are also a number of ways you can cool off your house without using air conditioning. Using ceiling fans properly are great ways of circulating air flow in the...

 I am not a fan of fad diets. Not only have they caused my family all sorts of grief over the years, they rarely are eco-friendly or people-friendly. Needless to say I have not tried the low-carb diet. Fad diets overlook the holistic approach (which can be slower) of finding your own body's natural rhythms and cycles and working with your body to achieve health instead of inflicting weight loss upon the body. Working with your own body usually involves a lot less pain, though it can take longer to figure out.  However, I am starting to try the Low-Carbon diet. This diet doesn't only impact what I eat, but holistically looks at my full lifestyle. A Low-Carbon lifestyle takes into account our full carbon footprint on the Earth. Our housing, our transportation, our wastes, as well as what we eat. The first step in looking at lowering your carbon footprint is finding out what your current carbon footprint is!  There are a wide range of Carbon Footprint Calculators out there. ...