Your dad must be related to my dad. He has told my kids that they are in charge of "their electricity" for their rooms and now both do turn their lights off...but still the rest of the house remains illuminated. We have begun recycling more and more and now my husband and I are obsessed with that as we try to reduce our carbon footprint, too.
By the way, I, too, look forward to your editor's letter each month, and it really is the only one I read of all the magazines I take. Thanks!

My mom was (and is) always anal about the lights too. I remember leaving our kitchen with a nice bowl of ice cream, snuggling into the couch to watch my favorite TV show, just in time for my mom to look up from her book and say, "Surely, you didn't leave the kitchen light on, did you?" I rolled my eyes back then; but now that I'm out of the house, I find myself enforcing the same obsessive idiosyncracies--or more nicely put environmental awareness--in my own home. I've come to love the darkness of the house in every room that I'm not, and also can enjoy my TV shows more knowing that my mom would be proud.

I stopped taking a bag when I shop. Not grocery shopping - I take those bags and reuse them. It would be very hard to get my order home without them. But when possible, I either reuse a bag I have or just stick the item and receipt in my purse; I carry a large purse. My mom did this for years and years and we all laughed at her but it was her "thing". How wise my mom was - aren't all parents, in hindsight! Now it's become my "thing". When retailers start charging for bags - Ikea charges a nickle, then probably more people will find they don't need one. I've read this small act can help the environment. Maybe that can off-set the carbon footprint of our household.

My dad sounds like your dad...except when I used to leave a light on at home my dad would make me give him a dollar towards the electricity bill...each and every time!

CFL lulbs are tricky.
Supposedly, there are new-age CFLs that are kinder on the eyes, with better colors and improved quality.

I also have been swapping out standard bulbs in favor of CFLs, but I have a wait-and-see attittude.

And what about the little lights on the computer, the microwave and other appliances? Those little standby lights eat up a lot of juice & money.
What do you do about those?

Take Care.
Sharon aka The Frugal Duchess...

By the way, I really liked your November letter and your comments about Jim Baker.

It's so thoughtful to appreciate the people in our professional and personal lives.

My father passed down the same obsession. Though I think he was less concerned about saving the environment and more concerned about saving the budget.
However, I have no suggestions about how to get others to turn off the lights b/c I cannot for the life of me convince my husband to turn off a light when he leaves the room (I am sure as we speak he is at home with EVERY light on).
On reducing my carbon footprint I have purchased some energy saving bulbs, which I also don’t like the delay or the fluorescence, but “reduce, reuse, recycle” is what I tell myself when I flip the switch. I have also purchased Seventh Generation products and reusable grocery bags (Wal-Mart & Publix sell them for $1). AND I have decided to help friends and family reduce theirs by giving them “Go Green” starter kits for Christmas complete with reusable shopping bags, Seventh Generation products, energy saving bulbs, and a list of energy saving and recycling tips from RS.

I sound like your father. I live in a *tiny 2 bedroom apt, alone now, but once-upon-a-time I had a roommate, and it would drive me nuts that she would leave every light on, in said tiny apt. it would drive me nuts. why do you need a light on in a bedroom your not in? I guess living on my own and paying the bills made me realize the worth to the environment and my bank account. she has since moved out, and I must say my electric bill is now quite low :) i will need to revisit this topic, when i am married with kids of my own, i am not quite sure this will be high on my list ;)

btw, I love your blogs, I love real simple. so thank you for sharing your world with us! it gives the magazine an even more human touch.

Another challenge for me is the fact that we're headed into Christmas light season. We don't have the fancy automatic timer lights and I am always kicking myself when I get home from work and realize that the lights were on all night, all day, and now will be on all evening since it's time to turn them on (if they had been off!). Our carbon footprint seems to expand exponentially in December!

What is it about dads? Mine was always turning out lights, even when the switch was still warm from turning it (them) on! Now, the Dad in our household is the same way. When he is home alone, it looks like nobody is home as we come in the drive.
About the CFLs, how can they be good when they have to be disposed of specially because of the chemicals they contain? don't like their light, either. The shopping bag thing is important, but I still get them every time we shop. I make comments about becoming my mother when I (rarely) rinse out a Zip-Loc bag. I use some 7th Generation and all "green" detergents, mostly because of sensitive skin issues, plus I read on one label that brighteners can stick to the skin indefinitely. That was thought-provoking.
Thanks for your blog, I am a faithful reader, and enjoy catching up when I haven't had a chance to read for a few days/week. I really liked the pix of the pumpkins!
One more thing, we've commented jokingly in our house about how a magazine called "Real Simple" could be so thick...but we all grab it and read it!! I find the prices on some of the featured products pretty prohibitive, but to each his/her own.
Thanks again,
Ruth

I am off to bed but couldn't wait to read you blog. Just so you know, your Editor's note is the first thing I read in the magazine each month - I love it. I think it has something to do with the fact we both spell our name correctly (not "en"), have 3 kids and that your sense of humor and honesty is refreshing! My 3rd child is now 5 so life is getting a little easier - but the middle schooler troubles just make things harder! Thanks for giving me a great escape each month!

Lights and recycling feel like they're just the beginning of the battle. We have three recycle piles at our house. One: what the weekly pick up will take, which is pretty much glass, tin and plastic. Two: plastic bags and foam cartons to be taken to the grocery store because the weekly pickup will not take them. Three: any paper products to be taken to the recycling center because the weekly pickup will not take them.

My boyfriend has decided he also wants to compost. I don't mind that much because he does the actual. All I have to do is set aside the kitchen scraps and such to go out to the bin.

BUT his obsession has gotten to the point that he is now talking about trying to compost the leaves he sees in our neighbors yards, he keeps ordering books off Amazon, built a compost bin at his job and he's talking about visiting a vermiculture farm so that he can begin composting using earthworms too.

My dad used to pull out the 'ol "Do you think I work for the electric company?" line, and I just have a question: Does working for the electric company automatically give your kids permission to leave lights on? Do they get their electricity at a reduced rate? Is that one of the perks? ... Oh, and what if money did grow on trees?

I think I would be more apt to recycle if I didn't feel like I needed to rinse and clean everything! Don't get me wrong--there is still peanut butter in my jars but ugghh! Does anyone out there know if this "rinsing and cleaning" is necessary?? Maybe recycling should be put on Kristin's list of Things That Should be Easy But Aren't! We are trying to do our part but it does make you wonder if I REALLY am making THAT big of a difference??!! It's pretty sad really, I think the majority of Americans just think, "out of sight, out of mind" when it comes to trash....meaning, I'm done with it...goes in the trash....but from there, it's overwhelming to think about what really goes on. Maybe I need to take a little trip to the old landfill to remind myself how important it all is! Have a great weekend everyone!

LOL..I thought i was the only one that saved ziplocs!! hehe. What about replacing your light switches with the sensor ones that will automatically come on when you enter a room and shut off if there is no movement after a period of time? I have thought about doing this, even if i just do a few at a time (i think they might be kinda pricy to do my whole house at once). Also, wouldn't be effective for the big open areas with mulitple switches/lights...but at least it would be a start! Goodluck!! hehe

Two things: Staci, check with your town, you don't necessarily have to rinse stuff out.
And Rachel: Hilarious.

My significant other and I are also strict about lights being on when not needed (it bothers him more than me because I'm thinking about other more important things. :) But we mainly try to turn them off to save ourselves a few pennies per month.
If you really want to get your kids involved, you can give them a small extra allowance for turning lights off. Money is always a good incentive for kids. :)

Global Warming is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind since the beginning of time. Al Gore, the man who "invented" the internet, is pushing this fraud because he stands to make millions. How, you say? He OWNS the bogas carbon credit company that will "offset" your carbon footprint. This would be funny but so many people have been duped into believing this scam, it is simply scary and sad.

Global Warming is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind since the beginning of time. Al Gore, the man who "invented" the internet, is pushing this fraud because he stands to make millions. How, you say? He OWNS the bogas carbon credit company that will "offset" your carbon footprint. This would be funny but so many people have been duped into believing this scam, it is simply scary and sad.

my grandfather settled this argument in his house once and for all. he simply removed the lightbulbs from the places in the house that really didn't need any extra light. not every corner of every room needs to be highlighted.

I work for a home builder and something my coworkers and I have discussed on numerous occasions is 'why don't they just tell me they have extra?' We are talking about cost savings in that sence buy truly believe that if we layed a dollar bill on the ground someone would pick it and not leave it laying around like extra construction material sometimes do. Maybe you should try taping money to the light switch. Even if it doesn't work it could be funny to talk to visitors about.

It's baby steps! You have changed out the bulbs and the newer generation ones are quite better this past. I too take my own bag to the grocery store or every where else, cashier's look at me funny but I don't care. I have enough of those plastic bags to cover the earth several times. We all just have to do our part and continue to educate and share our stories with others to motivate them to do same. I have a roommate who leaves lights on too and likes the shower to run for about 10 minutes before she even decides to get in, talk about wasteful.

I'm convinced it's the age - teens and pre-teens don't equate what they might advocate for in school with their own home, and younger kids just don't understand the need. Then there's the issue of children feeling safer with lights on - they don't want to walk into a dark room, even if the light switch is right next to them. You/we will have to figure out a way to kill the monsters in those dark rooms, which will be particularly difficult b/c no one will admit to fearing them, let alone their existence and how can you kill something that doesn't exist. But don't go into that dark room b/c monsters might be there. We won't even get into husbands and TVs.

I try to do my part with the lights (thanks Dad!) but my new contribution to the environment is calling the 800 # on every catalog I receive the day I receive it and ask them to stop sending them. I never shop from catalogs and always online so no need to waste all that paper :). I hope my mail carrier appreciates it too! Every little bit helps, right?

I too have been trying to reduce our 6 person family's carbon footprint and assuage my guilt for driving a minivan... I joined the elementary school's "green" group in hopes that I could help make a difference. So far, I am dumping out recycle bins full of nasty trash and driving broken electronics to the trash dump. I am not sure why I thought being a part of the green group would be a bit sexier... The worst part is that I can't get anyone in my family (including my darling husband) to recycle or turn out lights and my guilt has increased exponentially. It's an uphill battle. But I think it's worth it.