Three Ideas for a Greener New Year

1. Make one round-trip drive to work per week.

I commute 65 miles one way to work. I go to the office three or four days a week and work at home the rest of the time. Last semester, I averaged two rounds trips a week by car, by staying in a hotel near the office and/or riding the train. In order to get the average down to once a week, I'll have to ride the train more often. Careful thought about scheduling is in order.

2. Less screen time.

I don't own a television, but since we got high-speed internet access at home, I spend a lot of time staring at the computer. I want to move the computer off my desk, so that in order to use it, I have to move someplace else. The computer is a laptop, but the printer has to go with it, which complicates the move somewhat.

3. Shorter showers.

Somewhere in the house there's an egg timer; I'm going to move it to the shower and use it to time myself in there.

4. More exercise.

Not a green plan, but an important one. Last fall I was up to running three or four days a week when I got felled by bronchitis. I'm back to walking 30 minutes to an hour a day, most days, and will start running again tomorrow. Commuting by train rather than by car includes a two-mile bike ride, but I don't need to take the most direct route.

That's enough. Do I have any readers who want to share three green resolutions for the coming year?