if you read Nattyman's blog...

I thought it might be appropriate, for the sake of all of you who read both Nattyman's and my blogs, to clarify something. Although he posts some articles debunking global warming alarmism, it isn't to justify our energy-hungry lifestyle. We already do most of the things recommended to conserve energy and water. We use compact florescent blubs in every light fixture that will take them; our house is well insulated and has double pane windows; we turn the thermostat up or down (depending on season) when we are sleeping or not home; we turn off lights in unused rooms. We have low-flow plumbing fixtures; we only wash full loads of dishes and laundry and wash on cold when we can; we try to water the lawn efficiently in the summer. We even cloth-diapered Ethan for quite a while, until the British government nappy study came out showing that the environmental impact is about the same with cloth or disposables (and we simultaneously moved and had a less energy-efficient laundry situation). The only way we don't comply, really, is by driving our SUV, which is, at least, only a mid-size SUV. Not like we own a Hummer or anything. :-) I figure the SUV uses 150-200 gallons of gas per year more than a compact car would. We take Heath's compact car whenever we don't have the kids with us, but we purchased the Explorer for its extra weight/safety so we always use it with the kids.

I don't want to mislead you - we are not spectacular conservationists, who reuse all our gray water for watering plants, grow our own organic produce (although we did try with dismal results), and recycle or compost everything.

However, we don't mind doing some basic things to conserve energy and water, because it saves us money and doesn't cause us much trouble. So, just so you know, Nattyman isn't looking up those articles to try to justify our lifestyle or anything.

And now you have the rest of the story. :-)

Edit/PS - When we lived in our quaint older home in GC, we didn't realize how energy inefficient it was... it cost $50/mo. MORE to heat or cool than our house here, despite the fact that our house here is 60% larger. Don't tell the insurance company but the heater in that house is probably at least 30 years old... Maybe the new owners will replace it right away, put up some storm windows, and save a bundle on their energy bills.