The Problem with Memory.

When it comes to making any change in your lifestyle, large or small, one obstacle we all must overcome from time to time is simply remembering our intentions. We want to do good, either to the environment, to ourselves, to other people, but we are so entrenched in our daily routine which we've grown to take for granted that it's easy to forget from day to day that we wanted to change anything. If you want to quit smoking, I'd imagine it's not so much a question of forgetting to quit as it is maybe remembering how much you'd really like to be healthy and live a long time. I don't know this for a fact, because I've never started smoking and so I've never had to quit. But when it comes to living green, it can be a problem sometimes to remember to not buy plastics, or to limit your trips in the car, or even to turn off lights when you're not in the room. No matter how altruistic your intentions are, you simply can't seem to break certain habits and keep it in your head that you meant to recycle more this week, or that you really didn't want to leave your car idling the whole time you were in the store. Oops.

For me, remembering intentions has been a long-fought battle. Just ask my parents, or my wife, or any of my grade school teachers. No one is more familiar with my forgetfulness than they. At least not that I can recall. That's why I've found it helpful to use external reminders, to keep the liability of my own brain out of the equation as much as possible. I used to have to make a note at the end of every class of what my homework was, and what books I would need to take home. When it comes to paying bills, I have to have a regular, automatic email sent to me to remind myself every month (www.memotome.com, for instance). And now that I'm trying to live in a more eco-conscious way, it's been another struggle. There are a couple of things that I've found to work quite well in keeping my mind on my goals, however, and I'll share them now;

Podcasts:
Podcasts are basically radio shows that are downloadable in mp3 format, and can be listened to anytime, as many times as you want. I listen to several different green or environmental podcasts on a regular basis. Thanks to iTunes, I never miss an episode of The Lazy Environmentalist or America the Green. I may not listen every day, but at least a few shows a week seems to keep me constantly aware on a general level on my aspirations towards a greener me. If you have iTunes, do a power search for some keywords like "environmental" or "eco-friendly" and start subscribing to any and all the podcasts you can. Don't worry if you end up not liking some of them. You can always unsubscribe from the ones that are crap (and there are always going to be a few). Conversely, you might just find some of them to be immensely inspiring and informative.

"Is it Green?":
One of the ways we can all improve the environment is being more conscious of our purchases when we buy things like groceries or other products. Being the capitalist society we are, it's also one of the hardest daily routines to affect change on. That's why I simply put a note on my wallet, written in plain English and taped right in front of my cash and credit cards, that says, "Is it Green?" A simple question, yes, and most likely one with a complicated answer. Not everything is black and white when it comes to green, so to speak. But even seeing that question every time I pull out my money to buy something causes me to pause for just a second and consider, which is more than I would do without the note. This type of external reminder might be too much for some people, who might think it's too odd or nerdy, and that's fine. I'm not suggesting it's the best solution, and certainly no one I know would swear that I'm not odd or nerdy, but I only offer it as an example to you to take and use to inspire your own choices. Find your own way of remembering your intentions, and if something else works for you I'd love to know what it is. Feel free to leave comments and feedback about your own experiences.

Until next time, remember you might own the house, but you're only renting the land.