Last time I hung my laundry out to dry, it came back in with bird droppings and spiders and I ended up washing it over again. Add to that, half of the year it would come back in frozen.
I think car washing is a great idea. I love my car and will enjoy doing a great job on her. I have a lot to learn though. Yesterday I tried to get rid of the surface dirt by dusting her off and wiping her down with sprinkles of water and a towel but I ended up with a glaze of dirt all over. Today I will do better. The first step is to go to the hardware store to get the faucet handle because the condo where I live takes all the faucet handles off. Lol. so that's good. I'll get exercise points walking to the hardware store and more exercise washing my car. Great idea. Thanks.
We live on 1.3 acres of land, and until this year I used a tractor to do most of the mowing. Now I used a self propelled push mower to do it all. If I do everything in one day, it is over 30,000 steps! I usually break it up into smaller sessions over a few days though.
Unlike some posters, I actually liked the article. It put a perspective on every day things. I hate to wash dishes, but reminding myself that I am burning calories will fuel me to do it more often. The article was a bit one sided, but the concept of the article to open our eyes and see that the things we manually do every day helps burn calories, is good.
You can always tell when an article has been written by someone who lives in the city. The whole walk or bike thing just isn't practical for most people. It isn't a matter of laziness it is a matter of sheer d-i-s-t-a-n-c-e.
If you live in a rural area things tend to be spread-out not by a few blocks or so but by many many miles.Country roads are often too busy to be safe to bike or walk on and the tasks you are trying to achieve require a truck bed or a trunk to accomplish.
In a Disney world maybe we would all live in places where you could bike and walk but in the real world outside of the cities it just is not a practical option for most people.
I think the biggest thing is becoming aware that you can improve on whatever you are doing... making it more "fit" than "fast". I wear a pedometer from when I get up until I go to bed... I am always trying to work in more steps. We can always benefit from taking a fresh look at how we do our daily tasks, and how we are SPARKin' along! Great article! Thanks for sharing it!
One of my favorites: park my car in the lot as far away from the building as possible. Unless it's a Walmart sized lot, then I tend to limit the distance to about 50-60 yards.
There are a lot of good suggestion's here not all of them will work well for everyone. I do my own dish's as I don't own a dishwasher or have a big kitchen.
I cut my own grass since I don't have a big yard. I do grow a garden every year. I love fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce's..
Washing dishes by hand is Not better for the environment! Surprisingly, dishwashers use less water and if you buy "green" detergent, you can have even less impact. I only wash my pots n pans by hand these days. http://m.guardian.co.uk/environment/gree n-living-blog/2010/aug/19/carbon-footp rints-dishwasher-washing-up?cat=enviro nment&type=article
To be honest I just skimmed a lot of the article but I noticed that you think I should go back to a very poor method of washing my car versus using a car wash ( and yes I know of what I am talking about I used to clean cars for a the major chysler dealer when I was in high school) . Sorry I have WAY TOO much invested in my car and my truck and they use SALT on the roads in my part of CANADA I am NOT going have the bodies on my vehicles ROT OUT prematurely.
Clearly all options aren't for everyone, but the article provides food for thought. One topic I missed is growing and preserving fruit and veggies. When I lived in the boonies, far away from the nearest grocery store, it was great to be able to just go outside and pick supper (or get it from the pantry). And nothing beats the taste of a tomato fresh off the vine.
Thanks for some good ideas. Since joining SP I mow with my push mower rather than a rider, shovel snow instead of using the snowblower and rake leaves with my hand rake. People ask me why I don't have my sons do it, and I my answer is that it's good exercise and I really feel a sense of accomplishment when I'm done. I think my ex-husband is shocked every time he hears that I do this myself. LOL!
I like the thinking behind the ideas. Sure every one of these isn't going to fit every person, but if you approach it thinking burn calories and save money, you will see results.
