One of my favorite bloggers, Crunchy Chicken, has begun a thermostat challenge. The challenge is very simple...just turn it down. It is not a contest to see who can be coldest, just to reduce your own energy bills and subsequently help save the world. It's your classic win-win situation.
All the friendly pep talk being now said, I have to now climb up on my wobbly soap box and gasp that people are asked to turn their thermostats down to 68 degrees. Down to 68 degrees. I don't think I've spent a winter my entire life with an indoor temperature of 68 degrees. After all,...drum roll please... it's winter. It's cold. It's time to wear sweaters and socks and put the down comforters on the bed. It's just plain wrong to be able to run about your home in short sleeves! It's an example of how people try to live their lives totally insulated from the environment. No one is the slightest bit inconvenienced by the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter. The interiors of houses are completely climate controlled. All dirt, bacteria and viruses are wiped clean by no end of anti-bacterial cleaners and elaborate air filters. All bugs, insects and weeds are removed with harmful chemicals. Children spend all day in school, at after school activities or daycare. Kids hardly ever even get dirty! And we are paying a horrible price for this environmental insulation. Children are growing up with out exposure to the germs that actually make them healthy. There are more and more children with all sorts of allergies and asthma because their bodies haven't been able to build up any natural defenses. And of course, our planet itself is suffering... and we are entering into all sorts of global conflicts over the need to stuff our country with oil (come on, deep down you know it's true)...it goes on and on.
So, come on, be a little inconvenienced and save the world! Despite my personal 68 degree shock, the actual degree temperature doesn't really matter. Every one has their own version of what cold is. Just turn the thermostat down enough that you need to wear a pair of slippers in the house. Turn it down enough that you can wear that sweater you have in your closet that you previously determined was way to warm to wear indoors. Turn it down enough that you actually need to wear warm winter pajamas to bed (I recently was told by a sales girl at JC Penney's that she couldn't imagine why children would need footsie pajamas! Eeeek!). You become more tolerant to temperature with time (I know this for a fact, as I now can survive the Kansas summer heat without death!).
Good luck, you can do it! After all, it's really important. We can all do the really important things. And the financial savings alone should warm you down to your toes.
Project 365/52
The long awaited store update!!
My 3 year old son has been informing anyone he can trap for two seconds about what he wants for Christmas. In a vain effort to at least switch his focus from the me, me, me, I asked him what I would want for Christmas. I was informed that Mommy wants yarn and tea. What a good boy!
