I think anyone who knows me would say, without a doubt, I’ve changed drastically over the last two years since moving to Seattle. I haven’t changed as a person per se, but I have definitely changed my lifestyle. Here’s a small list of things that my old friends from Michigan simply can’t comprehend.
- I’ve participated in multiple 5k’s and triathlons.
- I own a TV, but don’t have cable. I rarely watch TV and consume 90% of my media online.
- I rarely drive. This last summer I was quite proud of the fact that I didn’t drive my vehicle for 3.5 weeks.
- I don’t eat fast food for the most part.
Now reverse that list and that’s how I lived in the Midwest. The two there that my friends from Michigan are simply astounded about are not driving and not watching TV. This got me thinking as to how much of an impact my move to Seattle has had on the planet. So I took a quiz that calculates my ecological footprint to compare my two lifestyles. I’m happy to report that I’ve saved an entire planet by moving to Seattle! Well, not really, but my ecological footprint went from a score of 23 (5.2 planets to sustain my existence) to 18 (4 planets to sustain my existence).
So, this isn’t really something to cheer about, but it’s definitely an improvement. To top things off I really like the new me. I like training for triathlons, I like being ignorant of pop media and I especially like not having to drive everywhere.
Change is good.
Nice, Joe. I scored an 18 too, despite the fact that we live in a small condo and I commute by bicycle every day. Guess I need to eat less meat. This is unlikely.
I still don’t get the whole TV-by-download model, and I just bought a new TiVo wireless adapter so I can use WPA encryption and 802.1g in my house, so I guess I’m still committed to the TV lifestyle for a while yet.
How’s the relocation plan coming along?