Laptop Television Mom

Thanks to the Hollywood writer’s
strike, I have time to clean out my TiVo and watch some old shows. The
other day I watched an Oprah rerun called “Going
Green 101: Resources for your Family.” Oprah’s guests had a call-to-action
to encourage families to change how they live in an effort to protect the environment,
including

• Reuse
  aluminum foil
•  Turn
  off the water faucet while brushing your teeth
•  Limit
  showers to 10 minutes, use warm water instead of      hot water
•  Unplug
  appliances when you leave the house
•  Turn
  down the thermostat at night
• Donate
  old clothes and shoes instead of throwing them away

Honestly, when I heard these tips, I
laughed out loud. I grew up in a house that practiced each of these suggestions
because we needed to save money, not because we wanted to save the Earth. Wow,
looks like my mom is not a cheap-skate after all, she is an environmentalist
who was way ahead of her time!

Mom, I apologize for all the
eye-rolls and back-talk when you made me rinse out the Ziplock bags so we could
reuse them… especially now that I am practicing what you have always
preached.

Cross-posted at
Silicon Valley Moms blog, where I rant and rave about being a
mom in the Silicon Valley.