Posted by: Cari Crabtree | November 13, 2009

My new plan to keep me accountable to my good lifestyle and health.

“Being good” is such an overwhelming concept. I read Health magazine for advice, I recycle, I eat organic foods, I’m converting to “goodproducts for my home, I opt for items with fair trade symbols, I pick up random bits of littered trash, I am courteous and thankful, I drive attentively, I consider other people and most of all, I consider the Earth.

But there’s always something new and it’s exhausting as a college student (or simply a person between 16-26). I’m struggling to fit in all of this “good” with my crazy, hectic, desperate, get-what-you-can-in-your-spare-time schedule.

So I created a mini diary/journal of simple and basic details of a healthy and smart lifestyle. I simplified being “healthy” for my life into a simple check list and I’m gonna stick to it.

A sample of a daily entry page from my "Life" notebook.

A sample page of my new healthy-life journal.

This easily makes me accountable for my behaviors everyday and the foods I eat. The key to this journal is to see what I actually do and inspire me to pay attention to those that I slack on.

Getting enough sleep, stretching, eating breakfast, taking vitamins, exercising, watching less TV, eating properly, avoiding smoking and drinking too frequently, and being financially aware are the key concepts in my life-organization project.

The food log helps hold me accountable for eating greasy foods and extra desserts. As I fill in the foods I eat daily, I number my fruits and vegetables in hope to eat 5 a day.

And on the back of each page I keep a to-do list, a list of the good things I accomplished, the things I may have forgotten or done badly and my overall new goals for the next day or week.

So far it’s working, but I’ll have to keep you posted. Consider what you need to be doing differently and try it out for yourself.

Posted by: Cari Crabtree | November 12, 2009

Already recycling? Get your friends to do it: good peer pressure.

It’s not always bad to use peer pressure, right? Right.

Today I’m removing a piece of tape on my recycling bin. I recycle. And everyone within close proximity to me or my house is made to recycle as well. So when I moved in with my good friend Erin last year and found out that she didn’t know the first thing about recycling, I decided that it was best to just make a super easy and clear guide for her so she could learn to recycle quickly.

A quick what-to-recycle guide for guests on my recycling bin.
I looked at the Baltimore County website for recycling and found their guide to what is recyclable. Then I made a short little guide on a piece of masking tape so that she could quickly glance and see if what she was about to toss out was recyclable or not.
My recyclable recepticle. It gets emptied more often than the trash can of the same size.
I got good results. And it also helped my non-recycling guests to recycle instead of tossing items into the garbage. I’m glad I can save bottles and cans from a sad trip to death at the landfill.

But now I’ve moved to a place with great single-streamed recycling (which means that almost everything can be recycled– even plastic forks and spoons, etc. all together in one bag) and I have a roommate that is as serious about recycling as I am and so I think it’s time to remove this sticker.

Oh, and you’d better be converting your friends and family to the recycling lifestyle. Find a way to make it easy or better for them. It’s your responsibility to spread the good.

Michael Franti & Spearhead have been on Ellen to perform “Say Hey (I love you),” a very catchy song from their newest album, All Rebel Rockers; it was the song used during the flashmob in the first episode of Weeds in Season 5. It’s an high-energy, positive and uplifting song and I expect that it will grow more and more popular, but most of their content has more serious social and political issues to discuss than this popular song may suggest. Michael Franti & Spearhead are a rock/rap/funk/folk/jazz/reggae group whose creator and lead vocalist Michael Franti is “an outspoken supporter for a wide spectrum of peace and social justice issues” according to his Wikipedia page.

I love them for a lot of reasons, but I’m blogging about them because the lyrical content and message of Michael Franti & Spearhead songs represent very serious aspects of social responsibility. The following is a great example of their message.

Song: The Future

Album: All Rebel Rockers

Lyrics:

They talk of the future like it’s already the past
They talk about the future like today will never last
They talk of the future while their diggin’ through your trash
Taxman come to remove your cash
They talk of the future like a criminal plans
Corporate robberies in far off lands
They tell you the future’s a big wonderland
and that homeland security’s got a career for you
Don’t you believe what they told you before
It’s the same frikin’ lies that they’ll tell you some more
They searchin’ your bag as you’re boarding the plane
and they telling your neighbors that you went insane
I wouldn’t believe that this was all coming true
If I could not see with my eyes that it’s true

Even still I hope the future gets here soon
Bring it on bring it on

The future’s comin’ on like a bomb
The whole worlds rockin’ and the beat goes on 2x
Ready or not we’re bringing it on
The whole world’s rockin’ and the beat goes on

They take all your privacy give it away
and for musical piracy lock you away
They tell you that war is a permanent thing
and American Idol kids really can sing
Potheads on a rescue mission,
put your cancer in remission
People starving, malnutrition
work your abs into condition

Oh no now they after your soul
and they’re telling you now that you’re losing control

well its true cause I just got sick of it all
they say the savior’s comin he’s down at the mall
He’s signing some autographs and selling them all
Pick up the phone now and make the call
I wouldn’t believe that this is all coming true
If I could not see with my eyes that it’s true

Even still I hope the future gets here soon
Bring it on bring it on

The future’s comin’ on like a bomb
The whole worlds rockin’ and the beat goes on 2x
Ready or not we’re bringing it on
The whole world’s rockin’ and the beat goes on

Stay for Tomorrow
Stay For Tomorrow
They talk of the future like today will never last
They talk of the future like it’s already the past
They talk of the future while their diggin’ through your trash
Taxman come to remove your cash

The future’s comin’ on like a bomb
The whole worlds rockin’ and the beat goes on
Ready or not we’re bringing it on
The whole world’s rockin’ and the beat goes on 2x

Stay for tomorrow
Stay for tomorrow

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