Moving Green

SEATTLE, WASH. -- As many of you know, SKBK is nothing if not an advocate for green and socially-conscious living, to the point of guilt-tripping the rest of us into toting around reusable coffee mugs and powering our hybrid hairdryers with soy-based fuel cell proteins (animal cruelty and chlorofluorocarbon-free). But of course we all know now that she's way ahead of her time, and I've been trying to put together as "green" a move to Amherst as I can.

What's in a green move? Boxes from Usedcardboardboxes.com, who delivered clean boxes that have only been used once (by weird pharmaceutical companies, it seems) for half the price of new boxes. For packing material, I'm putting to good use all the old cable bills, medical documents, top-secret SJB personal files and canceled checks that I've amassed over the last few years-- all that shredded detritus will line the bottoms of my used cardboard boxes quite nicely. My old electronics -- including a prehistoric MP3 player that approximates the weight and look of a bright blue brick -- are headed to the Alameda County Computer Resource Center, where they'll either be fixed and reused or recycled. The junk that was left over after I made a haul to Goodwill went out on the curb, accompanied by a Craigslist posting ("Pile of free stuff") offering its whereabouts. Goodies like a broken director's chair, a 45 of "Smooth Criminal," a box fan, videotapes of Ken Burn's "Jazz" series and a random assortment of bookmarks were gone within the hour to loving new homes. And, instead of pouring the contents of my liquor cabinet down the drain, I'm drinking as many Long Island Iced Teas as possible in the coming days. Just trying to do my part!

Also, in accordance with the advice of SKBK's book, "Green Living," I have decided not to fall into the trap of the "disposable-pet syndrome" and I will be recycling my dog into smaller gremlin-like furry animals that are easier to pack. I will name them EcoAddisons 1.1 through 1.14.