Tiny Choices Survey: Carrie De!
By tinychoices | April 9, 2010
Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?
Carrie De
26 (Right? Ok, checked. I always answer this question wrong - seriously!)
Jersey City, NJ
I’m an environmental engineer. If I had to summarize, I’d say, “I clean groundwater.”
How do you reside (apartment or house, roommates)?
I’m in an apartment, with one roommate getting ready to go into the military in a couple weeks and one living on the couch in stand-by position for when the other is deployed. I long for a yard, so lately I’ve been looking at cottages, cabins and duplex apartments outside of a city.
Are your housing decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
A little of both, but mostly choice. Financially, I haven’t been able to live on my own in the city I’m currently in - if I lowered my standards, I could probably find an affordable place. I decided to live in close proximity to 24-hr mass transit to and from NYC (aka. the city). I’ve been there for four years, and drive 50 miles RT to work most days.
How do you travel (transit, car, etc)? Are your travel decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
I use the subway/PATH when going to/from the city - about once a week. I drive to work. I opted for a hatchback with ok mileage - my 2007 Matrix currently has no brake/accelerator issues and gets approximately 33 miles to the gallon. I can fit all the supplies I need in it. I drive an equal amount of traffic and highway miles.
About 2 weekends a month I drive 100 miles to family in CT. Every or week or so I put about 400 miles on my car for work other than commuting. I live in my car. I love my car. I LOVE TO DRIVE. Especially in the spring and fall.
I make completely unsustainable transportation choices, and this is the reason I’ve held off on answering this survey for the last year.
There, I said it. *gulp*
Tell us about a Tiny Choice you’ve made in your life.
Arguably not an insignificant choice, I made the decision to go into environmental engineering in 11th grade. I’ve worked in the field ever since, doing haz waste spill response on summers off, moving to environmental consulting after college. I used to think that this exempted me from other environmental choices (“I clean water, so I can use water”), but I’ve gotten pretty good at slapping myself upside the head when I have those thoughts. That logic is ridiculous, which I knew at the time, too. I’ve become much better at making the choices I think everyone should make - less water, reusable mugs, compost when you can, etc.
That didn’t answer your question. Woops.
What is the one environmental dilemma you personally struggle the most with?
Waste. I’m continually alarmed by the amount of stuff I throw out*. I have issues (personal, of course) with keeping things - a la “Ooo, that Japanese rice bowl is perfect for a Christmas gift (9 months from now)!” So, yes, I have stuff, but that’s not what I’m throwing out. It’s mostly paper goods, insurance mail (why do they refuse to go paperless?) and mandatory packaging; but also other miscellaneous “get this out of my apartment now” items.
*throw out = refuse + recycling
What is one Tiny Choice you can make in that direction?
I joined my local Freecycle yahoo group a few years ago, and I think I do pretty well utilizing it for reusable items. I started to reuse containers more (like food containers), which cuts down on a bit, but I feel like I need to figure out how to do more. (I saw someone the other day using bell jars for storing food other than canned goods. The thought never crossed my mind, but why not? I use them for drinking glasses, why not leftover lasagna? Perfect portion size!)
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you make that people question (in either a positive educational or a negative hassle way) you the most about?
The first thing that comes to mind is that I generally only have lights on in my apartment if I really need them. I light candles, and if the TV is on, that adds light. My roommates will come in and make fun of me for sitting in the dark, but really, if I don’t need the lights, why have them on?
It’s harder to see the dust with no lighting. : )
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you would like every single person to adopt?
Not every person can adopt this, but EVERY architect and builder can: Please, I beg of you, take into account natural lighting when designing houses! Even when the owner “thinks” they want to rely on electrical lighting. An obscure window size might cost more to outfit, but they’ll save in electrical bills down the road!
A new house in my family was built with plenty of windows, but overhangs that shield the window from the sun…I’m sad I didn’t pay attention more when it was being designed. Their electrical bill was astronomical the first month in the new house. Toldja so.
Do you feel like you make sacrifices for environmentalism? Please explain.
No, which means that either 1) the sacrifices have become a part of my life, or 2) I don’t make significant enough efforts. I think it’s a little of both, but still need to do more.
Are you generally: optimistic, pessimistic, neutral about environmentalism and the future?
I oscillate between these three options on a daily basis. Generally, I’m optimistic about today, neutral about tomorrow and pessimistic about the future of the human race - but I try not to think about that last one too much.
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