Quadsville

I never thought I’d be able to write this sentence: This year, I kept my New Year’s resolution.
It’s true! I did it. For 12 months straight. Every month, I made one change in my habits and routines that would make my life a little greener.
Here’s what I did:
January: I stopped buying bottled water. Even though I recycled the bottles, there’s lots of energy and petroleum used in creating them. I initially used a No. 7 plastic reusable sports bottle, but upgraded in June to a steel Klean Kanteen. Tap water from the Mississippi has kept me just as hydrated as any glacial spring.
February: I bought three big, green reusable shopping bags. I’m still educating baggers on how to load them up because they’re used to throwing three items in a plastic sack. But I see more and more people with these and more and more stores selling them for a dollar or two.
March: No more chemical cleaners. Vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, baking soda and salt now take care of all my household cleaning needs. And my 7-year-old can help.
April: I bought my first batch of compact fluorescent light bulbs and have been replacing my incandescent bulbs with them as they burn out.
May: I joined a CSA, Teresa’s Tasty Produce, in Atkinson, Ill. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. A half-share in the farm cost $180 and gave me about 20 weeks of farm-fresh, in-season produce. I always looked forward to Mondays during the growing season because that was the day I picked up my cooler of goodies from Steve and Teresa Krause at the Trinity farmers market in Bettendorf.
June: I bought a used bike from my neighbor and started riding to work. I love our trail system.
July: Leave it to NPR. I was listening to a feature on the carbon footprint of various foods and learned that eating meat for a year leaves a bigger environmental dent than driving a car for a year. I had been a vegetarian for more than five years in my early 20s, and I knew going back to a veg-head diet would force me to make better eating choices, too. This served the dual purpose of breaking my bacon addiction.
August: Instead of putting grapes and pretzels in plastic baggies and keeping a box of plastic forks in my desk, I bought some small storage containers and a Light My Fire Spork (what will the Scandinavians come up with next?) to green up my lunch experience.
September: I traveled solely on public transportation. OK, this was sort of cheating. I was in Vienna the entire month on a journalism fellowship, and trolleys, trains and my own two feet were my only options. 
October: My daughter turned 7, and we had her birthday party at the CSA farm (see May). The kids had a blast solving the corn maze, going on a hayrack ride and visiting the animals. The treats were homemade cupcakes and local cider. As a party favor, each child took home a pie pumpkin.
November: My coffee intake spiked with the cold weather. Usually, I brew my own. But there are days when meetings or whimsy take me to one of our local coffee shops. I’m now bringing along my travel mug for them to fill up instead of consuming another styrofoam cup.
December: The benefits of sending an electronic holiday card are many. Of course, you save the paper and postage used on standard greeting cards. You also spare your tongue the trauma of licking dozens of envelopes. And you can wait until Dec. 23 to send them out and include color photos or video and perhaps even the “Smurfs” theme song.
There you have it — my green 2008.
No resolutions necessary
The Roman god Janus, for whom our month of January is named, had two faces: One to see the future and one to see the past.
What are the five things you’ll remember most about 2008? What five things you are most looking forward to in 2009?
Comment here, e-mail me or post your list on your Quadsville blog. I will share some of them in the pages of the Quad-City Times after the New Year’s confetti has been cleared.