The Slate Green Challenge

In case you're not a regular Slate reader (I'm not, save for the ever repulsive "Dear Prudence" column), you might have missed the Slate/Treehugger.com Green Challenge. It's a series of weekly informational articles that educate participants about easy (and not so easy) ways to reduce carbon emissons. It's quick and informative! Take a look.

I am in a bit of a bind, though, because part of the challenge participation means "pledging" to make changes in your lifestyle that will help reduce carbon emissons, and a goodly chunk of the pledges don't apply to me. For example, I can't drive 25 fewer miles per week (I'm pretty sure you can't drive negative fifteen miles over any period of time). I can't promise to weatherize my windows to save on heating and cooling(I already don't climate control my apartment). And if next week's food-themed challenge asks me to reduce my meat consumption, I'll be hard pressed to comply. (I assume they'll also ask me to eat more locally-produced food, which I could definitely stand to do.)

But even this smug little environmentalist is learning some useful facts about how to cut back on carbon emissions (I now get to nag my boyfriend about regularly checking his tire pressure!), so someone less neurotic about conservation could probably learn a tip or two.