Green Daily

Megan of not martha broke a light bulb. No big deal, right? No big deal until she remembered it was a compact fluorescent bulb. Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) contain mercury. After taking a panic shower, she checked the internet for information about CFLs. Although research led to the conclusion a Hazmat team was not required, the EPA guidelines make one feel uneasy for the advised steps in reducing the danger of mercury exposure from what should be something as simple and innocuous as a light bulb. Ultimately, Megan questions the eco-friendliness of a CFL light bulb.

An American food and travel writer, a reformed consumer, now living a rural slow life in the south of France with her husband and daughter, Riana of These Days in French Life began living a slow year back in August 2007. The slow life and the green life have much in common. In How to Start a Slow Year, Riana writes,

"This slow year is just me learning how to get close to nature - mother earth - by not abusing her (not shopping and thus not throwing trash into her soil, not furthering farmers to destroy the land with pesticides, nor the unfair treatment of people all over this globe)."

In My Grocery List, Riana makes a list of a new way of getting food to the table and shopping for food. There are items like coffee and olive oil she is looking to barter for but still buys at the store. Fruit trees on government land are ripe for the picking. She keeps bags in the car for fortuitous fruit. While the sidebar of These Days in French Life features about 16 specific slow life posts, the entire blog reflects the slow life. Enjoy.