Recently I read the book Not Buying It about a husband and wife who for a year decide to only buy essential items. They do this not so much in an effort to save money but to see what life is like when we consume less and live more. I don’t know the book has completely curbed my shop-o-holic tendencies, it has however really made me analyze the *footprint* we leave on this earth. I measure a good book by whether or not it left me thinking, whether I learned something, or if I think I am a better person by having read it. In this manner of thinking I think that Not Buying It was and is a great book!
For most of my long runs this summer my alarm has been going off at 4:50am. I used to dread waking up early for long runs but now I really enjoy it. I look forward to the silence the world has to offer so early in the morning. Its the only time during the day that it’s just me. No kids screaming my name, no dogs barking to get out, no phones ringing, or computers lit up. I love the darkness but also try to stick to well lit streets for safety reasons.
Here is where the book and my running converge. As I was running yesterday morning the light of the streetlamps was lighting my path. There were alternating patches of well lit areas and extremely well lit areas. At 5:30 in the morning almost every single house I passed not only had a lamp next to their driveway that was on but their front porch lights on as well – sometimes a house might even have lights illuminating their front trees. I found myself wondering why people leave their lights on all night long?
I rarely if ever use our front porch light. Why pay to run a light that I am not using but for a moment when I’m putting the keys in the door. Yes it looks pretty having your house lit up but what if everyone just used the light from the street lamp posts and had a little light on their keychains. How much energy could we as a nation conserve by the one simple act of turning off our front porch lights every night when we went to sleep?!?!
I’m not an environmentalist. I hate bugs, I dislike camping. I don’t garden and certainly do not have a green thumb. I only started recently recycling and am sure I have a long way to go in that department. I’m not a tree hugger. I am however a runner. I care about the environment not for some distance future goal of keeping it nice for my children’s children – but because each and every morning I am out running in that environment. Running under the shade of trees – or lack thereof. Breathing in the clean or not so clean air. I care because I have become aware that the world I know can only stay beautiful if I help to keep it that way.
Runner, dreamer, marathoner x24, mommy of 3, Women's Running Magazine cover model, published writer, Saucony contributing blogger, running coach, and lover of all things running. I Run This Body. 
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on this and will probably end up reading the book. It sounds though provoking. Thanks for sharing!
Sounds like a great read. Like you, I gauge the success of a book or film by the impression it leaves on me. I read an article about a group of neighbors that did something similar…they actually had to submit requests to the "committee" if they wanted to buy something new! On the porch light comment, we leave our porch and garage lights on because doing so deters burglars. A dark entryway is a great place for criminals to lurk unseen. But we do use the energy-saving bulbs.