Instantly Greener: Create No-Tech Zones in Your Home

I've been reading a lot recently about an increasingly common addiction called FOMO: "Fear Of Missing Out." These days, we are so wired into technology and social media that we often feel like there is something infinitely more exciting waiting for us inside our computer or mobile tech gadgets--so much so that we are missing out on the real-life people and events happening right in front of us. (Kids calling me upstairs? Just one more minute while I check Facebook...) The siren call of technology is a powerful seductress.

When I wrote my post called "Unplugging from Technology to Reconnect with Your Child", my friend Jess, a mother of two teens, wrote to me with some wise advice: "We have something called the 'Declaration of Non-Dependence on Technology' for our home. We have a 'phone zone' and everyone is supposed to leave their devices there, except to check them once in the afternoon and once in the evening. And no devices upstairs. It's not easy. It's not perfect. But, I feel like even TRYING is sending a better message." As parents, it's really up to us to set limits--and the earlier, the better. If our kids see us battling (and losing) the addiction to technology, how are they supposed to learn to think their own thoughts, unhampered by digital beeps and glowing screens? Do your children usually see you checking your iPhone or reading a book? Which activity would you rather see your kids doing on a regular basis?

My fellow eco-blogger Debi from Go Explore Nature wrote to me recently with this comment: "For quite a while now, I've been jealous of my son's passion for reading. How he can spend hours in his room devouring a good book, then gush about every detail to me later. And I asked myself, 'Why don't you do that?' So now I'm promising to turn off the junk TV now and again (I do love my bad TV) and get back to reading. I do love getting lost in a good book."

Do you ever complain that you don't have time anymore to read a good book? As Debi pointed out, sometimes it's just a matter of reorganizing your time and priorities--and that often includes turning off technology. Why don't you create a designated space in your home for curling up with a good book? I'm not suggesting that you buy anything new to make a cozy reading nook. Just find a comfy chair, a cozy throw, a good reading light, and a little table to set a cup of coffee or tea upon, and read the old-fashioned way--without a screen.

Please recommend the best book you've read lately (it doesn't have to be green!) in the Comments section below. I always love suggestions for my ever-growing stack of books! I'll go first: As usual, I'm concurrently reading a few books. I'm reading Walden (again); Jude the Obscure (because I go through these kicks of reading every book by a classic author--I finished reading Edith Wharton and Henry James and now I'm on a Thomas Hardy bender); and How to be a Domestic Goddess (because I'm an Anglophile and Nigella Lawson is both the wittiest and the coziest British writer I know--she's the only cookbook author I read purely for her prose). I'm also reading a couple of green books, but I'm saving those titles for future posts! Now, you...

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You should check out "Life at Home in the 21st Century" by Jeanne Arnold. I just got this from the library and it is fascinating. It's a bit like a text book, but it's shorter and just so interesting. I think you should read it and post a review on here!

Posted by: Janna | 04/03/2013 at 11:13 AM