My Last Day at the Q

And so it's Christmas Eve...and my last day working at QVC. It's been real. I meant to bring a camera and take pictures and all, but I must've packed my camera already. Many thanks to all the incredible people who helped make my time here so enjoyable. I'll miss you guys, so stay in touch. You know where to find me. Until next time...

I Said What They Say -- Raise the Gas Tax

I like it when respected publications echo what I've been saying for months. Wired just wrote about how it's time to raise the gas tax. No kidding.

Of course, I still think we should take things a step further and tax carbon — otherwise, coal's huge contribution to climate change and air pollution will be left unaddressed. Driving electric cars that plug into a power grid that generates electricity by burning more than 1 trillion tons of coal a year is hardly an impressive step forward. The whole system has to change. Sensible incentives/disincentives (such as a higher gas tax) can help expedite the transition to a more sustainable American lifestyle. I'm all for it.

Stop Junk Mail with GreenDimes

There's a white, 13 gallon trash can standing opposite the P.O. boxes in my apartment building, and scrawled across the front in black marker are the words "Junk Mail". It's nearly always full.

When I enter the building, my routine goes something like this: (1) Open mailbox; (2) Pull out 10 envelopes & sort briefly; (3) Toss 9 envelopes in the white can. The waste is mindblowing. Nearly every day, people pay to send me dozens of sheets of printed paper in envelopes I never open. Nearly every day, I wish there was an easy way to tell them all to stop.

Well, there is. Enter GreenDimes.

GreenDimes is the leading junk mail reduction service. For $20 a year, they'll take you off unwanted direct marketing and catalog lists — and keep you off. They've been around for a couple years now, so they've got their gig down to a science. In 90 days, they say you'll see a 90% reduction in junk mail. Plus they'll plant five trees on your behalf. It's like an the National Do Not Call Registry for your beleaguered mailbox. Brilliant idea, eh?

In Memory of Our First Apartment

No, our beloved abode wasn't destroyed in a catastrophe. We're simply moving out, packing up all our stuff, and heading to Slovakia to work with Trans World Radio. And yes, for the record, we're excited. (Heather and I have a blog dedicated to our upcoming time in Slovakia — check out hmcolletto.blogspot.com to follow our adventures overseas.)

We moved all our furniture into storage last Saturday and have been camping on the floor for the last few nights. Finally we're more-or-less done with packing, and the apartment is clean and bare. Fortunately, as our days at Hollow Run drew rapidly to a close, Heather and I had the foresight to document our first married apartment for posterity...and you guys, I guess. Here are some pictures we took on Thanksgiving Day — before we started shoving everything in boxes.

If you're interested, click here for the full tour. Goodbye, Hollow Run! You've been great. Now, on to Slovakia...

Yahoo Answers Says Hamsters Can Fly

For a minute or two, Heather and I considered taking our hamster with us to Slovakia. We actually typed "can hamsters travel by air" and "hamsters international air travel" into Google. While we were scanning the results of our search I realized again that I'm really going to miss the little guy. Two potential adoptive parents have fallen through, and Pisco (pronounced "peas-co") has yet to find a new home. We leave the state in five days. Even if the little fellow could survive the stress of an international flight, I'd rather not try to smuggle a hamster through customs in Vienna. So, here goes:

WANTED: Loving home for an extraordinarily cute, super-low-maintenance male hamster. Call me.

It's Easy Being Green

I thought you might be interested to learn that Dr. Matthew Sleeth's daughter, Emma, wrote her own book about caring for planet earth...when she was just 15. A junior in high school, she felt compelled to share her passion for protecting the environment with her peers, so she wrote It's Easy Being Green: One Student's Guide to Serving God and Saving the Planet. I've only had the chance to read the first chapter, but if you're looking for the perspective of a very smart high school girl on the issue of environmentalism, check it out. For more information, visit her website.

Serve God, Save the Planet

After writing a series of posts on facing the energy crisis late this summer and some other reflections on environmentalism, I decided to pick up and read Serve God, Save the Planet by Matthew Sleeth, M.D.

I'd highly recommend it. Even if you don't care about serving God and think saving the planet is stupid, he makes a pretty convincing case for reconsidering some everyday lifestyle choices...a case made especially powerful in light of our ongoing economic collapse. If current events are any indication, our materialistic American lifestyle is entirely unsustainable.

I found an article in Advertising Age yesterday that touched on the same issue. The author writes:

Above all else, we'd do well to acknowledge that conspicuous consumption — which has fueled economic growth since World War II — is simply not a sustainable answer in a world in which we already have so many possessions...Here's 40-year ecologist and biologist David Suzuki in a recent interview with New Scientist on the subject: "The industrialized world has only 20% of Earth's population but uses more than 80% of the resources and produces more than 80% of the toxic waste. I asked a top ecologist at Harvard University how many humans Earth could sustainably support, and he said 200 million if you want to live like North Americans. When I say this, people get angry. They say the stores are filled with food, we're living longer than ever, we're better off. Well, the reason we have the illusion that everything is OK is because we're using up what our children and grandchildren should expect to inherit."

Even if you are among those who still want to write off experts such as Mr. Suzuki as melodramatic tree-huggers, you must surely look around and wonder whether the profligate ways that we go about clothing, feeding, sheltering and transporting this ever-growing population of ours can truly be sustained for much longer.

We Americans are conspicuous consumers, indeed. One way or another, it's clear something's gotta give. Dr. Sleeth, writing as both a successful medical professional and a concerned Christian citizen, cuts right to the heart of the matter and exposes our materialism for what it is: ugly, selfish, and ultimately harmful (physically and spiritually) to ourselves, our family, and our neighbors all around the world. But rather than leave you there feeling condemned and hopeless, he shows you a way forward — a way he's proven by example. He and his family have cut their monthly electrical bill to just $20.

You have to admit, simplicity has a certain appeal these days — even if only to save a buck. Whatever your motives, pick up a copy and read this book. You just might end up saving the world.

I'm Moving to Slovakia in 33 Days

Everything is about the change. Heather and I are moving to Bratislava, Slovakia on January 7, 2009 — just two days after we celebrate our 1st Anniversary.

After two great years as a Promotional Copywriter for multichannel retailer QVC, I'm taking a job as PR Strategist for the European branch of Trans World Radio. Heather interned with TWR in 2006, and will return to work for them as an Internal Communications Journalist. I'm excited to navigate new jobs in a new country together. OK, I'll confess: I'm a bit nervous, too. So far I know two words in Slovak: "hi" and "blanket". (Weird, I know.)

As you can imagine, this is shaping up to be quite the unusual holiday season. We're moving out of our beloved little apartment in West Chester the weekend before Christmas, packing most of our belongings in storage, and staying with my parents through Christmas day. Then, road trip! We'll stop in Ohio for a couple days to visit friends, then continue on our way to Omaha, NE. Heather's a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding on January 3, and we'll be staying with Heather's parents until we fly out of Omaha on January 7. Crazy!

In the meantime, our lives are largely consumed with to-do lists, boxes, and generalized frenzy. Still, we've been enjoying our first holidays as a married couple (today's our 11-month anniversary!). We're doing our best to keep our heads on straight and truly savor our last few weeks in PA. The future is loaded with an exciting blend of adventure and freak-out uncertainty, but with God to guide us and each other to lean on, I couldn't be more content. Bring it on.