My name is Kathryn Hannis.
I’m originally from Arizona in the United States and I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering there at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff in 2010. After that, I moved to The Hague, The Netherlands, in Europe to do a Master’s degree in Sustainable Energy Technology at the Technical University of Delft, which I completed in March of this year. Ever since I embarked on that first environmental degree back in 2006, I toyed with the idea of starting a blog or website compiling ideas of how to ‘be green’ as a student living in an apartment or a dorm on a limited income. It seemed only appropriate, given the subject of my study, that I start practicing sustainable living at home, as well. Naturally, putting solar panels on the roof or anything quite that extravagant was out of the picture, so it was time to do some research. And why not share that with the public? Well, it’s taken some time, but I’m finally getting started.
I was reminded of this idea recently when my mother suggested starting a blog as ‘something to do’ on the side, while looking for a job, to prove I wasn’t just sitting around on my hands all day. It wasn’t until she told me about her own recent personal experience that I really got around to it, however. She works as a typist, editing the format, among other things, of documents for an international organization. Recently, she received two separate documents which contained documents with tables detailing information for various countries. One page for each country. The documents were over (or nearly) 100 pages, each. Which some clever formatting, my mother was able to fit the tables and data on to 10 pages or less, in both cases. In one print run, she would have saved the organization over 60,000 pages. That’s a small tree‘s worth (1). If they had gone with her edit. You see, they didn’t. Too difficult and/or too late to get permission. Next time, they said. Easier to ask forgiveness cut down one tree than to ask permission, apparently.
Well, that really set my blood boiling in impotent rage. They aren’t currently hiring a sustainability adviser at this organization, so what else could I do? Start this blog, finally, and help those who are willing to listen and want to start going green. Let’s go together, shall we?
Green Start 
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