1. Ditch the car. I know a guy who drives a couple blocks from his condo to the bars. It’s one of those things that gets under my skin and makes me go crazy. The single best thing you can do to help the environment is to not own a car. Instead of driving, you can walk (gasp!), ride the bus, or carpool and carshare.

At my last job, I rode the bus to work every day. Now, my workplace is only a three minute walk away (the coffee shop and my cubicle both), and I actually miss the bus. There’s something relaxing in having someone else serve you, drive you, and being able to people watch, look out the window, read, listen to music. It’s a good way to start the day.

2. Live in a trendy location. If you live downtown, you’re probably doing this already. Living downtown in a city usually means that you are living in a small footprint . My apartment is 450 square feet and my new condo is 650 square feet. A trendy location is also close to farmers markets, the grocery store, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, parks, bookstores, libraries, fitness clubs, and shopping! I.e., the places that have a good walkabilty score. My walk score is 97 out of 100. That’s good for your health and good for the environment.

It’s easy not to own a car when you live in such a great location. It also means that you’ll always be only steps away from the best things happening on any given day. You will pay more in rent for living in such a location, but with no car costs (up keep, gas, insurance, parking costs, etc.), choosing the right neighborhood will ultimately be cheaper.

3. Eat yummy food. No chain restaurants. Keep it local. Avoid food that you don’t know where it came from. And for goodness sakes, please stop going to Starbucks. Here in Madison, there is a Starbucks on both ends of State St. It’s ridiculous. You probably live where you do for a reason. Why go somewhere that is the same everywhere across the world? Celebrate the uniqueness of where you live and who you are. Of course, even local restaurants don’t always have local food, but just try your best. When you eat food that is local, it tastes better and is better for you. And you shouldn’t settle for anything less to take care of your body.

Being good to the environment is not about living with less. It’s about living with more. Living better. It’s about quality over quantity. And it’s definitely the Modite way to go.

Greener pastures.

When I got home, however - poof! Everything was okay.

As if the city had enveloped me in between its two lakes and brought the east and west side together to meet, and there in the middle, I stood, a bright light shining like a fool, excited merely just to be home. If I were a pedestrian approaching, I would have crossed the street to avoid me. Definitely.

Back to normalcy, I now sit outside a coffee shop. The sun is shining and the sound of cars accelerating from the intersection is absorbed by the tall trees in front of the street. A bicycle’s gears coast down the sidewalk while flip flops playfully smack the pavement. I’ve pulled up my pant legs and the denim folds uncomfortably around my knees. A group of suits has moved their meeting to this coffee shop and the woman across from me acts as a mirror: laptop out, papers on the table, sunglasses propped atop her head. A few blocks away, State Street is alive with its teenagers shopping and homeless begging and street performers entertaining.

A breeze arrives on my back and spreads to my arms just when the sun is too warm. The breeze brings with it the freshness of the lakes and the aroma of sundrenched grass. I breathe in, deeply now, and I smell my lotion, with the unmistakable hint of sun block, and then slightly, delicately, the smell of fresh flowers. A bus squeaks to a stop and a motorcycle guzzles loudly past. There is a dog sprawled underneath a table with a man – a musician? – who writes on one slice of yellow notebook paper with two glasses of water sitting next to him.

This is Madison and it’s the city that I love. And I sit here and wonder how I could consider leaving something I love.

Madison defines who I am. I live here because it shows me where I was, who I am, and where I will go. There is much discussion on the influence of Generation Y and Generation X on the workforce, but attention is increasingly being shined on the power of place. Two-thirds of college-educated young adults 25-34, in fact, say they will pick a place to live first. Work comes second.

Certainly for me, place has become the nascent factor over other odds such as timing, stress, and responsibility. As careers take a back seat to relationships, and as it becomes easier to connect with those we care about, it is place that drives our decisions.

You’ve chosen your place to live for a multitude of good reasons. Your city is working really hard to keep you there. Now, why do you live there in the first place? How did you choose? Do you put place before work? Relationships? What are you going to do to give back? How can you, or do you, contribute to your city? Who or what keeps you there?

Let me know your ideas in the comments!

Keeping it in the ‘hood.