Cold is the new hot: One blogger makes every day National Sweater Day

By Trish Snyder
Every night I perform a ritual that started when I was in grade school by setting out my clothes for the next morning. At this time of the year, I organize quite a hefty stack:
1 set of unmentionables
1 pair of long johns
1 pair of jeans
1 camisole
1 long sleeved cotton shirt
1 thick turtleneck
1 bulky wool sweater
1 fleece pullover (optional)
1 pair of slippers with thick rubber soles
1 pair of merino wool socks
1 wool scarf (optional)

Photo credit: Morgan Harris, Trish’s 9-year-old daughter.

Lemme guess what you’re thinking: maybe I’m a lumberjack or someone who works 12-hour shifts outdoors on film sets? The truth is I run my own business as an editor/writer, which means most days I don’t leave my Toronto home. But I pile on a whack of layers to cope with my preferred office heating policy: when I’m at home alone, the furnace stays off. For me, every day is Sweater Day.
It started a few years ago when I returned to freelancing after leaving an editing job. Our thermostat had been programmed to fall to 16C after everyone left for work and school, and rise to 20C when we arrived home for the evening. That first morning of freelancing I was plugging away in my basement office when I felt a chill. I hustled up to the main-floor thermostat: by mid-morning it had slipped to 17.5C; likely a few degrees cooler in our how-very-Canadian uninsulated basement.
With less effort than it takes to dial a phone, I could have nudged that furnace to life and bumped up the temperature to a more civilized 20C. I admit I considered it: no matter what I wear, I’m chronically cold. I hate being chronically cold. Don’t I deserve to earn a living without my lips turning blue?
But then my green voice spoke up — the part of me that cycles year-round, orders organics from local farms, pays a premium for green energy from Bullfrog, and researched every element of our eco-chic kitchen renovation. My treehugger side wondered why I would heat every inch of our 1,100 square foot home when I was occupying less than 100? After all, I always remind the kids not to leave lights burning in empty rooms. I pulled on another sweater and brewed a pot of mint tea.
The kids think I’m nuts. I prefer passionate and optimistic, but the truth is I’d never force them to follow my extreme example. I just hope to show them that life is a series of choices, and every action we take has consequences for the earth. I simply wish to make more good choices than bad ones.
Some days, when the temperature hits 16C, and four layers and a blanket aren’t enough to stop my teeth from chattering at the keyboard, I cave and switch on a small electric heater for 10 minutes while I make chai and fret about the water footprint of my tea habit. Oh well, at least I’m boiling water on an energy-smart induction range.
 
Trish Snyder is executive editor of EcoLiving, a magazine and website produced byGreen Living and Scotiabank to help Canadians make green choices on home improvement projects. Someday she will insulate her chilly basement.