Slate.com offers advice this week on how to be an environmentally sound pet owner. Check it out!
Easy Green Action: Caps Off September 8, 2008
I’m sure you are all recycling as much as possible. But as pointed out in Earth Talk at The Christian Science Monitor, HOW you recycle is important, too. Check the rules for your recycling center or curb-side recycling. For example, many of the caps on plastic bottles are not necessarily the same type of plastic as the bottle itself, and may lower the value of recycled plastic if not removed before processing. It only takes an extra few seconds to recycle right!
Easy (and fashionable) Green Action: Save a Frog August 12, 2008
Cool t-shirt art. Good cause. Good combination.
Are you a “whiner”? August 11, 2008
Complaints about high gas prices, complaints about projected home heating oil costs for the winter, complaints about traffic, complaints about air quality…there is a lot of complaining these days. Are you making any of these complaints?
When I find myself complaining about something, I give myself a little ‘whining’ time and then I ask myself what I am doing to change the situation. If I haven’t made some positive move towards fixing the problem, or at least dealing with the problem, then I stop allowing myself to complain. Frankly, I think the complaining time is up for a lot of Americans.
What truly constructive steps have you taken to reduce fuel prices? To promote encourage the government to act in a responsible way to deal with the matter? To reduce your own fuel use?
Have you acted only to save yourself money? Or have you tried to solve the problem on a larger scale?
For example, there is a lot of arm-waving by politicians at the moment that off-shore drilling will bring gas prices down. And yet, gas prices have actually fallen a bit without offshore drilling, lending credence to the critics of off-shore drilling who point out that off-shore drilling will not solve the problem. Have you researched what impact off-shore drilling might make? Have you communicated your opinion to your legistlator? These days, you can send an e-mail to your congressional representative in seconds. A phone call doesn’t take much time. A letter, not too much longer. Do you really not have those moments to act?
What about riding your bike to work? Or taking public transportation? I hear many people complain that they would ride their bike to work, except there are no bike lanes. Okay…have you talked to your city or town council? Encouraged your neighbors to do so, too? Raise your voice a little, invest a little bit of time, and let your support for bike lanes be known.
Look at your investment portfolio (I know, it can be painful these days). Are YOU investing at all in green energy, or is your portfolio heavy in ‘old-school’ energy companies? There are mutual funds that focus on clean energy and other green companies, but you can also buy individually. Put your money where your mouth is.
Your actions don’t have to be big, but they have to be actions. Wasting time complaining is not going to solve problems, and if you don’t make yourself part of the solution you aren’t likely to see the solution you would prefer (if that solution comes at all). Teaching your children about recycling, and helping them recycle, is an action. Using re-usable grocery sacks is an action. Calling your electric utility and requesting a free energy audit, then implementing at least the most affordable of their recommendations, is an action. Working with others in your community to plan bike lanes, or to carpool, or to plant trees along the road is an action. Investing in compact fluorescent bulbs is an action. Calling your legislator and demanding that they do their utmost to enact long-term, sensible solutions to our oil dependence is a solution. Even just educating yourself a bit on the issues, and passing on your knowledge to others, is action…ignorance in this case is not bliss. Try to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.
Easy Green Actions: Save Money! August 6, 2008
How convenient…if you just stop and think before you buy, you could save money and reduce your impact on the environment!
One key thing you can do for the environment is simply become a more conscientious consumer. One major factor in the use of so many natural resources by Americans (and others in developed nations) is that we use so much stuff. If a fire were racing towards your house and you had twenty minutes to pack one suitcase of your most treasured belongings, what would be in that suitcase? And now, look around your home. What else is there? How much of it do you really need and use?
Almost all of us have way more things than we need. Clothes…books…toys…knick-knacks…cleaning products…toiletries…sports memorabilia…garden tools… What are the costs? If we added up the cost of all the little used items plus the never used items in our homes, we would probably be appalled. Never mind the environmental costs. Each item needed materials and energy to make, and material to transport. If you stop and think about each and every item you buy, you will soon find that there are many things you can live without. You will find less clutter at home, and more money.
Do you really need a painted plastic mug to remember your trip to the beach? Take a picture instead.
Do you really need that new pair of shoes that only matches one or two outfits? Go home, figure out what other shoes you have to fill that role, and think before you buy.
Could you buy a used copy of that book instead of a new one? Or get the book at the library?
Do you really need a new sofa, or could you just re-upholster your old one? Does it just look used and old, or is there actually something structurally wrong with the sofa?
Do you need to buy an imported plastic toy for your co-worker’s baby shower? Could she benefit more from a gift-certificate for a meal delivery service, or a donation to a college fund for her soon-to-be born?
If you really need a new item, try to buy it with the least packaging, with organic or re-used components.
I am certainly not immune to dropping cash on new clothing styles, getting friends little trinkets I think they might like, and I’m a sucker for buying books. When I moved recently, I was actually embarassed to see how much I owned that I hadn’t used for years. I realize that it is not realistic for most of us to completely stop accumulating stuff. But, even just becoming more selective about that stuff can reduce energy and material use. Every little bit helps.
Easy green action: Ditch the bottled water July 28, 2008
I never have had a big problem with drinking tap water, so other than in preparation for hurricanes and occasionally when travelling, I don’t buy bottled water. I never even really understood the draw. Well, alright, a couple weeks ago I was in Stuttgart and accidentally ordered bottled water and to my surprise it was the best tasting water I have ever had…but when I looked at the price in the store, five dollars a liter, I quickly realized that was not typical bottled water. When not fumbling in a foreign language, though, I just fill a glass with water from the tap or fill a reusable water bottle. And while this might be due to laziness or cheapness on my part, it is the green thing to do.
The Pacific Institute estimates that in 2006:
- Producing the bottles for American consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation
- Bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide
- It took 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water
Plastic can be recycled, but recycling still uses more energy than simply buying one reusable bottle.
If you really can’t stand the taste of tap water, buy a filter. You can buy a filter that attaches directly to your sink spout, or you can get the kind that comes with a pitcher which can be kept in the fridge. Buy everyone in the family a reusable water bottle, buy a filter, and start saving your money…this is one of those green actions that will save you major money as well as reducing your carbon footprint.
Do Americans just complain about high gas prices, or actually change their behavior? July 24, 2008
I had dinner with a bunch of Europeans last night and the topic of conversation moved to high gas prices in the US. (I am in Europe at the moment, so my information sources are the same as theirs: the news). They all wondered what Americans are doing to reduce their use of petroleum, if they are so upset about the prices. Good question. The news coverage of the rise in gas prices has focused on a lot of complaining that Americans are doing, how people are perhaps driving in a slightly more conservative manner, and how airline prices have forced some people to change vacation plans. But there has not been news coverage, and I haven’t heard from my family and friends, that there is a concerted effort by people to reduce their demand for petroleum products in general and thus to do their part in bringing the prices down.
Basically, the view from across the pond here is that either Americans as a whole don’t understand that their gas for driving is not the only place they use petroleum, or Americans are lazy and want the government to magically lower oil prices without the citizens themselves having to change their behavior ONE BIT. Great choice, America: you can either be seen as ignorant, or lazy. Although the problem of thoughtless energy and product consumption is general to developed nations and the wealthy (and, yes, even the poor in America are wealthy compared to the poor in other nations), Americans epitomize the wastefulness that has led to the current oil consumption problem. People here in Europe cannot understand how Americans can complain about their gas prices and demand that more drilling occur for more oil, without making simple, logical changes to their behavior.
If Americans were serious about getting gas prices down, they would not just complain at the pump and change their driving habits a bit. Here would be some actions that would indicate a true desire for change. First, buy local food. If you at the supermarket buy grapes from Chile, don’t think that those grapes came to the store by foot or by bike. Or even by sailboat. A LOT of fuel was used to get those grapes to the store. If you buy something from a farm within 100 miles of where you live, the transport involved and thus the fuel consumed is obviously smaller. Look not just at the prices of foods you buy, but where they came from. Second, stop using bottled water. Bottled water, which is rarely anything more than tap water anyway, is a petroleum guzzler in two ways. First, plastic bottles are made from petroleum. Second, a lot of fuel is burned in the production of the bottles and in moving full bottles of tap water from the factory to the marketplace. Buy a filter and a refillable water bottle, encourage everyone you know to do the same, and you’ll save a lot of wasted energy right there. Third, think about what you buy and use. Recycled products conserve not just material, but a lot of water and energy in their reuse. Use recycled products. Recycle the products you use. Buy products with reduced packaging, don’t put your shopping in plastic bags. Buy an electric lawn trimmer or leaf blower rather than a gas-powered one. If something says ‘Made In China’ that means that it had to be transported to you from China. If you buy something online, select ground transportation. Go paperless–receive and pay your bills online, reducing paper consumption and fuel consumption in carrying all that mail around.
You can make a difference at work, too. Encourage your company to buy recycled paper, to recycle paper along with plastic, aluminum, and anything else that can be recovered. Reduce your company’s fuel use, both direct and indirect, by having video-conferences rather than face-to-face meetings when possible, reducing use of overnight express mail, and looking for ways to fit a reduction of petroleum use into your business plan. Encourage your company to subsidize or reward car-pooling and public transportation use by employees. And if you work somewhere that gets its electricity from oil (very few places do these days, but check) then for God’s sake make people turn out the lights and office equipment at the end of the day.
From a distance, if Americans can’t even make little changes in their behavior that demonstrate their desire to see lower fuel prices, then they are lazy. It takes no effort for us Americans to sit back while the oil companies get permission to drill more oil in the hope that it might eventually lower gas prices. It takes no effort for us Americans to sit back while the President pleads with the Middle East to release more oil. It takes a little effort to change driving habits and auto usage to save money at the pump, but only because it is a direct and obvious place that the rise in petroleum prices is seen. I have seen no evidence that Americans are changing their habits on any of the ‘indirect’ petroleum uses. So, people, show a little initiative and demonstrate changes in behavior, rather than just demanding changes in policy.
Easy Green Actions: Buy “Green” Paper July 21, 2008
One fairly easy change to make in your daily life, which will save a few trees and reduce pollution, is to buy recycled paper products and unbleached, undyed paper products. In buying recycled paper, you are reducing water use, energy use, and air pollution, and you help insure that recycling practices continue (and, hopefully, increase) by supporting the market for recycled products. If there aren’t recycled paper options for items, at least opt for the unbleached paper (you’ll see this, for example, with coffee filters). When paper is bleached, this increases the amount of pollution coming from the paper plant and also uses more energy in production.
If you are really concerned about your paper consumption, then check out Current Configuration, where you will learn the “green” way to hang your toilet paper (your recycled, unbleached toilet paper, right?).
Little steps still get you someplace… July 14, 2008
Good little story out of Seattle, about a non-profit group that encourages more walking and less driving on an individual and community level. Is there something like Feet First in your community?
Easy Green Action: Lose the Plastic Bag July 14, 2008
Ever have that annoying thing happen where you get halfway to the parking lot of the store and suddenly a plastic bag breaks and there you are, oh-so-dignified, chasing oranges under strangers’ cars, cramming bags of Doritos into your other shopping bags, and hoping no one notices that you purchased an US Weekly? Or you decide you can easily carry all 10 plastic bags of groceries inside in one trip, only to have last minute slippage as you cross the tile floor to the kitchen and lose a nice bottle of wine when a handle gives way? (I had that happen, the worst part was trying to keep my apparently alcoholic cat and dog from licking up the wine…)
There is a simple solution to this problem, that also conveniently reduces pollution and lessens our dependence on petroleum. Buy, steal, sew, or dig out of the closet some re-usable bags. (Okay, don’t steal.) They don’t have to be fashionable or color-cooridinated with your outfit or trendy; they are to replace ugly, unfashionable plastic bags, so really anything is an improvement. Now, use the darn things. Put them in the trunk of your car, in your pocket, in your purse, and use those bags when you go to the store. They are stronger than plastic bags (and even paper bags) that you get at the store. They create less waste. They reduce our dependence on petroleum products (used in the manufacture and the delivery of those plastic bags). They save the store money, which should translate into lower prices at the supermarket (if not, complain).
If you, like me, find store plastic bags to be the perfect thing for disposing of pet waste, then get a couple plastic bags on your trip to the store but mostly use re-usable bags. I’m doubting every single plastic bag you are now collecting goes to pet waste. You can also BUY smaller plastic bags that are perfectly sized for the pet waste job, thus wasting a little less plastic.
Sure, dragging around your re-usable bags might seem annoying at first. You might forget them a couple times at first. But honestly, I think you can handle it. In Europe, many stores charge you to get a plastic bag and everyone just brings their own–it is no big deal. (One town I lived in had a campaign called, ‘A plastic bag? No, thank you!’ to discourage plastic bags even at non-grocery retail shops.) Little effort on your part, big difference for the environment the more people participate.
