As a babysitter and one-house-a-week-cleaner, I spend a lot of time in the homes of other families. It sometimes frustrates me how little care people take to minimize their footprint on our environment. There seems to be an attitude of, “Too late to turn back now!” or “What difference does one person make?” or probably above all else: “I don’t have the time!” But that is so silly! We all have the ability to make a difference and our influence on others can expand that difference infinitely. So here’s some things I see, or things that my family does, that are simple ways to cut down on waste.
- Get a Brita filter (or similar product) and some Nalgene or Camelbak or Kleen Kanteens and use them. I tried to find some statistics on how much waste accumulates each year due to single-use plastic bottles but I didn’t find much, either way, it’s safe to say A LOT.
- Turn the lights off when you aren’t at the house. It amazes me to come into some homes where the lights are seemingly left on 24 hrs. a day.
- Save plastic bags instead of throwing them away. My family hangs a “bag of bags” on a chair in the kitchen and when it fills up, we throw it in the trunk. Once we have a couple we just take them down to Nobb Hill where there is a receptacle by the main doors (you don’t even have to go inside!). I know other stores have them too but I’m not sure which ones…
- Do big loads of laundry, fill the dishwasher all the way, take short showers, and turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
- AVOID CORPORATIONS LIKE THE PLAGUE THEY ARE. I can’t believe how many people flock straight into Togo’s/Quizno’s/Subway when Livermore boasts two superb delis: Tommy’s on 2nd Street and Cafe Pick Me Up on the corner of 4th and N. Livermore (Cafe Pick Me Up has the BEST salads). Another example is chain Mexican places like Baja Fresh. How about Los Caporales on First Street (right across from Panama Bay)? KILLER Mexican food, low prices and you’re actually supporting a family-owned restaurant.
- Have a separate paper recycling near your computer, cut up some of that paper instead of buying note pads.
- Pay your bills online, think of all the paper it saves!
- Ride your bike when you have the time, not only will you save gas, but you’ll also de-stress and burn a few calories!
- Shop at thrift stores! There’s no better feeling in the world than paying $3 for a pair of Gap jeans or $4 for a Tommy Hilfiger sweater.
- Put your possessions that you aren’t using back into the world. Native Americans call it a give-away. Don’t just dump your clothes off that are way out of style or stained. Give away some nice things, like that shirt you keep thinking you still like, but in all truth, you haven’t worn it all summer…put it back out into the world. This helps to break up stagnation in the flow of energy between you and the rest of the universe.
If you identify yourself as one of the guilty parties in the above 10 tips don’t worry about it. It’s no judgment on you and most of those things are things I’ve seen in more than one home. I just wanted to take the time to promote some environmentally conscious ways of living.
If you have other easy tips on green living, post below! I’m always up for integrating new solutions into my day-to-day.
Love and Blessings,
Katie
Pete Aarons said,
September 5, 2008 at 10:16 pm
This is a great list of things we can do to help the environment. Thank you so much for spreading awareness and giving solutions. If you’d like (and anyone else who comes across this page) you should check out the new reality tv show starring Ludacris and Tommy Lee on Discovery Channel’s Green Planet called “Battleground: Earth”.
They travel around the country battling each other to see who can come away the “greener” celebrity. Every episode showcases some kind of solution we can use to help the environment in fun ways. CHECK IT OUT! and keep up with these awesome awareness spreading articles!