Earth day is next week, so I thought I'd go green today. It is sometimes hard to imagine that changing your behavior can change the world. I have always believed that in a world of things spiraling out of control, sometimes the only thing I have control of is my attitude. So, if I am the best person I can be, hopefully my neighbor will try to do the same. And my family. And my readers. And my friends....and then what do you know...all of the sudden we are a force to be reckoned with.
I suggest making small changes if you haven't already. It's hard to give up bottled water....but I can take 10 seconds to refill my bottle at night. My big "duh" is never remembering my shopping bag. I can change that, I just need to put forth more effort.
One of the biggest changes I have made in my consumer habits is how I read. I have an ebook reader. If I can get a book electronically, instead of paper printed, I do. At first, it was different. But I love it now.
What I am interested in are some relatively painless changes I can make. We've changed almost all our lightbulbs. As our appliances need replacing, we have chosen energy efficient models. We recycle (for the most part--we can do better). What else? What are some things you are doing that make you feel better about sustaining the planet? I've read suggestions on some sites....but I am interested in some "real life" experiences.
Oh, good topic!
ReplyDeleteWe bought those reusable grocery bags to start. We reuse those plastic bags we have to death, as well as sandwich bags (unless they get messy).
I reuse tea bags, too (basically, if stuff is reusable, we reuse it).
A lot of our focus is on conserving energy and water:
--We cut down on the amount of laundry we do. Obviously, undies and socks can only be worn once before needing to be laundered. But jeans can be worn a few times unless they get dirty, as can shirts. This has cut back on our water usage, which helps the environment AND our water bill.
--We cut back on the amount we water our lawn, as well--sure, it's nice to have a bright green lawn, but it's a pain to maintain, and it costs a lot in water usage.
--We take quick showers instead of baths (okay, not ALL the time, LOL), shut off light switches when we're not in a room, etc.
I'm really bad about taking quick showers. I do a lot of my plotting in the shower.
ReplyDeleteI have a canvas shopping bag, but I hardly ever remember to bring it. We've switched some of our bulbs over to the "good" kind. Our big thing is that we heat our pool and all of our hot water with solar. That's cut down on our electric use pretty substantially.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I have been looking for things to do outside with the kids and may take some bags to clean up the beach paths.
ReplyDeleteGreat weather for it, too.
LOVE the green text. :)
Great topic! I'm in gorgeous San Diego today and I'm as always reminded of why we need to protect natural beauty.
ReplyDeleteSolar power is very interesting. Hubby was looking at panels but holy cow, they are spendy.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI recycle my aluminum and plastic, and we switched our light to the new low energy fluorescent types.
I turn off lights in the room that we're not in, and last year I let part of our lawn go dry to save on water. All our appliances are the power saving verity, and I hang out clothes when the weather is nice or just hang some of my blouses on hangers and let them drip dry.
This year I have a gardening again, and I'm using a drip system so only the plant gets it and not everything else.
Janice~