Shouldn’t this color be more important to me?
There aren’t a lot of things I constantly think about that I need to change but this is one for sure. I do things right sometimes when it comes to this particular subject, but not all the time. I know it is important but it just isn’t convenient all of the time. I need to be much more consistent and have it be top of mind much more often. I am good when I am in the kitchen or the den but not really good when I am anywhere else in my house. I am pretty good when I am in the office on some things and others not so much.
What I am referring to is making green my favorite color, and thinking about green very often, and how I can help, do my part, and really care about what I do. And more importantly, I need to think about what I am not doing.
I need to speak with friends and see what they are doing. I need to Google the subject and seeing what we can do different in our house. I need to speak with Trish and make this a conscious effort for both of us to participate. We need to start teaching our kids now, so when they are really old enough to understand, they will.
Recycling is important and this needs to be a daily habit for me as well as other things that I can do to help be more green.
What about you?
What efforts do you do to be more green?
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 am
Change five light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs! Go to your garbage collectors website and see everything that they will take with your recycling, you will be surprised on how much can be recycled outside of the standard aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles and paper. Even your cardboard toilet paper and paper towel roles can be recycled as well as your empty aluminum pie plates!
Put a large bucket in your shower. use that water to water your indoor and outdoor plants, to wash your pets, and clean your car. If you do buy produce from the store make sure it is LOCALLY grown! I am a true believer in supporting the community, but on top of that, you are supporting less pollution because your products do not have to travel far and wide to get to you. Plan your cooking seasonally to your area and use as many local products as possible. Find out about your local farmers markets and support them! Plant your own garden! The less produce you buy from the grocery store the less gas is used to transport those products and your fresh vegetables with be free of pesticides and will make you proud! There are a couple of us at work that have gardens and we all planted different things so we can exchange produce!
These are just a couple of ways i have gone green. i hope it helps you do the same.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
I have been recycling cans and newspaper for many years, but just a few months ago it started bothering me the amount of trash our household is producing. So I contacted the city to find out exactly what I can and cannot recycle. Now I am recycling cereal boxes, cardboard boxes, milk jugs, other plastic containers and office paper. I literally ask myself every time I start to throw something out, “Can this be recycled?” I had to request a second recycling bin because one wasn’t enough. Then I also started thinking about other things I could do.
The containers need to be rinsed out before you recycle them, so when I rinse out my milk jug, instead of pouring that water down the drain, I use it to water my plants.
I started a vegetable garden (we’ll see how that goes, since I am not exactly a green thumb) and purchased a rain barrel so I do not have to use city water to water it.
For me, it helped to start with one thing until it became a habit, and then add something else until it also becomes a habit, and so on.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 am
In my house we have replaced our 3 outside bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. The 3 bulbs were 60 watts each and now we have 20 watts each. We still plan on replacing more. We recycle approximately 80-90% of our household garbage. My city accepts a lot of different items for recycling.
My house came with 2 regular thermostats (one upstairs and one down) that I replaced with programmable thermostats. We also open the windows when the weather permits and use ceiling fans.
So far the things we have done have been easily implemented and are now a part of our daily lifestyle. We are always looking for more things we can do that still fall within our budget. At this point even our 6 year old knows what stuff can be recycled and is more than eager to do it - train them young I say.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
We have been doing a lot of work in our yard lately and one of the things i’ve always wanted to do was an irrigation system which everyone knows is a key component to having a thick, lush, green lawn. Truth is, the irrigation system isn’t very green at all. So, come July, I’ll have to try and look at my brown grass a little differently
We’re also going to invest in a decent rainwater collection barrel for watering the plants…
Very interesting topic - thanks Merrill!
kath
May 27th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Living in California we are pretty green. Maybe because our air is green. We recycle at least 80 percent of our trash. We have only energy saving light bulbs. We walk whenever possible. And we don’t eat beef. Funny thing is that there was a recent article about beef and cheese and how consuming these products is so terribly ungreen.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I have lots of canvas totes (get one at almost every conference) so I keep half a dozen in the car to take in with me when I go shopping. Not just grocery shopping, but anything where someone is going to try and give me a bag. This is a NO COST action that everyone can do (and the canvas bags hold up better than the plastic)
There was something on TV a while back about hypermiling. I’m trying to do that whenever I have to drive.
- I like the idea of reusing the water that is used to rinse the recyclables
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I don’t drink bottled water unless I know I’ll be able to recycle the bottle. Throwing one in the trash feels the same as littering. I heard that only 30% of these bottles are recycled — such a shame! I use a good old fashioned water fountain if I really need water in a public place.
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Kelly,
Only 30% of bottled water are recycled. I never heard that statistic before that is eye opening for sure.
Thanks to someone on our team (SH) we have made it very easy to recycle cans as well as plastic bottles.
Thanks again for sharing.
Merrill