Four easy consumer decisions that will help our environment.
I resolve in 2011 that I will not stand in front of bulldozer in the middle of the Amazon, set my SUV on fire, or swear off electricity for the year; that would be extreme environmentalism and is not for me.
I will resolve to be an Ordinary Environmentalist and continue my simple environmental habits that reduce landfill waste, minimize fuel, electric, and water usage, and decrease my overall carbon footprint. Easy things like:
- Buying CFL light bulbs,
- Opening my south-facing curtains on sunny days when it is cold, and closing them when it is hot,
- Using cloth bags,
- Combining errands so I drive less,
- Reducing, reusing and recycling,
- Composting, etc.
Thinking about my 2011 resolutions, I have been wondering how I can continue to find ways to help the environment that do not take much time, are easy to incorporate into my daily life, and are repeatable. So, here is what I came up with… ummmm… hmmmm… yea, ahhh…. right, I’ll…. give me a minute here…
Yikes! Have I peaked as an ordinary environmentalist? Do I have to tip into the arena of an extreme environmentalist in order to continue to improve our collective lives through responsible, sustainable living? I do not have that much vacation time!!
With a little more thought, I did come up with a way to continue to tweak my habits as an ordinary environmentalist. It comes down to four decisions I will weigh as I make my purchasing decisions:
Decision #1: Bike More
It is the middle of a very cold winter and it is not an option for me to bike anywhere outside for the next 3-4 months, however once the snow melts, I will decide to use my bike to run my local errands to the bank, library, post office, office supply store, local volunteer meetings, etc. I will decide to incorporate this into my regular exercise by planning my errands around longer bike rides. More exercise is good, and hey, it will save a bit of wear and tear on my car, and reduce vehicle emissions by driving 50-100 miles less per month. I may even reduce impulse buys because I will not have room to carry them on my bike!
Decision #2: Buy Local
I will decide to buy as many products as I reasonably can that are made or grown within 150 miles of my house, and I will shop at local stores when possible. This will support the local economy, reduce fuel and emissions from long distant trucking, and help me to bike more. I will go to the summer farmer’s market for fresh produce and meat, and look for locally grown items like honey and grass-fed beef in the grocery store. I will also first try and find items at local boutiques and galleries, which often feature unique products that support local artists, before heading to the big box stores and malls.
Decision #3: Buy Sustainable Products and Packaging
When I am in the store, I will decide to look for and purchase sustainably made products, that use recycled and/or sustainable materials, and are also recyclable. This will help close the recycling loop and reward companies that support sustainability. I can for example use laundry detergent that comes in a box that uses recycled paper, and I can toss the packing in my recycle bin when I am done with it.
Decision #4: Buy Plant-Based Products.
As I shop for new household cleaning and beauty products, I will decide to try products that use plant-based/natural ingredients. Plant-based solutions are biodegradable, less likely to cause skin and airway irritations and they are sustainable. This will take a little more time up-front understanding the ingredients list, however once I find products that work for me, it will be simple to continue to purchase them.
No, I am not going to protest deforestation by living in a tree, chase down whaling boats in the arctic seas, or reduce my possessions down to 150 items. I will however I will use these four decisions as a guideline for 2011 to help positively affect the environment.
Best wishes to all Ordinary Environmentalists for a happy and healthy 2011!
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Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Seven Habits of an Ordinary Environmentalist
Non-environmental reasons to change your environmental habits.
Let’s face it… most of us want to do the right things to protect our environment, but it requires that we change some of our ingrained habits. A habit is an acquired behavior and usually develops because the rewards of that behavior outweigh the consequences of not acting on it.
The rewards for good environmental habits are obvious – reduce carbon footprint, better health for the family, decrease landfill, and chemical waste, lessen our dependency on foreign oil, etc. These are all logical reasons to change our behavior; however, we all know that logic by itself rarely changes our actions. (How many of us know someone who smokes, knows how bad it is for them, understands they should quite, however continues to smoke)? Most often, there has to be other reasons such as feeling better about yourself, or saving time or money to change your habits.
I looked at the seven most important environmental habits I have developed and refined over the course of 2010 and realized that each one of them had very real benefits that did not have any logically environmental rationale.
Here is a quick rundown of my 2010 Seven Habits of an Ordinary Environmentalist.
Habit #1: Two Reasons for Every Trip
Always try to think of what errands you have to run that are on the way to or from your primary destination. Plan and schedule your time out in advance of every trip. If, for example, you are meeting a friend for lunch, stop and get your groceries on the way home. My grocery store is only 5 minutes away, but if I make that solo trip twice a week, it takes up 17 hours a year in driving time. Yes, it requires a bit of planning, but it will:
• reduce your carbon footprint,
• save on gas costs, and
• save you lots of time.
Habit # 2: Use Cloth Shopping Bags
“Oh I have those things but I always forget to take them into the store with me.” Sound familiar? Habits take time to develop. I purchased my first cloth grocery bag in 2006, and only remembered to take them along about 10% of the time. Four years later, I remember 95% of the time, and I love to use them because:
• It is environmentally smart: less plastic and paper in landfills, less carbon footprint from manufacturing and shipping, fewer trees cut down, etc., etc.
• It reduces clutter in the house from stored paper and plastic bags (really it does make a difference), and
• They have much better handles and are easier to carry then paper or plastic.
Habit #3: Line Dry Clothes
Right now, I have two feet of snow in my backyard and cannot dry my sheets and towels outside. I miss the habit of line drying my linens outside for a number of reasons:
• Less electricity used, saving money and reducing carbon footprint,
• Reduce wear and tear on my dryer,
• A break now and then to go outside in the fresh air and sunshine is good for me and,
• My sheets and towels smell amazing!
Habit #4: Compost
I started composting on a whim a few years ago, and today I am a bit upset because I can’t compost with two feet of snow blocking the door out to my compost bin. My whim developed into a composting habit because of the immense benefits I found with:
• Surprising less garbage sent to the landfill, and
• Fantastic mulch for my garden and potted plants.
Habit #5: Twice is Nice
I like a good challenge, and this habit of trying to look for a secondary use for packaging and other materials has stretched my imagination. This has been, in fact, my most difficult habit to develop, and the most interesting. I now seek out Styrofoam to replace some of the dirt and lighten up my big flowerpots, use plastic mushroom containers for little disposable paint containers and convert bread bags into pet pooper picker uppers. This is a good environmental habit because:
• Less landfill waste and contribution to floating plastic islands in the Pacific ocean,
• Save money by not purchasing plastic disposable food and other containers,
• Helps me think inventively.
Habit #6: Use Recycled Packaging
We all know about the reduce, reuse, recycle stream and there is one more thing you can do to really help; use recycled paper and packaging when possible. Make it a habit to check out those shampoo and cleaning bottles and see if they are made with recycled materials. The more we use recycled materials, the less new plastic and wood has to be used, which means:
• less landfill waste, less virgin wood use, and less dependency on oil,
• reduce demand for oil, which can reduce fuel prices,
• reward, through increased sales, the companies that are making a stand to protect our environment.
Habit #7: Something In, Something Out
A friend of mine gave me this tip a number of years ago as a philosophical way to help determine what ‘things’ are most important to me. The basic principal is that if you bring something into your house, like a new pair of shoes, something similar, like an old pair of shoes, has to leave your house. With this habit, you need to decide that what you want is better then what you have. This habit really helps:
• Reduce waste with less packaging from new products,
• Saves money on buying items you don’t really want,
• Eliminates clutter and things you don’t want in your house,
• Helps charities who need used clothes and household items,
• Philosophically helps you understand and prioritize what is really important to you.
These seven habits of an Ordinary Environmentalistreally benefit anyone who is interested in saving time or money, with the added benefit of making a difference in the future of our world.
Let’s face it… most of us want to do the right things to protect our environment, but it requires that we change some of our ingrained habits. A habit is an acquired behavior and usually develops because the rewards of that behavior outweigh the consequences of not acting on it.
The rewards for good environmental habits are obvious – reduce carbon footprint, better health for the family, decrease landfill, and chemical waste, lessen our dependency on foreign oil, etc. These are all logical reasons to change our behavior; however, we all know that logic by itself rarely changes our actions. (How many of us know someone who smokes, knows how bad it is for them, understands they should quite, however continues to smoke)? Most often, there has to be other reasons such as feeling better about yourself, or saving time or money to change your habits.
I looked at the seven most important environmental habits I have developed and refined over the course of 2010 and realized that each one of them had very real benefits that did not have any logically environmental rationale.
Here is a quick rundown of my 2010 Seven Habits of an Ordinary Environmentalist.
Habit #1: Two Reasons for Every Trip
Always try to think of what errands you have to run that are on the way to or from your primary destination. Plan and schedule your time out in advance of every trip. If, for example, you are meeting a friend for lunch, stop and get your groceries on the way home. My grocery store is only 5 minutes away, but if I make that solo trip twice a week, it takes up 17 hours a year in driving time. Yes, it requires a bit of planning, but it will:
• reduce your carbon footprint,
• save on gas costs, and
• save you lots of time.
Habit # 2: Use Cloth Shopping Bags
“Oh I have those things but I always forget to take them into the store with me.” Sound familiar? Habits take time to develop. I purchased my first cloth grocery bag in 2006, and only remembered to take them along about 10% of the time. Four years later, I remember 95% of the time, and I love to use them because:
• It is environmentally smart: less plastic and paper in landfills, less carbon footprint from manufacturing and shipping, fewer trees cut down, etc., etc.
• It reduces clutter in the house from stored paper and plastic bags (really it does make a difference), and
• They have much better handles and are easier to carry then paper or plastic.
Habit #3: Line Dry Clothes
Right now, I have two feet of snow in my backyard and cannot dry my sheets and towels outside. I miss the habit of line drying my linens outside for a number of reasons:
• Less electricity used, saving money and reducing carbon footprint,
• Reduce wear and tear on my dryer,
• A break now and then to go outside in the fresh air and sunshine is good for me and,
• My sheets and towels smell amazing!
Habit #4: Compost
I started composting on a whim a few years ago, and today I am a bit upset because I can’t compost with two feet of snow blocking the door out to my compost bin. My whim developed into a composting habit because of the immense benefits I found with:
• Surprising less garbage sent to the landfill, and
• Fantastic mulch for my garden and potted plants.
Habit #5: Twice is Nice
I like a good challenge, and this habit of trying to look for a secondary use for packaging and other materials has stretched my imagination. This has been, in fact, my most difficult habit to develop, and the most interesting. I now seek out Styrofoam to replace some of the dirt and lighten up my big flowerpots, use plastic mushroom containers for little disposable paint containers and convert bread bags into pet pooper picker uppers. This is a good environmental habit because:
• Less landfill waste and contribution to floating plastic islands in the Pacific ocean,
• Save money by not purchasing plastic disposable food and other containers,
• Helps me think inventively.
Habit #6: Use Recycled Packaging
We all know about the reduce, reuse, recycle stream and there is one more thing you can do to really help; use recycled paper and packaging when possible. Make it a habit to check out those shampoo and cleaning bottles and see if they are made with recycled materials. The more we use recycled materials, the less new plastic and wood has to be used, which means:
• less landfill waste, less virgin wood use, and less dependency on oil,
• reduce demand for oil, which can reduce fuel prices,
• reward, through increased sales, the companies that are making a stand to protect our environment.
Habit #7: Something In, Something Out
A friend of mine gave me this tip a number of years ago as a philosophical way to help determine what ‘things’ are most important to me. The basic principal is that if you bring something into your house, like a new pair of shoes, something similar, like an old pair of shoes, has to leave your house. With this habit, you need to decide that what you want is better then what you have. This habit really helps:
• Reduce waste with less packaging from new products,
• Saves money on buying items you don’t really want,
• Eliminates clutter and things you don’t want in your house,
• Helps charities who need used clothes and household items,
• Philosophically helps you understand and prioritize what is really important to you.
These seven habits of an Ordinary Environmentalistreally benefit anyone who is interested in saving time or money, with the added benefit of making a difference in the future of our world.
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