Going Green & Save
Our Planet
"Going green" doesn't have to be a
daunting task that means sweeping life changes. Simple things can make a
difference. The contents of this list might not be new, but they bear
repeating. Sometimes it takes a few reminders for things take root.
You've heard this one
before, but maybe you still do it. You'll conserve up to five gallons per day
if you stop. Daily savings in the U.S. alone could add up to 1.5 billion
gallons--more water than folks use in the Big Apple.
2. DIAPER WITH A CONSCIENCE
By the time a child is toilet trained, a parent will
change between 5,000 and 8,000 diapers, adding up to approximately 3.5 million
tons of waste in U.S. landfills each year. Whether you choose cloth or a more
environmentally-friendly disposable, you're making a choice that has a much
gentler impact on our planet.
3. USE COTTON SWABS
WITH A PAPERBOARD SPINDLE
Some brands of cotton
swabs have a paperboard spindle while others are made of plastic. If 10% of
U.S. households switched to a paperboard spindle, the petroleum energy saved
per year would be equivalent to over 150,000 gallons of gasoline.
4. KEEP YOUR FIREPLACE
DAMPER CLOSED
Keeping the damper open
(when you're not using your fireplace) is like keeping a 48-inch window wide
open during the winter; it allows warm air to go right up the chimney. This can
add up to hundreds of dollars each winter in energy loss.
Each year 15 billion
batteries produced and sold and most of them are disposable alkaline batteries.
Only a fraction of those are recycled. Buy a charger and a few sets of
rechargeable batteries. Although it requires an upfront investment, it is one
that should pay off in no time. And on Christmas morning when all the stores
are closed? You'll be fully stocked.
6. DON'T RINSE
Skip rinsing dishes before using your dishwasher and
save up to 20 gallons of water each load. Plus, you're saving time and the
energy used to heat the additional water.
If every household in the United State replaced one
regular lightbulb with one of those new compact fluorescent bulbs, the
pollution reduction would be equivalent to removing one million cars from the
road. Don't like the color of light? Use these bulbs for closets, laundry rooms
and other places where it won't irk you as much.
8. SHARE!
Take what you've learned,
and pass the knowledge on to others. If every person you know could take one
small step toward being greener, the collective effort could be phenomenal.
Get a clothesline or rack to dry your clothes by the
air. Your wardrobe will maintain color and fit, and you'll save money. Your
favorite t-shirt will last longer too.
10. TURN OFF COMPUTERS AT NIGHT
By turning off your computer instead of leaving it in
sleep mode, you can save 40 watt-hours per day. That adds up to 4 cents a day,
or $14 per year. If you don't want to wait for your computer to start up, set
it to turn on automatically a few minutes before you get to work, or boot up
while you're pouring your morning cup 'o joe.
One less meat-based meal a week helps the planet and
your diet. For example: It requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound
of beef. You will also also save some trees. For each hamburger that originated
from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest
have been destroyed.
Recycled glass reduces related air pollution by 20
percent and related water pollution by 50 percent. If it isn't recycled it can
take a million years to decompose.
13. TAKE A SHORTER SHOWER
Every two minutes you
save on your shower can conserve more than ten gallons of water. If everyone in
the country saved just one gallon from their daily shower, over the course of
the year it would equal twice the amount of freshwater withdrawn from the Great
Lakes every day.
14. ADJUST YOUR
THERMOSTAT
Adjust your thermostat
one degree higher in the summer and one degree cooler in the winter. Each
degree celsius less will save about 10% on your energy use! In addition, invest
in a programmable thermostat which allows you to regulate temperature based on
the times you are at home or away.
American businesses throw
away 21 million tons of paper every year, equal to 175 pounds per office
worker. For a quick and easy way to halve this, set your printer's default
option to print double-sided (duplex printing). And when you're finished with
your documents, don't forget to take them to the recycling bin.
16. USE ONE LESS PAPER
NAPKIN
During an average year,
an American uses approximately 2,200 napkins—around six each day. If everyone
in the U.S. used one less napkin a day, more than a billion pounds of napkins
could be saved from landfills each year.
You can reuse gift bags,
bows and event paper, but you can also make something unique by using old maps,
cloth or even newspaper. Flip a paper grocery bag inside out and give your
child stamps or markers to create their own wrapping paper that's
environmentally friendly and extra special for the recipient.
18. BAN BATHTIME!
Have a no-bath week, and
take showers instead. Baths require almost twice as much water. Not only will
you reduce water consumption, but the energy costs associated with heating the
water.
19. SHOWER WITH YOUR
PARTNER
Sneak in a shower with
your loved one to start the day with some zest that doesn't come in a bar. Not
only have you made a wise choice for the environment, but you may notice some
other added...um...benefits.
Nearly 90% of plastic
water bottles are not recycled, instead taking thousands of years to decompose.
Buy a reusable container and fill it with tap water, a great choice for the
environment, your wallet, and possibly your health. The EPA's standards for tap
water are more stringent than the FDA's standards for bottled water.
21. USE YOUR CRUISE
CONTROL
You paid for those extra
buttons in your car, so put them to work! When using cruise control your
vehicle could get up to 15% better mileage. Considering today's gasoline
prices, this is a boon not only for the environment but your budget as well.
22. PICNIC WITH A MARKER
Some time in between the
artichoke dip and the coleslaw, you lost track of your cup, and now there are a
sea of matching cups on the table, one of which might be yours. The next time
you picnic, set out permanent marker next to disposable dinnerware so guests
can mark their cup and everyone will only use one.
23. BUY LOCAL
Consider the amount of
pollution created to get your food from the farm to your table. Whenever
possible, buy from local farmers or farmers' markets, supporting your local
economy and reducing the amount of greenhouse gas created when products are
flown or trucked in.
It's good for the air,
the land, can shade your house and save on cooling (plant on the west side of
your home), and they can also improve the value of your property. Make it
meaningful for the whole family and plant a tree every year for each member.
25. INVEST IN YOUR OWN
COFFEE CUP
If you start every
morning with a steamy cup, a quick tabulation can show you that the waste is
piling up. Invest in a reusable cup, which not only cuts down on waste, but
keeps your beverage hot for a much longer time. Most coffee shops will happily
fill your own cup, and many even offer you a discount in exchange!
26. TURN OFF LIGHTS
Always turn off
incandescent bulbs when you leave a room. Fluorescent bulbs are more affected
by the number of times it is switched on and off, so turn them off when you
leave a room for 15 minutes or more. You'll save energy on the bulb itself, but
also on cooling costs, as lights contribute heat to a room.
27. SECOND-HAND DOESN'T
MEAN SECOND-BEST
Consider buying items
from a second-hand store. Toys, bicycles, roller blades, and other age and
size-specific items are quickly outgrown. Second hand stores often sell these
items in excellent condition since they are used for such a short period of
time, and will generally buy them back when you no longer need them.
The average cell phone
lasts around 18 months, which means 130 million phones will be retired each
year. If they go into landfills, the phones and their batteries introduce toxic
substances into our environment. There are plenty of reputable programs where
you can recycle your phone, many which benefit noble causes.
29. STOP PAPER BANK
STATEMENTS
Some banks will pay you a
dollar or donate money on your behalf when you cancel the monthly paper
statements you get in the mail. If every household took advantage of online
bank statements, the money saved could send more than seventeen thousand recent
high school graduates to a public university for a year.
Wire hangers are
generally made of steel, which is often not accepted by some recycling
programs. So what do you do with them? Most dry cleaners will accept them back
to reuse or recycle.
31. GREENER LAWN CARE
If you must water your
lawn, do it early in the morning before any moisture is lost to evaporation.
Have a few weeds? Spot treat them with vinegar. Not sure if you should rake?
Normal clippings act as a natural fertilizer, let them be. If you've waited too
long, rake by hand — it's excellent exercise.
32. BATCH ERRANDS
Feel like you spend your
whole week trying to catch up with the errands? Take a few moments once a week
to make a list of all the errands that need to get done, and see if you can
batch them into one trip. Not only will you be saving gasoline, but you might
find yourself with much better time-management skills.
See if you can work out
an arrangement with your employer that you work from home for some portion of
the week. Not only will you save money and gasoline, and you get to work in
your pajamas!
34. WASH IN COLD OR WARM
If all the households in the U.S. switched from hot-hot
cycle to warm-cold, we could save the energy comparable to 100,000 barrels of
oil a day. Only launder when you have a full load.
Twenty recycled aluminium
cans can be made with the energy it takes to manufacture one brand new one. Every
ton of glass recycled saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil needed
to make glass from virgin materials.
36. CUT DOWN ON JUNK MAIL
Feel like you need to
lose a few pounds? It might be your junk mail that's weighing you down. The
average American receives 40 pounds of junk mail each year, destroying 100
millions trees. There are many services that can help reduce the clutter in
your mailbox, saving trees and the precious space on your countertops.
Not only are you
extending the life of your vehicle, but you are creating less pollution and
saving gas. A properly maintained vehicle, clean air filters, and inflated
tires can greatly improve your vehicle's performance. And it might not hurt to
clean out the trunk—all that extra weight could be costing you at the pump.
38. GIVE IT AWAY
Before you throw
something away, think about if someone else might need it. Either donate to a charitable
organization or post it on a web site designed to connect people and things,
such as Freecycle.org.
39. FLY WITH AN E-TICKET
The cost of processing a
paper ticket is approximately $10, while processing an e-ticket costs only $1.
In the near future, e-tickets will be the only option, saving the airline
industry $3 billion a year. In addition to financial savings, the sheer amount
of paper eliminated by this process is commendable.
Most lighters are made
out of plastic and filled with butane fuel, both petroleum products. Since most
lighters are considered "disposable," over 1.5 billion end up in
landfills each year. When choosing matches, pick cardboard over wood. Wood
matches come from trees, whereas most cardboard matches are made from recycled
paper.
41. LET YOUR FINGERS DO
THE WALKING—ONLINE
Consider if you really
need a paper phone book. If not, call to stop phone book delivery and use an
online directory instead. Some estimate that telephone books make up almost ten
percent of waste at dump sites. And if you still receive the book, don't forget
to recycle your old volumes.
42. SKIP THE COFFEE
STIRRER
Each year, Americans
throw away 138 billion straws and stirrers. But skipping the stirrer doesn't
mean drinking your coffee black. Simply put your sugar and cream in first, and
then pour in the coffee, and it should be well mixed. Determined to stir? Break
off a piece of pasta from the cupboard. You can nibble after using it, compost,
or throw away with less guilt.
Professional car washes
are often more efficient with water consumption. If everyone in the U.S. who
washes their car themselves took just one visit to the car wash we could save
nearly 8.7 billion gallons of water.
44. FIND A BETTER WAY TO
BREAK THE ICE
When a big winter storm
heads our way, most of us use some sort of ice melter to treat steps and
sidewalks. While this makes the sidewalks safer for people, it may pose a
hazard for pets who might ingest these products. Rock salt and salt-based
ice-melting products can cause health problems as well as contaminate wells and
drinking water. Look for a pet-safe devicer, readily available in many stores.
Answering machines use energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And when they break, they're just one more thing that goes into the landfill. If all answering machines in U.S. homes were eventually replaced by voice mail services, the annual energy savings would total nearly two billion kilowatt-hours.
46. PLASTIC BAGS SUCK
Each year the U.S. uses
84 billion plastic bags, a significant portion of the 500 billion used
worldwide. They are not biodegradable, and are making their way into our
oceans, and subsequently, the food chain. Stronger, reusable bags are an
inexpensive and readily available option.
47. PAY BILLS ONLINE
By some estimates, if all
households in the U.S. paid their bills online and received electronic
statements instead of paper, we'd save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.2
billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion
pounds of solid waste.
Unless you are making bread or pastries of some sort,
don't pre-heat the oven. Just turn it on when you put the dish in. Also, when
checking on your food, look through the oven window instead of opening the
door.
49. RECYCLE NEWSPAPER
There are 63 million
newspapers printed each day in the U.S. Of these, 44 million, or about 69%, of
them will be thrown away. Recycling just the Sunday papers would save more than
half a million trees every week.
50. DOWNLOAD YOUR
SOFTWARE
Most software comes on a
compact disc, and more than thirty billion compact discs of all types are sold
annually. That's a huge amount of waste, not to mention the associated
packaging. Another bonus to downloading your software is that it's often
available for download at a later date when you upgrade to a new computer or
are attempting to recover from a crash.
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