TEN SIMPLE AND RELATIVELY EASY THINGS TO BE MORE ECO-FRIENDLY

I really believe that God calls us to be stewards of the earth.  It is an undisputable fact that the more than 6 billion human inhabitants of planet earth live in a finite ecosystem.  We can argue about whether or not we are reaching the threshold of what our finite ecosystem can sustainably support.  However, it seems that the current opinion is that we are approaching that threshold at a rapid rate. 

The list below is by no means exhaustive and Helene and I are always trying to find new ways to make improvements in our lives for how we can tread more lightly on the planet.  I would encourage anyone with more ideas to post them in a comment.

1)    If it is brown flush it down, if it is yellow let it mellow.

The largest use of water in homes comes from flushing. Baths and showers rank second. (Link Here)  If you are like me deciding not to flush when you pee can reduce your toilet-water consumption by 75 percent!

2)    Create some habits to thermostat maintenance.

Here are some suggestions that Helene and I have used to lower our utility bills and have less of an impact on the environment.  First, if both of you work away from home with similar hours, have the last one to leave turn the thermostat off; the first one home can turn it back on.  It means that the first hour or so after getting home is either a little too hot (summer) or too cold (winter), but it doesn’t last long and it’s worth the energy conserved.  If it is winter try lowering the temperature a couple of degrees—each decrease of one degree per eight hours can have a 1 percent decrease in your bill!  If it is summer go the other direction.  For further reading checkout this.

3)    Ride a bike or walk to work.

I must confess that I do not do this nearly enough, but Helene certainly does!  Look for a comment to this post soon from me with a rest-of-the-year commitment/goal for days ridden to work.  The energy savings here is a no-brainer, not to mention the thanks you will get from your heart.

4)    Use energy-efficient lightbulbs aka Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs).

It is quite astounding how much energy these light bulbs can save!  “If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes. That would prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of about 800,000 cars.”  (Link Here) Just to note: there are two types of energy-efficient lightbulbs and one of them gives out a very cold, white, hospital-like light but the other ones are very similar to “regular” lightbulbs.

5)    Bring your own re-usable bags to the grocery store when you shop.

We keep some in the kitchen, and in both of our cars to make sure we don’t forget.  In some locations, they now charge you for bags so there is the added incentive of saving money.

6)    Hang dry the laundry.

You don’t need a backyard with a clothesline for this.  I made a rack in the laundry room with some PVC pipes, and Helene used to just hang all her clothes on her shower curtain rod.  It saves money and energy and it makes your clothes last longer (ever wonder what all that dryer lint comes from?  It’s fabric from your clothes!)  Also, we wash all our clothes in cold water – once again saving money and energy.

7)    Use white vinegar as a fabric softener.

A big thanks to Brad and Ann Marie from AZ for this useful information!  Store bought fabric softeners can contain a lot of unfriendly environmental chemicals, for a list and there effects visit here.  White vinegar makes a great natural fabric softener and is cheaper than regular fabric softeners as well.   And, no it does not make your clothes smell like vinegar.

8)    Pack your lunch and use re-usable containers.

Packing your lunch saves on disposable food containers often used when you go out to buy some food (wrappers, Styrofoam containers, …)  You are keeping a lot of volume out of landfills by using re-usable containers and Ziploc bags. We love our Ziploc bag drying rack. You can get yours here.  This is definitely a practice that Helene is much better at than me.  I tend to eat at the cafeteria at work most days and I do use Styrofoam bowls and plates.  However, I now wash them off and have found that I can get about 5 uses out of each bowl and plate before it really needs to be thrown away.

9)    Skip the bottled water.

I love this quote from the late genius George Carlin, “Ever wonder about those people who spend $2 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backward”.  I have never been much of a water drinker myself, but I use to buy Gatorade by the case which is really no different with respect to created waste.  About a year ago I made a decision to buy Gatorade powder.  I now have packets that make a gallon at a time and I use the same container over and over.

10) Borrow Books from the Library

I must say that with respect to this I do not practice what I preach.  I frequently like to go back and look at books that I have read in the past.  Still, libraries are definitely underutilized.  I purchase most of my books through Amazon.com.  I recently began buying used books with Amazon partners and have been very pleased.  It is not the same as going to the library but is better and cheaper than buying new books.

If you are interested in further reading, I borrowed a few ideas from this useful site.