1) Educate yourself, read blogs, research eco-issues that you are passionate about, write your own posts, and become a thoughtful and involved greenie who constantly spreads the word.
2) Break free of your old lifestyle habits, especially that little thing called excessive consumerism. The cure to our global clutter is definitely not another trip to the shopping mall.
3) Instead of buying it, make it. Enlist the help of friends and family -- make it a social event rather than a chore. Homemade items are always better than store-bought, plus they tend to last a lot longer.
4) Steer clear of fast food joints, which embody our country's excess, and try cooking at home more often.
5) Please stop wasting food. If you can't consume it in a timely manner, buy less, freeze your leftovers or give excess edibles to someone else who will really appreciate it.
6) Try being a veggie for a day...or once a week...or make it happen for a full year.
7) Resist the urge to chuck household objects. If you are prepared to part with a dust collector or two, place an ad on Craigslist or Freecycle...donate items to charitable organizations...ask a neighbor, friend or relative if they might use it...breathe new life into outdated items by putting a little upcycling twist on them. Someone out there happens to need precisely what it is that you don't want. Put feelers out and make their day.
8) You may think that your clothing is out of style, but it can still be a valuable resource. If you are crafty, upcycle your old threads...refashion them...create unique fashion accessories or household items. Some quick options: bring old duds to a consignment shop, donate them to local veterinarians and pet shelters, trade them with other fashionistas, cut them into household cleaning rags...the possibilities are almost endless.
9) Change your perspective of garbage. Throwing something away merely relocates it into someone else's backyard. Think carefully before you toss. Ask yourself, "Is there a way that I can turn this into a valuable resource?" and then make it happen.
10) Lay off of the gas and try biking or walking to town every so often instead.
11) Declare your home a chemical-free zone by cleaning with simple, pure ingredients such as good old fashioned vinegar, lay off of the candles and filter your air with houseplants!
12) Drink real water out of a real glass from a real faucet -- just filter it. Rinse and repeat.
13) Be vigiliant about recycling every last bit of material that can potentially take on a new life, including all paper, glass, plastic, scrap metal, cardboard, electronics, furniture, construction materials, etc.
14) Enroll in consumer-conscious programs spearheaded by TerraCycle, RecycleBank, NuRide, MyEex, Neighborhood Fruit, etc. which help the planet but in the process, also deliver a nice pat on the back for your super greenie efforts.
15) Perhaps the greatest thing that all of us can do as environmental stewards is to share what works in our own lives with others. So, the ball is in your court....would you please add to the list?
Posted by Diana Hickman - July 21, 2009 08:39 PM
Elizah, we hit the local farmers market, and we started to recycle our rain water. The rain water idea I got from this site. Can't remember where though. We have also started to look into composting. As soon as we decide what we will do, I will let the community know. Nice list, thank you for sharing!
Posted by Elizah Leigh - July 21, 2009 08:50 PM
Hi Diana -- I think that you got the rainwater harvesting idea after seeing this Greenwala video that shows how to make your own collection system: http://www.greenwala.com/community/videos/all/506-Rain-Water-Conservation-How-To-Make-Your-Own-Collection-System At least, I hope this helps!
Like you, I've also been contemplating composting...but it hasn't worked out for me as great as I wanted. I've been saving coffee grounds/filters, eggshells and banana peels throughout the months (indoors, mind you) for the day that I finally start digging a hole. Slight problem, though. I realized that my mysterious miniature black fly problem was stemming from all of those goodies rotting away in my gargantuan zip top bag. As you slowly but surely collect kitchen scraps in your house, I don't know how to prevent this from happening.
Posted by Surinder Saini - July 22, 2009 03:54 PM
Eliza, your ' 60 second cheat sheet ' is a great reminder to all of us about Going Green. With a bit of conscious effort and some common sense actions on our part, a 'green living' life style is indeed going to help reduce our carbon footprint impact. Excessive consumerism does add to the stresses on the environment. This temptation, needs to be curtailed along with other good points raised in your ' cheat sheet '. These actions would have a very positive impact upon the ecosystem.
Posted by Elizah Leigh - July 22, 2009 04:07 PM
Thanks Surinder -- the consumerism part of the formula never really clicked inside of my head until a few years ago. Prior to that, I was mall-crazy just like everyone else and then one day, I looked in my garage and wondered how I got all of that "stuff". I had boxes of junk that I hadn't even bothered to re-examine since I moved 8 years ago. (Note to self -- if you can live without stuff for 8 whole years, it's probably not essential.) Now, I'm just trying to streamline my life without being wasteful. I really believe that we can all figure out creative ways to get our surplus stuff into the hands of people who really need it -- this crop swap concept is a perfect example: http://www.greenwala.com/community/groups/all/122-Homegrown-I-feed-my-garden-and-my-garden-feeds-me/topics/513
Posted by Leslie C. - July 26, 2009 01:00 AM
Elizah - don't store that stuff in a ziploc bag - use a covered coffee can, or a plastic container and stick it in your freezer or fridge until you're ready to dump it outside. Why are you digging a hole? Just throw it somewhere in a corner and let it compost. BTW, some birds love eggshells, so you might just rinse those out and let them dry, then set then on a platform feeder or throw them on the ground where birds can see them.