2007 Goals For Living Green

Here are the goals I’m setting for myself to work on this year to work toward greener living.  (I’ve chosen these from the book It’s Easy Being Green by Crissy Trask.)

• Use my printer’s sleep/stand-by mode.
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving.  Running the water continuously for just two minutes can waste three gallons of water!
• Buy a shower curtain that will far outlast cheap plastic ones; a shower curtain made of hemp will naturally resist mildew and is machine washable.
• Also, to avoid mildew in showers, stretch the curtain closed completely after a shower to eliminate folds where moisture cannot easily evaporate.
• For slow drains, instead of using Liquid Drain-O or other chemicals, pour half a cup of baking soda down the drain and follow it with half a cup of white vinegar.  Let it sit 20 minutes to a half an hour, then pour boiling water down the drain (about 2 Qt.).
• Save old, tattered towels and T-shirts for cleaning.  Cut them into squares and they become useful rags to replace store-bought rags and paper towels.
• Use oxygen- or hydrogen-based bleaches instead of chlorine bleach, which is very harmful when released into the environment.
• Use reusable and durable cleaning instruments such as cotton washrags and natural-bristle brushes instead of one-use wipes and cheap supermarket sponges.
• Reduce your risk of exposure to toxic chemicals by reading the packaging on products to find these statements: nontoxic, biodegradable, chlorine-free, phosphate-free, non-petroleum based, vegetable oil based, fragrance-free and no dyes.
• Make your own household cleaners.  This is a safer alternative to relying on harsh, toxic commercial products.  Effective cleaning products can be made with borax, washing soda, distilled white vinegar, baking soda, salt, club soda, cooking oil, and lemons.  On their own or combined together, you can make scouring powder, furniture polish, an all-purpose cleaner and more!
• Use better discretion to determine if something is truly dirty before adding it to your wash load.  Just because it’s been worn once, doesn’t mean it’s dirty.  This could cut your wash loads down by half!
• Wash loads in warm or cold water and you’ll use 80 to 85 % less energy compared to using hot water.  Only use hot water if you are washing out oily dirt or stains.
• Buy phosphate-free detergent.  Phosphates are the cause of oxygen depletion in water, leading to the loss of aquatic life.
• Your refrigerator should be set close to 37°F and your freezer set to 3°F to conserve energy.  Place a weather thermometer inside the compartment to check its temperature and adjust the dials until you achieve the desired temperatures.
• Switch to fluorescent bulbs in areas where extended lighting is required.  Though the initial price is higher than for incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lights produce four times as much light per watt, last up to ten times as long and therefore cost one-third as much to operate.
• Turn off exterior lights in the morning.  Better yet, use a timer or install motion detectors so the lights will only come on when they are needed.
• Set your thermostat no higher than 68°F in Winter.  This is a very comfortable temperature if you are dressed properly.  – I’ve been doing this already.  I have a programmable thermostat that is only at 68°F when I’m home and awake and the rest of the time, it’s set at 62°F.  So far, so good.
• Send the fronts of holiday greeting cards to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children.  The children in St. Jude’s care make and sell new cards from the old ones they receive.  Mail card fronts to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, 100 St. Jude’s Street, P.O. Box 60100, Boulder City, Nevada, 89006.
• Buy organic foods.  Organic farms use natural growing practices that promote sustainable agriculture and provide healthy alternatives to conventional crops grown with pesticides and genetically modified organisms.
• Seek out local farmers’ markets and buy locally grown, seasonal produce to cut down on environmental costs associated with transporting produce to your community from great distances.
• Eat less meat.  Reducing your meat consumption would reduce food-related land used and water pollution problems.
• Purchase a water-filtration system if you’re concerned about your drinking water, instead of relying on bottled water.
• Use a reusable hemp or gold coffee filter instead of paper coffee filters or make filterless coffee with a French press..
• Cook in bulk and store future meals in reusable containers.  This allows you to avoid takeout and all of its packaging.
• Compost scraps from your kitchen to produce a rich humus for your garden.
• Recycle rechargeable batteries that no longer hold a charge.  Find the nearest battery drop-off location by going to rbrc.org online or by calling 1-800-8-BATTERY.
• Staples will give you $3 for each of your old printer cartridges when you bring them back to their store.  Even the little bitty ones.
• When asked to chose between paper or plastic, say “neither”.  Buy durable, reusable cloth bags and take them on all of your shopping trips, not just to the grocery store.  Keep some in your car at all times.
• Put larger produce items like oranges and peppers directly into the grocery cart instead of using those small plastic bags that are provided.  As for the bags you do take, wash them out and take them back with you to reuse for as long as they last — store them in an old cereal box marked “Produce Bags”.
• Buy food packaged in paper, glass, aluminum, or steel as often as you can.  All of these containers are readily recyclable.  Avoid plastic:  only 3.9% of all post-consumer plastic is being recycled today.