OK, I want anyone who reads this to list 10 things that they have done to help the planet. You can borrow some of mine. They don't need to be big things, just show me and others (and yourself) that you are trying. Then borrow some of the others folks suggestions.
1. I hyper mile (I get 40 MPG in a car that should only get 30)
2. I insulated my garage door, cost me $20, cut my heating bill by about 5%.
3. I recycle like crazy. I used to have 2 bags of garbage and no blue box every week. Now I have two blue boxes, half a bag of garbage and a composter.
4. I turn down the thermostat in winter, turn up the thermostat in summer.
5. I walk to the store.
6. I disabled the heating element in my dishwasher.
7. I stopped using my electric toothbrush and razor.
8. I turn off lights religiously.
9. I don't water my grass or use fertilizers or weedkiller.
10. I try to convince people to do the same.
OK, now its your turn. I am hoping to get some good ideas generated.
Eyeteaguy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
12 comments:
Eyeteaguy,
Ooh, I like this. So much is a part of my life now, I'm not sure I can even think of what I do for the planet. I was one of those folks who jumped on "50 Simple Things You Can Do..." a zillion years ago when it came out. Let's see...
1. Definitely evangelize about the three Rs to other folks, especially my parents, who used to be very anti-Earth measures, but do much better nowadays. They were hard cases.
2. Reduce (most important to me, saves on the other steps), reuse, recycle, of course.
3. Instituted a companywide program back in the early 90s at a major home improvement chain I worked for, helped them put together educational materials and rah-rah posters, etc. Saved tons of $$ and the Earth. I loved that.
4. Use only reused bags I get from from stores for trash liners. Haven't bought a plastic bag in more than a decade.
5. Refuse bags at stores whenever the items I'm buying can fit in my purse or my hands, and put up a stink about taking plastic bags. "Oh! You don't have paper?" I figure eventually, enough people do that and someone gets the point.
6. I've blogged about Earth-friendly business practices a couple of times.
7. Turn off lights, turn off water while brushing teeth, take quicker showers, keep my tires inflated properly for best gas mileage... the usual suspects.
8. Reuse junk printouts for scratch paper or any non-client printing. I'm kinda nuts about that.
9. Um, I blog instead of becoming a wasteful, consumerist, paper-published author. Saves trees. Yeah, that's why I'm not on the New York Times Bestseller List right now. ;)
10. (Proudest) Taught my kid to be a mini-zealot from a wee age. Now she's a member of her school's recycling club, creating new ways for the school to go green and teaching kids and adults to jump on the bandwagon.
Regards,
Kelly
1. I walk everywhere or take public transit (don't even own a car)
2. I live in a multi-family dwelling.
3. I keep my thermostat around 65 and wear an extra sweater if I get cold, but it's usually not a problem in a multi-family dwelling.
4. I don't do air conditioning at home.
5. I'm a vegetarian and so is my child (100 bonus points)
6.All my lights have energy efficient bulbs and they're only on when I'm in the room.
7. I always bring my won canvas grocery bags - even when not just shopping for groceries.
8. I make our lunches and we bring them in re-usable containers.
9. I recycle religiously
10. We use flushable, organic cat litter.
11. All our soaps/detergents are eco-friendly
12. I buy recycled clothing and other goods and borrow books from the library instead of buying new.
13. I get on my high horse frequently on my blog and in real life about over-consumption, wasteful lifestyles, car-centered urban infrastructure and other stuff like that.
14. I could go on.
Have you taken the ecological footprint quiz? http://www.myfootprint.org/
1. I don't have KIDS.
This wasn't a deliberate choice to save the planet..it just turned out that way.
Does that count? :-)
- Friar
#1 The retrofit of the house opens windows to move air through the house and the electronic air filter, all the window positions create no need for air conditioning and keep the house at an even temperature. Saves lots of money and the environment.
#2. Windows have blinds that open or cover the windows as needed for heat retention or reflection.
#3. We compost
#4 we Mulch with weeds
#5 Office car gets phenomenal gas mileage and builds it's own energy on all the hills.
#6 We moved into downtown - 15 minutes from office
#7. We use our own bags at stores - all stores for 30 year and take mesh bags for veggies so we don't get plastic bag overload
#8 We recycle and divide garbage out. Our garbage can is extremely small and is usually 1/2 empty, because we try not to buy unnecessary things.
#9. We have all eco friendly light bulbs in our house
#10 We do not use our dryer - rather the clothes line, even in winter
#11. We have stopped all junk mail, we use the back side of paper used by the state and thrown away for our kids school work papers.
#12. We garden and are profoundly care full about who is on our payroll (hidden costs)
@ Friar
And 2-10 would be.....?
It counts. I am very glad you haven't contaminated the gene pool further ;)
But there is still time. You are a catch, just no one has found you yet. Trudeau and Scotty had kids in their 70's.
Of course living in Splatt Creek really make you odds SUCK! Move to BC, lotsa hot chicks who dig smart people there.
1. I also hyper mile my car, just like Eyeteaguy.
2. My file server is set to turn itself on and off during the hours when I typically need it. I could leave it off all the time, but it is usually uploading a torrent of the free operating system Ubuntu, which allows older computers to be reused and helps keep them out of the landfills. Ubuntu also allows people in less fortunate countries access to the internet, so they can learn - and knowledge is the key.
3. All of the other computers in the house are laptops (15 watts vs. about 75 watts for desktop).
4. I encourage other people to buy low power computers, such as laptops or mini-ITX machines.
5. Whenever I encounter a computer that has the dumb ass default power settings at work, I change them. Stupid IT department disagrees with me too because it "messes with their security rollouts". Bullshit.
6. I exercise at home, or outside. Sweating is good, m'kay? My weights are fully recyclable steel.
7. I use synthetic oil in my cars (fewer oil changes - less waste - recyclable oil).
8. I use an old fashioned safety razor like grandpa - blades are fully recyclable, unlike modern cartridge razors.
9. Duh. I work for a nookular company, we make energy that doesn't pollute anywhere near as much as anything else. And if anyone screams "nuclear waste is bad" - what you call nuclear waste still has about 94 percent of the available energy left in it, and we can burn it up - we just need to stop listening to the USA and their silly non-proliferation malarkey.
10. I make my kids run on treadmill generators and feed the electricity back into the grid.
:)
@Friar,
Whaddya mean not having kids will save the planet?
We can always use them as fuel for the nookular reactors!
Actually, besides using the blue-box, and turning down my heat when I'm not home...
I really don't do much.
I admit it.
- Friar
Yeah, but jokes aside Friar, you probably do have a pretty low footprint.
I'm sure that you could eat baby seals three times a day and still not cause as much damage to the Earth as we did with our disposable diapers.
Triplets poop a lot.
Are you part of the Red dot campaign? You could save lots of paper by refusing to accept anymore unaddressed admail.
Other things I do:
1.Recycle
2.Will start composting when all the snow melts
3.Take the bus to work
4.Don't eat meat
5.Use cloth bags
6.No longer buy water bottles
7.Turn off the lights when not in use
8.Open the blinds in the winter to warm up the room and close them in the summer to cool down the room.
9.Drink coffee from a stainless steel mug. (Rather than paper cup)
10.Poop and scoop
1. stopped using chemical shampoo and just use baking soda.
2. stopped using chemical conditioner and just use vinegar
3. carry my own shopping bags; not just for groceries, but all shopping
4. the Lion made interior storms for all the windows this winter
5. program the thermostat for a cooler house when we aren't home
6. high efficiency dishwasher, and always select the shortest cycle I can get away with
7. always select the right water level for the load of clothes I am washing
8. car pool to work with the Lion
9. recycle at home and at work
10. use reuasable containers for my lunches
Post a Comment