Can You Be A Little Greener?
Well, it’s not easy to live green all the time but it is easy to live a little greener. We are all racing around, busy with life and it can be daunting (and inconvenient) to live a totally green lifestyle.
That said, I’m challenging Patch readers to pledge to take one green action this week and stick to it. Here are my top 10 easy ways to green up your week. Feel free to comment - share your own tips, frustrations or successes on any green front!
- Actually bring in and use the reusable shopping bags at the grocery store. And the pharmacy, the mall, department store and farmers market.
- Keep the plastic baggies in your drawer at home. Pack lunches and snacks in reusable containers.
- Eat one plant-based meal this week. Or one additional if you’re already on this train.
- Walk or bike ride for your quick trip to the store, pharmacy, post office, library, etc.
- Recycle all your paper for one week – cracker/cereal boxes, random papers, flyers, circulars, junk mail – you know what to do.
- Avoid reaching for the disposable water bottle. Use your reusable water bottle every day.
- Switch off the power strip for your TV, computer, gaming devices when not in use. Or purchase a power strip, set it up and use it.
- Unplug cell phone chargers when not in use.
- Buy a curly bulb and replace an old bulb with one that is more energy efficient (and cost effective).
- Wash your clothes in cold water. Water heating consumes about 90% of the energy it takes to operate a clothes washer!
Thanks for reading and being a little greener.
“Action trumps everything” Len Schlesinger
I am not saying to ban them, but I don't care to use them.
I guess I'm not shocked at the people moaning about bulbs, I hope you all realize that George W Bush signed into law a ban on incandescent bulbs, only to have our last Congress overturn the ban during the great budget debate. As Republicans held out on the debt ceiling debate, resulting in our credit rating downgrade, when the final bill was worked out, the House defunded money to allow the phase out of these bulbs. You don't like the curly bulbs, get an led light. It is pure light. This idea that government should control the market place on environmental is just absurd. Especially in New Jersey. How many super fund sites exist because of this mentality... how many toxic rivers flow with chemicals because we let the marketplace just do what they wanted for their own profit. If you want government doing anything, it is protecting us from what will kill us or our children.
1. people who do not recycle 2. plastic frozen food containers 3. plastic grocery bags The answer is the same order I listed them. Now why aren't you carrying on about people who do not recycle? If you really really really are really concerned about future generations, why are you devoting your efforts to the smallest problem? Why are you wasting (no pun intended) your waste efforts on the least waste problem? I sometimes wonder is it just "trendy" to complain about plastic bags? And how much waste is being generated by people who renovate their kitchens and bathrooms every five to seven years by ripping everything out and replacing it? They try to justify their renovation because they used a recycled material somewhere. But that recycled something is such a small part of the job. It seems to me that we should look down at people with new kitchens and baths because they are wastefully filling up the landfills. Don’t you agree? The great thing about encouraging more people to recycle is you cut much more waste going into landfills or up in smoke. Maybe if the greeners went back to basics and encourage more people to recycle it could become trendy. How’s about that? I won’t say a word about you using dirty old bacteria filled cloth bags if you leave my plastic bags alone. Do we have a deal? Honestly, if plastic bags are banned in this state, I am going to stop recycling my waste.
I still feel that If a Republcian had banned incadesent bulbs,the conservative would have thought it was a good thing.As I said,eveyone I know started suing them when they came on the market,by choice.
And,what about the smaller plastic bags used in the store for produce.While it;s not problem buying a few apples or onions without a bag,loose mushrooms and such need to be in those bags.I bring them back to the store and place them in the bin provided.
You said nothing about trying to get more people to recycle other than that it is an idea among other ideas. I am so proud of you: you compost and all that. You are a far better recycler than I could ever dream to be. But still it seems to me it would far more effective to concentrate your efforts on encouraging people to recycle than to play this I am a much better recycler because I avoid plastic bags than you are game.
BTW, no need to worry about the rising seas because Mr. Obama promised at his capture of the Democratic nomination in 2008 election cycle that we would look back on that moment and tell our children that was the moment when the rising of the seas stopped and the world began to heal.
I love the story of the kindle. Even if Amazon wanted to build it here and manufacture the parts here, they couldn't google it. it is an amazing study with what is wrong with this nation.