Do you know how big your carbon foot print is?
If you haven't heard the phrase "carbon footprint" by now, rest assured the idea is coming to a school, business or organization near you and very soon. Put simply your "carbon footprint" is a measure of your lifestyle's impact on our planet in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. Maybe it's best explained by real life contrasts.
A passenger cruise ship has a much larger carbon footprint than a small fishing boat. A sailboat may have almost no carbon footprint. A well insulated house, that requires less energy to heat and cool, has a smaller footprint than a non-insulated home that uses far more fossil fuel to heat and cool.
Being aware of your carbon footprint helps you do something important: consume less energy. And when you do this, you save yourself the direct costs of extra energy consumption, but also the indirect costs of high energy consumption--including potential damage to the planet your children will raise their children on. Put simply, living greenly is also living healthfully.
How do we begin? By making simple choices. We don’t want to overwhelm you with scary statistics or jargon that makes your head (and ours hurt). Being green can be fun. It feels good, and in most cases, it can save you money. Here are ten painless ways to get you going and –best of all- they’re all FREE!
10 Easy Ways to Live Greenly that Don’t Cost a Dime
1. Forego paper towels in public restrooms and opt for the warm air dryers. Yes, it may take a few more seconds, but while you’re rubbing your hands together to speed the process, use the time to imagine the beautiful trees that are still standing tall reaching for the sun. When you don’t use paper towels to dry your hands you cut down on the waste going into the trash bags that have to be removed and eventually chucked into a landfill.
2. Unplug your computer, printer, coffee maker, cell phone charger and any other appliance that is not being used. Even when turned off, a plugged-in appliance sucks energy. If you already have a clock in the kitchen, do you really need the coffeemaker clock to be “on” 24 hours a day too? Charging a cell phone only takes a couple of hours, so there’s no need to have it plugged in all night long. All these little things may seem minor, but if millions of us are doing them (or not doing them), they can really add up.
3. Use Green Maven (http://www.greenmaven.com/) for your next online search. Such a great idea, this little search engine “focuses on green, conscious, and sustainable websites.”
4. Be diligent about turning off unused lights. This is such a no-brainer, it seems silly to mention it, but when a friend reminded me recently, I realized how easy it is to get sloppy. It just takes a second to turn off that hall or entryway light when no one’s using it.
5. Paper or plastic? No and no. Bring reusable totes with you to the grocery store. We all have those gimme bags lying around gathering dust. Put them to good use. My local store was giving out cloth bags recently to encourage shoppers. My toddler and I walked over the next day toting our new cloth bag to buy ingredients for dinner. He was happy carrying the new bag, and I was happy knowing we were doing something to live a greener lifestyle.
6. Just say “No” when asked if you want a receipt for your next ATM transaction. Millions of these scraps of paper are generated everyday. Often forgotten anyway left flapping in the breeze, they eventually become litter in our neighborhoods.
7. Use newspaper to clean windows and mirrors. My mother’s been touting the fact that newspaper doesn’t leave streaks like paper towels for years. Now she gets credit for being smart, thrifty, and green.
8. Recycle cans, newspapers, and glass. If your community hasn’t started a recycling program yet, make some phone calls. In the meantime, get creative re-purposing your own stuff. Glass jars just like the ones pasta sauce come in are sold to store rice, chips, cookies, etc. Organize your pantry and save money and the earth all at the same time.
9. Keep your freezer full and if it’s not, fake it with milk jugs filled with water. By filling up the empty space, your freezer doesn’t have to work so hard every time the door is opened.
10. Give your mailbox a makeover. By calling 888-5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688) or going online to www.optoutprescreen.com, credit reporting agencies will remove your name from the pre-approved lists they provide to creditors that send offers for new credit cards. Whenever you find yourself receiving an unexpected or un-requested catalog, use the toll-free telephone number to have yourself taken off the mailing list.
