Thanks for the great suggestions for greening up my life. Reading them made me think maybe I'm not as bad I as thought, since we already do most of the things you suggested. I thought I'd take stock of the situation by listing the things we already do that I consider environmentally friendly. Perhaps you'll notice oversights.
- I eat very little meat (~4-6 times per month). EGM eats more, but most of the food we eat at home (i.e. dinner) is meatless. Some of our staples are organic (cereal, granola bars, yogurt).
- We use cloth napkins instead of paper.
- We use very few paper towels.
- I carpool to work (which, admittedly, is too far away). EGM doesn't have a car, so he either gets a lift with me or takes public transit.
- With a few exceptions, we don't drive much other than going to work.
- We use reusable bags at the grocery store. Unless we forget, but then we use the plastic ones for trash bags and lunches.
- I almost always make my coffee at home and take it to work in a reusable travel cup. EGM drinks his at home in a ceramic cup.
- We use tupperware containers, not ziplock bags or foil.
- The appliances that we have plugged in are the refrigerator, microwave, coffeepot, toaster, t.v., VCR (I should get rid of this), DVD player, modem, wireless router, laptop, and 5 lamps. We also charge our phones and use the vacuum cleaner. In addition, there are 7 overhead lights in our apartment, 5 of which are frequently used. The point here is that I think we probably use less electricity than the average American household.
- Most of our light comes from CFLs, but there are a few lingering incandescent bulbs.
- We can't control our heat (from radiators) but we don't use air conditioning but for a window unit in our bedrooms about half a dozen times each summer. We do use lots of fans in summer.
- I try to avoid random chemicals unless I really want them. For instance, I don't dye my hair, paint my nails frequently, use air fresheners or candles (well, I light a candle on occasion) but I do use hair spray, perfumed lotions, and makeup.
- I only flush when I really need to. EGM hates that.
Ways in which I think we could improve:
- If I got one of those wheely carts, I could go grocery shopping without my car. I can easily walk to the grocery store, but currently I can't carry the goods home.
- Green cleaning products. But shouldn't I finish the stuff I have? Certainly it must be better to gradually pour the stuff down the drain by using it than to just discard it.
- Focus on local/in season food. We're not good about this at all, although we don't buy tons of highly processed or frozen food. We could certainly choose organic options more often, like milk (in a reusable glass bottle!), bread, peanut butter. Better yet, we could make some of our own foods, like bread and yogurt.
- Grow some of our own food. And use the farmers' market.
- EGM buys lunch, snacks, and coffee way, way more than I do. He could cut down on that.
- I could get a Diva Cup.
- Compost.
- Recycle!
I posted all this in part to encourage discussion and of course I'd love ideas. I think I should also review
Ruchi's archives for more ideas, although I can't say I'm prepared to give up toilet paper just yet. Plus I know I can find a world of eco from her blog.
10 comments:
I wish I could use the Diva cup. All the tampons and pads that goes to the trash..... makes me a bit sick. Unfortenately our restrooms at work do not have a sink next to the toilet but stalls.... I can not hve a cup and work in a microb lab without washing before and after....
anyway, I think you are doing a stellar job! You did not mention if you are recycling glass/batteries/papers?? THat is something I miss here in the south, compared to home. Although we do recycle glass bottles and aluminum can - as in no money but recycling comes once a wek to pick it up. Always something?!
good luck!
Our recycling sucks too, but I've found that there are people who routinely walk the alley looking for aluminum cans (beer & soda, not the canned food kind), so I've taken to putting those out separately in a bag for them where they can easily find it so they don't have to dig. The rest of our recycling accumulates until someone kindly takes us to drop it off in the their car.
I've had my Keeper (like DivaCup) for almost 9 years. It's great.
How much junk mail do you get? I've tried really, really hard (and unfortunately it does take a lot of effort) to keep our mail to a minimum because I hate seeing paper wasted in my name. Every time we move I have to list a different address with the Direct Marketing Association. Biggest culprit right now? National Wildlife Federation. I'm going to give them a piece of my mind very soon.
You can slowly transition to green cleaning products as you use up your other stuff. You can start buying the cleaning staples like white vinegar, borax, baking soda, and washing soda. Keep those spray bottles! It is so hard to find decent spray bottles. We have a bunch of crappy ones that hardly work.
If you want to start making your own bread, you can find used bread machines for $15-40 if you keep your eyes out. It does use some electricity but you'd probably use more energy baking it in the oven. I think making yogurt is worthwhile if you eat a lot of it, which I do.
Wow, that was a long comment! I look forward to reading about your greening!
Some great ideas EGF!
I have another tip: you can cut down on random chemicals by buying organic or natural cosmetics. I was looking for a new body lotion yesterday ans noticed my favourite drugstore now has an organic line in lotions, soaps and so on. I recentlyy started to notice that my deodorant is irritating my skin and now I am gradually changing to more natural prodicts, I feel it does make a difference!
I could get a Diva Cup.
That's the line where Dr. Isis says, "fuck the planet."
Sounds like you are already doing great!
I have been a bit scared of the diva cup, but have read enough independent sources saying that it's actually fine to be (very nearly almost) ready to try it myself.
Chall, most women only need to change the diva cup twice a day ... every twelve hours. So depending on how long you work, you might actually be fine without having to change it out in your work bathroom.
But, EGF, I think what you're doing is great, and frankly, in some areas I think you are doing way better than me, so I salute you. I seriously need to cut down on my meat intake. I did finish all my non-green cleaning products before I started to buy green. I'm not sure it's the right answer, but the frugal person in me couldn't just chuck the cleaning products.
I don't know how much you do this already, but a fun one might also be to get on the freecycle/Craigslist action and try to buy more stuff used or sell off/give away some of the stuff you don't use?
Or you might think about joining a CSA ... I haven't ever joined because for one person I don't think it's worth it, but many of my friends belong and love it. If you are interested, I can probably get you CSA recommendations for your area.
Great suggestions everyone!
Chall, we don't recycle anything now. That will be one of our things for sure.
Karina, good idea for the cans. We don't use many, but that would work. We don't get a whole lot of junk mail, but it has been increasing so I should investigate stopping -- good idea and somthing I hadn't thought of. Also, I have a hand-me-down breadmaker that I should bust out. It doesn't have instructions, which kind of killed my enthusiasm.
Nina, natural cosmetics are a great idea. Suggestions for brands?
Isis, buck up! Vages are hot! I currently use ob's and I can't imagine the Diva Cup could be all that different.
Ruchi, the compliment means a lot coming from you. :) I looked into a CSA a couple of years ago but didn't do it. The pick up location and time weren't very convenient for me, so I was worried I wouldn't actually pick the stuff up every week. Also, I think you need to be pretty committed to the CSA and not buy any extra produce, even if you need it for a recipe (because then you'll always end up needing something), because it gets pretty expensive to buy into the CSA and still be buying some supermarket produce. Finally, I wasn't sure we'd use it all. I feel like given our current grad-student budget, it was too risky.
I got a shopping cart thingy for free from my car pool buddy, so I'm on my way to getting more things used. I already used it to walk my ass to the grocery store instead of driving, so I guess January's thing is making a concerted effort to use the car less.
Well, the brand I currently trying out is probably only available in Germany ... I like it because it is natural, but not overpriced. I do for instance really like the Body Shop stuff, but for regular use I think it's pretty expensive (so I am happy when someone gives me something as a christmas-birthday present or so!).
So sorry, but can't really think of any international brands, I'm afraid you will have to invest some time and search through your drugstore, or organic supermarket or something like that ... Good luck!
About the diva cup: I need to empty in the office, and my method is as follows.
Buy a good plastic bottle (mine holds about 4 cups).
Go to restroom, wash hand sith soap, fill bottle up with lukewarm water.
Go in the toilet, empty diva cup, use water to clean yourself and the cup, reinsert, use rest of water to rinse hands.
Get out of toilet, wash your hands with soap again. You could even bring a small tube of liquid soap in the toilet.
@Isis: I'm not particularly green. I have very intense period, and before the diva cup I was changing every two hours and freaking out at the thought of forgetting. I think the diva cup is a godsend (and my wallet thinks it, too).
It is a small thing but you could unplug the toaster and coffee maker when not in use. Our coffee maker has a clock and stuff that we don't use but sucks up energy all day.
Post a Comment