Thirty Steps to Green Living
Green may be the new black, but it's more than a trend—it's a permanent shift towards creating a sustainable planet. In fact, taking steps to live a greener life—one that leaves as small an environmental footprint as possible—is part and parcel of living responsibly.
Sustainable living is serious business, but many effective changes require thoughtfulness more than sacrifice, good habits more than financial investment. In fact, you'll find that acting with the environment in mind often has a positive impact on your budget, too.
"Reduce, reuse, and recycle" is the green-living mantra. Let these three words steer you in the right direction—with your purchases, at home and at work, even while traveling. It's fun to see how many opportunities there are for greener choices. For starters, here are some simple ways to make a big impact:
Purchasing Power
* Use a gift card. At the Blue Hill Co-op you can use a gift card to everyone's advantage, especially if you tend to use your own credit or debit card when you shop. A credit card assesses the Co-op a fixed percentage of your sale. A debit card assesses a fixed amount, about 40 cents each time. When you put some amount, like $200, on a gift card using your debit card, the Co-op pays the 40 cents once and you shop along until you've used that $200 and then replenish the card. Better yet, pay with cash or checks.
* Buy in bulk to eliminate wasteful packaging and save money. Check out the bulk section of the Co-op, where you'll find everything from beans to grains, nuts and granola, soaps and shampoos. Ask a staff person to show you the ropes if you're new to bulk buying.
* Choose products with the least amount of waste: produce without wrapping and trays, tampons without plastic applicators, and a large jar of juice (or concentrate) rather than a dozen juice boxes, for example.
* Support green businesses with your purchasing dollars. Sustainable business practices are marketable these days, but so is greenwashing, so be selective. Co-ops have a long-standing tradition of conscientiously supporting ethical business practices.
* Bring your own bags when you shop. Tied end-to-end, the nearly 4 billion plastic bags discarded around the world each year would circle the earth 63 times. When you do use plastic, be sure to recycle it. But get in the habit of bringing your own cloth bag when you head to the store. We sell a wonderful assortment of bags, hemp, cotton and recycled grain bags. Shop in style!
* Choose nontoxic. Replace chemical cleansers and cosmetics with natural products. Nontoxic cleaners—which you'll find at your co-op—won't hurt the water supply, your family, or wildlife. When decorating, explore nontoxic paints, fabrics, carpeting, and flooring. Before remodeling, look into using nontoxic, recycled building materials.
* Purchase locally. Shop at community-owned stores and purchase locally grown food. You'll support neighboring farmers and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time. Co-ops are a great source for locally produced food, and many offer crafts items made by local artisans, too. The Blue Hill Co-op is no exception and takes pride in our offerings of local stuff
* Choose organic food whenever possible. In addition to health and taste benefits, your selection of organic over conventionally grown food contributes to cleaner air and water; soil enrichment; the reduction of pesticide, growth hormone and antibiotic use; and safer working environments for farmers and their families. We label everything as accurately and visibly as we can. Count on the Co-op to help you know when you've got the best available organic, local foods.
* Buy organic cotton whenever you can, too. While cotton is typically one of the most heavily sprayed crops, organic cotton growers use sustainable farming practices that replenish the soil and eliminate the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers. Organic cotton production grew from $583 million in 2005 to $2.6 billion by the end of 2008, so availability is improving. Co-ops often offer a selection of organic cotton clothing and linens.
* Gift wisely. Select gifts that aren't wasteful. Make a batch of cookies or a jar of your signature salsa, or buy a Co-op gift card. Choose presents from Fair Trade businesses (or local artisans) and gifts that encourage green living (like a wicker basket of earth-friendly detergents, honey from a local vendor, or a certificate to do an energy-saving project, like weatherizing). Consider green wrapping options, too! We have lots of items that can fit your needs for a green gift.
Habits at Home
* Eliminate paper waste by banking online, downloading your music, using cloth napkins, and canceling unnecessary catalog subscriptions via snail mail. Use both sides of paper (recycled of course) when printing, and junk your junk mail: Visit the Federal Trade Commission's website for how-tos: www.ftc.gov.
* Drink tap water. If necessary, use an in-sink faucet filter, or a water-filter pitcher instead of purchasing bottled water. Americans use 3.3 million plastic bottles every hour, and they only recycle one-fifth of them. In addition, many plastic water bottles contain chemicals that are harmful to your health and to the environment. Here in Maine, get your water checked for arsenic.
* Plan veggie meals. Meat-free meals reduce land, food, energy, and water waste, as well as pollution. (Methane, emitted by cows, is the second most significant greenhouse gas.) Cutting meat out of your diet for two days will reduce your carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 13.2 pounds. When you do eat meat, choose sustainably raised beef, poultry, and fish.
* Take a class at the Co-op. All through the year different people offer classes ranging from cooking to movement, meditation to organic gardening. Come and share in the feast of ideas, rub elbows with others in the community. They're all free! Check out what's happening soon.
* Don't waste food. Americans throw away almost one-third of their food. Plan carefully, use up leftovers, and compost.
* Install a programmable thermostat. A properly set programmable thermostat can save the average homeowner $100 a year. You can get similar results by diligently setting back your manual thermostat, too. Because almost half of household energy is used for cooling and heating, adjusting your thermostat up 2 degrees in summer and down 2 degrees in winter could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually.
* Use water-efficient fixtures. In an average household, using a high-efficiency showerhead and kitchen faucet aerator will save about 7,800 gallons of water each year. (And no, while low-flow showerheads save between 12 and 32 gallons of water per shower, depending on the model, they don't cause the water to trickle. In fact, because they have added air, the pressure usually feels stronger.)
* Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth for a savings of three gallons every minute, and shorten your shower by 2 minutes for a savings of 15.3 pounds of CO2 a month. Only wash full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher, and collect rainwater for your garden plants.
* Take good care of things. The savings add up: An average home can waste over 11,000 gallons of water a year because of running toilets and leaky faucets. Cleaning the coils under your refrigerator can reduce CO2 emissions by 300 pounds a year, while changing furnace and air conditioner filters can save 350 pounds of CO2 annually. A dryer with a lint-filled screen uses up to 30 percent more energy to dry your clothes.
* Choose the low-energy option on your dishwasher. Simply open the door when the cycle is done and let the dishes sit until dry. In one month you'll have saved 20.5 pounds of CO2.
* Eliminate phantom loads. The television, computer, printer, cell phone chargers, and other electronics use electricity even when you've shut them off. A television that's on for three hours a day and on standby for the rest of the time (plugged in but not turned on) will use about 40 percent of its energy while on standby. You might want to plug several items into one power strip so that you can more easily turn them off when not in use.
* Put a blanket on your hot water heater. Providing insulation for your hard-working hot water heater can cut heat loss by 25 to 45 percent. While you're at it, turn down the temp on the heater; 120 degrees F is about right for most households. (Next to heating and cooling, water heating is the largest home energy user.)
* Use an outdoor clothesline and/or indoor drying rack for just 6 months a year and you'll save 700 pounds of CO2. Just one load a week will reduce your CO2 emissions by 18.8 pounds. While we're talking laundry: Use cold or warm water instead of hot for washing and you'll save 500 pounds of CO2 a year.
* Purchase renewable energy from your utility company. The way this typically works is that you pay a bit more for your energy and your contribution covers the added expense of harvesting the alternative energy used in the program. As the program brings more renewable sources into the energy pool, it displaces electricity that would otherwise come from fossil fuel sources.
* Recycle everything from your newspaper to your appliances, your remodeling waste to your electronics. (Less than 1 percent of the 500 million used cell phones in the U.S. are recycled.) Donate items to charity, sell them at consignment shops or online, or visit www.Earth911.com to locate recycling centers in your area. Set up an efficient recycling area at home, making it easy to recycle plastics, glass, paper, etc. Recycling just half of the waste in your household will save 2,400 pounds of CO2 each year. Aim even higher.
* Switch to CFLs. According to the EPA, if every household in the U.S. replaced their five most used conventional bulbs with compact fluorescents, we would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly 10 million cars. No matter the bulb, turn off the lights when you leave a room!
* Use rechargeable batteries. All batteries release harmful metals into the environment, but rechargeable batteries can be re(and re)cycled—up to 1,000 charges.
On the Road Again
* Carry your own travel mug for coffee and other beverage refills on the go. You can even carry your own eating utensils rather than use plastic utensils for food takeout. Don';t patronize stores that won't refill your mug.
* Drive less, drive smart. Coordinate your trips so that you do your errands all at once, in logical order. Drive under the speed limit, keep your car tuned, break wisely, keep tires properly inflated, and drive under the speed limit. (Driving 70 mph instead of 60 mph on the highway is equivalent to paying, on average, 54 cents more per gallon of gas.) Carpool and your savings instantly doubles. Think outside the car, too, by riding a bike, walking, or taking public transportation when you can.
* Take the stairs. Surely you've heard this advice for getting exercise, but did you know that some elevators use enough energy in one year to power seven households?
* Travel sustainably. Plan vacations close to home, and choose green hotels when you travel. Offset the carbon emissions you produce with your trip. To find out how, visit: www.drivinggreen.com.
