How to give up the least and have the most
Elizabeth Rogers, co-writer of The Green Book, The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet, One Simple Step at a Time
As a mother and writer, my motivation and inspiration have often been how to give up the least and have the most. Shocking I know. I am always trying to see how shifting a habit can make a difference. And what happens if we all do it?
I know that if any group make things happen, it's women, and especially mothers. I've listed below some of my favorite small shifts that I've made recently while grocery shopping and around my home.
1. Buy sliced bread that is only packaged in a single wrapper rather than a double wrapper. Double-wrapped loaves contain more plastic. The waste generated by this additional wrapper across all households in the U.S. and Canda would weigh nearly 60,000 pounds -- or the total weight of all the food you will ever eat in your lifetime.
2. Buy block cheese instead of the pre-sliced individually wrapped servings. The energy used to make the plastic wrappers for slices of American cheese amounts to the equivalent of more than 13.8 million gallons of gasoline per year.
3. Run full loads in your dishwasher to save energy, and don't pre-rinse before putting dishes in. Do both and you'll save up to 20 gallons of water per dish load, or 7,300 gallons over a year. That's as much water as the average person drinks in a lifetime
4. Try to flush just one less time per day, and you'll save about 4.5 gallons of water -- as much water as the average person in Africa uses for a whole day of drinking, cooking, bathing and cleaning. (This is my son's favorite rule!)
5. Try to limit canned fruit, and eat fresh fruit over the summer months whenever possible. The process involved in canning is at least 10 times more energy intensive than picking fresh fruit. If every U.S. household replaced just one pound of canned or jarred fruit with one pound of fresh fruit during each of the summer months, the total energy saved could operate the kitchen appliances of over 21,000 households for an entire year.
6. Use fewer paper napkins everywhere. Each of us consumes on average 2,200 2 ply napkins per year, or the equivalent of 6 a day. If everyone in the U.S. used an average of one less napkin per day, more than 1 billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year.
7. Buy loose, unwrapped candy from the bin. Many candy wrappers contain chemicals that make them stain and water resistant, but which also make them difficult to recycle.
If you want to see more of where those came from -- and what's been taking up the better part of my life -- check out ReadTheGreenBook.com.
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The success of environmental changes relies on the meeting of choice and opportunity. We have always been able to exercise choice but were possibly not aware of the opportunity. The opportunity has been exposed and is here and now.
Many of the items mentioned in this book are simply and easy to implement. It has been a good reminder that it does not take much extra effort to have an impact. I really like unplugging my cell phone charger, and buying blocks of cheese instead of individually wrapped single slices.
I have also switched to effective non toxic cleaners that don't cause more pollutants into the earth.
Because of this post I will be buying the book - although I must admit I wish it was available for purchase electronically - reducation of paper.
Some of these are pretty easy - I loathe the taste of the prewrapped cheese slices and won't buy them for my kids. We use paper napkins very, very rarely.
On the other hand, we have to prerinse our dishes for the dishwasher in the house we're renting. We aren't the sort to essentially wash them first, but the dishwasher is old and not that effective. Some days handwashing just makes more sense.
I prefer the read items written using the English Language: So, I dump my trash by unsuscribing in favour of good old fashioned English RUBBISH.
Thank You for this great information. I myself am always recycling anything I can. Just ask my neighbors haha. But, you,ve given me more ways I can help our beautiful planet to get its green on! Much appreciated! Cannot wait to get into this book @ readthegreenbook.com
Sincerely,
Heidi
I know this isn't everyones favorite topic - but what about female products?
Recently I read an article on the waste females generate from menstruation (which if you actually take the time to think about it we generate a lot of used pads and tampons). So I switched to a product called the Diva Cup, and I am happy to report it makes no change in my lifestyle what-so-ever (and isn't that what you want from a menstrual product!). Google Diva Cup and see if its a product for you.
Thanks for the article
Concerning the toilet flushing-buy a water saver toilet, they only use 1.6 gal a flush. I did & you save water & my water bill went down $20.00/month!! It's a win-win situation!
I have gone green over the last few months. I even started a business that is ecofriendly. I have a Laudry pure system for my washing machine that washes in only cold water without detergent or fabric softner. My drying time for my clothes is now cut in half.
My clothes are cleaner and softer than before I staring using the Laundry Pure.
Best thing I have done. Saves the environment and money too. I also have an air purification system that helps with allergies, asthma, smoke, mildew and household odors, purifies and sanitizes the air. Another great thing I did. Keeps the air fresh and clean.
I have for many years recycled my cans, bottles and cardboard. Anthing that will help to save our planet is worth it.
Buy un wrapped cAndy in bulk store. Thanks but no thanks. I have seen kids stick their dirty hAnds into the bins a grab a candy to munch on. The parents say nothing. I WILL CONTINUE TO BUY CANDY THAT IS WRAPPED
Flush the jone one time a day i dont hink so Kim and Aggie from the tv shosw How clean is your house would have your head on a platter. Think of the pee pee and do do smell, attracts flies etc. Germs etc
I WILL CONTINUE TO FLUSH AS REAQUIRED
She said flush one less time. Meaning when you pee pee, don't flush. If your pee pee is attracting flies etc. you need to drink more fresh water. Me & my husband only flush the toilet probably a total of 3 times a day. It's true when you go do do you should. If want to use less water get the new toilet that has a different flush for pee pee & do do.
Use Sealerz bag closing tabs instead of putting packaging inside of packaging. If you don't know what I mean, look in your pantry/fridge/freezer and count how many zippered plastic bags you have used to simply close up an item. Sealerz tabs are a fraction of the size of quart and gallon zippered plastic bags and can be used up to 10 times. If 1,000,000 people used a Sealerz instead of the ziplocs, think of the 10,000,000 plastic bags rescued from the landfill.