I think that there have to be rights and wrongs for what is good and not good for the environment. These facts are not up for debate. What they are however seems to be left up to the experts (and experts always seem to have “opinions” not facts). Where are the facts and why are the facts for how to be environmentally sound not published everywhere? There are hundreds of books and blogs about being green out there now. Most of them have opinions of what people should do – but little on the factual side. Some facts that I will stand behind though, it is always better to reduce buying and overuse, reuse whenever possible and for sure recycle. Recycling is something that the government or industry needs to put more money into though. A lot of places (like here) don’t have true recycling facilities, so they just landfill the stuff and plan to dig it up when they have the means to deal with it. It would be a lot better (even if it meant sorting out recycling more) if they could use the methods that currently allow local recycling centers to not only recycle but also then manufacture new goods (or ship off recycled materials that can be used). In the paper this morning there was an article about recycling locally and they say that only 3% of all trash is recycled here. They have been trying different techniques to get people to recycle – but it just isn’t working like they thought it would.
When looking at reduce, reuse and recycle what does this mean for the average person? When at a hotel do you use the same towel your whole stay? Do you refuse water when out if you aren’t going to drink it? Do you cut down on disposable things? Here is a current list of things that I can think of in my home.
• Toilet paper
• Paper towels
• Whip ums
• Q-tips
• Bathroom cups
• Napkins
• Plastic dishes
• Togo coffee cups
• Trash bags
• Tissues
• Ziploc bags
• Coffee filters
• Paper
• Bills
• Magazines
• Catalogs
• Any packaging for food, water, soda or other perishable
I’m sure the list will get longer the more I think about it but for now these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Out of this list – what could I really get away without ever using? Is it possible to never use another togo coffee cup, plastic silverware, or paper napkins? What about when you are traveling??
Running through the list this is what I think. I can’t live without TP, but I could go single ply. I could live without paper towels. I could live with whip ums. How would I clean my ears without q-tips? No one needs bathroom cups. Jury is still out on napkins. I could do without plastic dishes, togo coffee cups as well. Although I would have to carry around a real mug at all times. I love to just stop for coffee. I can’t live without trash bags. What would you do with your trash if you didn’t have them?? I have cloth handkerchiefs as is – although when you are really sick they suck. I re-use Ziploc bags … but I’m not sure I could live without them. I try to re-use paper as much as possible … but not possible to live without. We have stopped using coffee filters. I can’t stop bills, but I got paperless when they let me. I recycle magazines when I’m done. But, I guess I could live without them. I call in each and ever catalog I get and tell them to stop sending me paper catalogs. They just won’t. I have no idea what to do about food packaging – other than not buying food that is heavily packaged.
So, what do you implement in your own life to live without to help the Earth?
2 comments:
I've rolled up TP to clean ears. Still disposable. It's best to not clean them, at least that is what the doctors always say.
I grew up in a family that didn't use trash bags for small cans. You'd just dump those into the large can on trash day, then tie off that bag. So it was one trash bag per week instead of N. I do this today too.
The one that I need to do is bring some real silverware into work. I don't like the compostable stuff that we use now.
Seattle is hardcore about recycling and won't pick up your trash if they find recycables in it. I wish all cities did that.
Buying food, beer, etc, in bulk saves there. You can bring your own containers and get them to write the tare weight on them at the store instead of getting new containers from them.
Junk mail seems like our greatest source of trash, and the hardest one to control.
My biggest issue with the "going green" movement is that all of the blogs and magazines encourage going green by purchasing more stuff. Isn't the greenest option to use what we already have? I know that using an existing car for longer is better than buying a new Prius in all but the most extreme cases.
alex (I'm typing this on a one week old laptop...obviously not very green)
One little and very important thing I do is pack lunch for the kids - for school, skiing, weekend trips. Don't use plastic bags or buy little tiny packages of snacks. I buy everything bulk and break it down and pack it in little individual reusable containers. It's a bit of a pain and takes more time in the morning but makes me feel like I'm saving money as well as the environment. Also feels like I'm instilling more healthy eating in my kids lives instead of the crap they sell in the easy to use packages at the store :)
Oh, and I started hanging my wash out to dry. Not in the winter, but did it all fall and will start again when the weather gets warmer. Felt like I was making some bit of a difference. What a pain though with three kids! Bean
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