By: Rene Hernandez
1. Remember those reusable bags . . . because . . .
- Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1 million sea creatures a year
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas and it’s floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. It weighs 3.5 million tons and is 80% plastic
- If everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth’s equator 776 times!
2. Get rid of vampires and phantoms . . . no, not Edward the dreamy teenage vampire . . .
An energy vampire or phantom load is the electricity consumed by an electronic appliance when it is turned off or on standby
- According to the Environmental Defense Fund, 65% of pollution attributed to global warming (or climate change) comes from generation of energy and its use
- 5 – 20% of our home electric bill comes from vampire or phantom energy use
Shed light on those vampires and expel them!
- get a ‘smart stip’ or two to help manage a lot of those electronics – I found this Tripp-Lite Eco-Surge one at my local electronics store, Lashen Electronics
- Understand your energy use – The US Department of Energy offers this tool to calculate your household energy use
3. Just say NO to bottled water
- National Geographic estimates that 17 million gallons of crude oil is used on an annual basis to produce plastic bottles.
- If you fill a water bottle ¼ of the way with oil, this is about how much oil is used to manufacture that one bottle!
- It is estimated by the Container Recycling Institute and ReusableBags.com that 22 billion water bottles end up in landfills every year.
- Although many plastic bottles are being recycled for good re-use as a variety of materials, National Geographic Kids states that only 1 in 6 plastic bottles makes it to the recycling bin!
- According to Environmental Working Group’s scientific study on bottled water vs. tap water, bottled water contains distinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue and pain medication
4. Buy less, Recycle more
In general, I really want to just be more mindful about buying ‘stuff’ I may not really need – I’ve been on this kick for a couple of years and it saves money and reduces the amount of junk I need to throw out from packaging, etc. I always ask myself now, do I really need this or do I just want it . . . or, do I have something at home I can use instead.
- About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is only 28%!
- Recycle as much as you can
- Avoid buying things are excessively packaged
- Buy in bulk (food, cleaning products)
5. Get local/Eat Local
- Reduce carbon footprint by reducing “food miles”
- A typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table
- Support local farmers – enjoy farmer’s markets
- Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) – find a CSA, farmer’s market or food coop near you - LocalHarvest.org
- Stimulate local economy
- patronize restaurants that buy from local farmers
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