So what are you doing to be more earth-friendly?
The old adage goes "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" but these days I think most people just take that last R as being R-enough. What they don't realize is that the three R's are ranked by importance! Reducing your waste is the single most important thing you can do to help the environment. When you can't do that, Reuse. And finally, when you can't do that, Recycle.
I Reduce my waste in a variety of ways. This includes using big canvas bags when I am grocery shopping--which not only saves plastic or paper, but also makes the groceries infinitely easier to carry. Your grocery store likely has some you can purchase during your trip. I got 4 of mine for $3. I reduce the amount of water that I waste by turning the water off when brushing my teeth, and by taking showers only every other or every third day. I only run the dishwasher when it is completely full. I fill up an aluminum Sigg bottle with filtered tap water, instead of drinking bottled waters (which, by the way, are usually just filtered tap water put into plastic bottles anyways. Check out this article from the Vegetarian Times.)
I turn the lights off when that room is not in use, and I have installed power strips on the locations in my home that waste the most electricity - namely the computer area and the tv area. By putting your electronics on a power strip and turning that strip OFF when they are not in use, you can save 75% more electricity than if you didn't. These electronics draw a charge even when they are off, which is most of the time!I don't buy items that are packaged in ridiculous amounts of unnecessary plastic. I hang my clothes out in the sun to dry when I can. I keep my car's tires inflated properly for better gas mileage, and keep up with oil changes. These are things everybody should do at home.
As for things you can do for your business, whether you are an "office monkey," a "wage slave," or a small business owner such as myself -- there's always something that can be improved.
Reducing my waste at work involves keeping packaging that can be reused, as well as incorporating many of the habits I have at home, such as turning the power strips OFF.
Reusing at home and at the workplace are both very important. As I mentioned, I keep packaging (such as padded envelopes, tissue paper, bubble wrap, boxes) to reuse and I do reuse it! Pretty much, if I think I can reuse it, I keep it. (This makes me a pack-rat, but I DON'T care. This also makes me learn how to efficiently organize!) If I think someone else might be able to use it, I either sell it on craigslist, donate it, or put it in a garage sale. I make all of my pricetags for my jewelry from "upcycled" kleenex boxes. At home, I wash and reuse ziplock bags. One small box of those quart-sized freezer bags has lasted me about 6 months... and still going!
Recycle. It's the end-all of the three R's. Recycling at work is as simple as this: do it. Start by making sure that your workplace DOES recycle. If they don't, you better step up and get them to. Even if it means buying a garbage can, slapping a sign on it that says "RECYCLE" and taking the bag home with you every week, it's worth it.I also purchase green (solar, wind) energy credits to offset 100% of my energy use. Your electric/gas company may have a program for this, check out their website. It only costs me $10 more a month at the most.
We are also integrating more organic foods into our diets as often as we can afford them.
I am a vegetarian. I know, it sounds weird to say that this is helping the earth... but did you know that meat agriculture produces more pollution than ALL of transportation in the WORLD? You think driving your car pollutes the earth? Think about this next time you're cooking up that hamburger helper!! Check out these thinks to learn more about meat agriculture pollution:http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp
http://inthefray.org/content/view/2407/161/
That's all I can think of right now... please, guys, add to the list! What do you do?
Fun video on what you can do with all those plastic grocery bags: How to fuse plastic bags!
