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Green Your Routine

Make Your Life a Little Greener
There are endless opportunities for us to make our lives greener.  The best way to start (and a good practice to get into every 6 months or so) is a green routine audit.  It's easy to do and can give you a lot of insight into ways to make your life have less of an impact on the earth.  

Here's how to do it.  Keep a journal of your activities each day for a week.  Log your activities by the hour or just break the day into sectors (early morning, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon, early evening and night).  

At the end of the week, review your activities and look for opportunities to make "greener" choices.  Make a list of the opportunities and prioritize them, marking the ones you want to take on first.  Revisit your list every week or so and take on new opportunities.  This weekly review also gives you a chance to see how easy the changes were to make and how much even little things made a difference.  Start the process over every 6 months to a year because there are always new ways to improve.

What Makes It Green?
Every thing we do has the possibility of impacting our health and/or the earth.  The more conscience we are of our actions, the better able we are to make the best decisions for ourselves and the planet.  

What You Can Do
Use these ideas when reviewing your journal to find your "green" opportunities:
  • Do an on-line energy saver audit at Home Energy Saver to find ways to conserve energy.
  • Look for opportunities to save water - get ideas on www.wateruseitwisely.com.
  • Consolidate errands and other trips in the car to cut down on the amount of gas you use (this will also have the added benefit of cutting down the amount of CO2 emissions you put out).
  • Look at ways to improve your gas mileage - check out tips the US Department of Energy's tips (www.energy.gov).
  • See if you have opportunities to reduce your carbon footprint by using a carbon footprint calculator - try the one at www.carbonfootprint.com)
  • Use reusable items instead of disposable whenever possible.
  • Buy more organic/fair trade/local items.
  • Choose products with as little packaging as possible and/or earth-friendly packaging.
  • Purchase items made from all natural and sustainable materials when possible.
  • Review your trash. Check the details of your municipal waste company's recycling policy to make sure that you are recycling everything that you can. If your local company doesn't currently provide curbside recycling, consider trying to get one started or switching companies. You can also check with your local recycling center to see if any of the items that aren't being picked up can be taken there. To find a recycling center close to you go to www.earth911.com.
  • Sell or donate any items that you aren't using instead of throwing them away.
didyouknow
The typical U.S. family spends about $1,900 a year on home utility bills.

handson
After my last audit, I decided to quit using paper towels.  I switched to using a SKOY cloth, which is 100% biodegradable and natural.  They are awesome!  I can use them over and over and then just machine wash them.  They are also much more absorbent than paper towels or dish clothes.  Get your own at www.skoycloth.com.
 
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