What we can do...(for lazy people)

I keep wondering what more we can do to go green everyday.  I really feel like I am not doing enough.  (and after getting rid of my car, I am having a hard time getting the recycling done at all)....

So I started thinking that I do more than most of my friends and family in the recycling area.....until I started to bug them all the time about why they talk like they agree with not ruining our planet and jump on the bandwagon and off the soap box!  So at least my best friend, Jen is following through..(but Californians are very eco-wise) and I believe my mom has started to recycle at least to some degree at home and always while at school.  She is also trying to boycott the cafeteria and have them use sustainable and recyclable materials and provide the facilities to do so.

So I believe the first thing you can do that is very easy is to talk about recycling, and reusing some of our existing resources.  The more you talk about it, the more important it will become and the more you will feel responsible in your part of it all.
So I am still gonna save a lot of trash, even if I have to schedule my ride to the drop-off center.  And I am going to talk about it all the time, because the more people hear me, the more they are going to pay attention to what they do.  Even if I become a bit fruity, and nag a lot!  :)

Next, obviously, would be to minimize what you consume that is not renewable.  You have to keep in mind that even just using products marked for recycling, is not enough.  The fact is that it takes WAY more energy to recycle plastic, and other wastes, than it does to create it in the first place.  Also, it has been found that plastic is very bad for you.  I have heard that plastics #7 are the worst, but in my opinion, they are all gross.  I am sure in the future that we will find that all plastics are not so great for your food and beverage needs.  So I plan to slowly phase out plastics in my life, as much as possible.  I am not going to throw out all the plastics that I have because they are evil, but I do plan to start recycling anything used for food as soon as it shows even a small amount of wear, and when replacing them, use something better for the environment that lasts longer, like glass or stainless steel, instead or using water bottles, etc.
 I also recommend bringing your own bag at the grocery store.  Even if you don't buy the store bags (which are actually made with plastics), bring in a few canvas book bags, beach bags or some sturdy used plastic handled bags, like from barnes and knoble and old navy.  Why not? Most people save the sturdy bags anyway (probably to store all the grocery bags) so why not reuse them at the grocery store?  I actually bought a whole bunch of them at dillons, where they give you 5 cents off per bag, and they tend to pack them very full, so you actually can carry more.  The shoulder straps are great for carrying the load in, and (at dillons) the black bags have a zipper pocket, so I can throw my atm card and keys in there while I shop.  It is another one of those things that makes me feel good, like recycling.  When I leave the store, I know people are looking at me saying, that young girl uses those bags I saw that they sell here, maybe I should do that, too.
It is getting pretty trendy to be eco friendly....so get it together.  It doesn't  really matter what kind of bag you use, as long as it isn't paper or plastic!!! HA HA!

    Next, try turning off the lights!!!  And the water.  I know you are saying, I do that...but I bet you run the water when you brush your teeth, or while prewashing your dishes.  So turn it off.  And while you are at it, turn the light off when you walk away.  There are a lot of experts saying to unplug.  And you probably should.
Especially things like cell phone chargers, and other open ended things that are left plugged in when not in use (like my laptop charger! plugged in right now!)
Those little things will save you money and save power. 
Speaking of power, one way you can support green power is paying $5 a month for green power.  I know it is kinda ridiculous, but the reason why it is so important is it creates a demand.  We are lucky that we are able to use what those windmills on highway 65 are producing, and the more people that are willing to pay $5 extra a month on their bill to "pay for" renewable power, the more that they will need to produce to meet that demand.  The more farmers that will be willing to put them on their land, the more that will be happening for renewable resources when our kids are grown and in charge.  (it is the right thing to do).  At first I thought it was a rip off, because essentially, the wind is free, but I think paying for it enables them to buy more windmills.  Like I said, we have to CREATE A DEMAND AS CONSUMERS!!!

Ok, enough about that....I haven't signed up for it yet, so I can't soap box preach, but I have made up my mind...If I can't live "off the grid" then I am going to support heading that direction for my community. I think the midwest will be a leader in renewable energy someday. We can make that sooner than later.

I am not done with this rant....to be continued!!!!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

P.S. I downloaded a new browser called "Flock" made by Mozilla....check it out, it keeps you up to date on "green" news and it also has a lot of really cool features for blogging and social networking (no my space, yet) but it includes You Tube and anything google related. Check it out! Google "flock" and download it, it is pretty neat!