Daily Practices and Activities
The more you learn about the impacts of daily practices and activities, the more overwhelmed you’ll probably feel. But there is good news! You can make easy changes that produce significant results. For each statistic, we’ve provided some suggestions for creating positive change. You might be surprised at how easy they are to implement, and many of them will save time, money, and the environment.
Plastic shopping bags take up to 1,000 years to decompose, and 14 plastic shopping bags equates to enough gasoline to power a car for one mile. And while it takes only 1 month for a paper bag to decompose, the process of creating plastic bags uses forty percent less energy compared to the process of creating paper bags.
Experts are still trying to determine paper or plastic, but generally, plastic actually seems to be less environmentally taxing than paper in some key ways. However, both carry significant environmental concerns, and the best choice is… neither. Instead, look for reusable bags.
One reusable bag has the ability to replace thousands of plastic shopping bags. Considering that hundreds of thousands of sea creatures die every year from ingesting plastic bags, and knowing that the process of creating paper bags leads to the pollution of our air and water, reusable bags are clearly the responsible – and green – choice.
Make a commitment to tote reusable bags with you to the store, and avoid the environmental impact of paper and plastic disposable bags. You can purchase reusable bags at most major grocery stores or online at http://reusablebags.com/.
35% of our garbage is paper – it is actually the #1 material that is thrown away.
Think of all the paper that is thrown away every day... discarded office paper, disposable paper coffee and soft drink cups, paper towels, wrapping paper, newspapers and magazines, catalogs and junk mail, packaging, and more. You can make a difference. The best way to avoid throwing away paper is by reducing usage. To reduce your usage, try:
- avoiding printing unnecessarily. If you need information from an e-mail or Web page, try saving it to your desktop instead of printing.
- lugging a mug and carrying a cup. The average American uses about 40 disposable cups per month. Bring a mug or cup with you, and save an average of 500 cups per year! Most restaurants and coffee shops will give you a discount for bringing a reusable mug or cup.
- reducing your paper towel usage. Try using fewer paper towels than you normally would; you might be surprised at how absorbent one or two paper towels can be, especially for smaller jobs. Also, many brands are now offering paper towels with smaller sheets which can really help you reduce your paper towel usage. And if you can use a dish towel or wash cloth instead of paper towels you can reduce your usage even more.
- getting creative with wrapping gifts, or don't wrap them at all. If it is important that a gift remain a surprise until it is unwrapped, consider purchasing a useful tote bag, storage box, or basket to hold the gift. This way, there's no waste from wrapping paper, and the recipient receives two presents. If you must wrap a gift, look for a sturdy gift bag that can be used over and over again.
- removing your name from mailing lists if you do not read magazines, catalogs, newspapers, etc. If you receive valuable information from your subscriptions, try canceling your paper subscriptions and visiting the Web sites of your favorite magazines, catalogs, and newspapers. Most offer online subscriptions at a reduced cost compared to the newsstand price, and many are free, so you'll be saving the environment and some extra money.
- being cognizant of sustainability while shopping. Look for products with less packaging to reduce waste. If you must buy an item with packaging, think of ways to reuse the materials.
In addition to reducing your usage, focus on recycling. If you do not have a recycling bin at work, request one, and if you do not have a recycling box at home, call your waste management company. Also, check with the waste management company for information about what materials can be recycled - you might be surprised at the wide variety of paper that is accepted, and many of the "rules" that you might remember from years and years ago are no longer pertinent.
Throwing away an aluminum can equals wasting enough gasoline to fill that can halfway.
Aluminum is one of the most recycled materials in America, and it can efficiently be processed and used to create new products. Be sure to recycle all aluminum cans, even those that do not offer a 5¢ deposit refund. Animal food cans, soup cans, tuna fish cans, and other cans should all be rinsed and recycled.
Yearly, more than 1,000,000,000 (one billion) trees are used to make disposable diapers.
Reusable cloth diapers are much more affordable and they are better for the environment. If you are concerned about washing dirty diapers at home, look for a local diaper service. There are many available that will pick up dirty cloth diapers, wash and sanitize the diapers, and deliver the clean diapers to your home.
On average, it costs about $40 per child per week to use disposable diapers. On average, it costs less than $20 per child per week for a diaper service, and the cloth diapers can be reused for other children or used as dust cloths when the children have grown up.
To learn more about the disposable vs. cloth debate, or to find a local diaper service, visit www.diapernet.org.
Roughly 90% of the energy used by standard incandescent light bulbs is lost as heat.
Save money and electricity by switching your incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent light bulbs. If a household with 10 bulbs running an average of 4 hours per day traded in the incandescent light bulbs for CFLs, more than $750 in electricity costs would be saved over the lifespan of the CFLs, and almost 4,000 pounds of CO2 emissions would be prevented. (www.easyprospertips.com)
Running an air conditioner uses 10 times more energy than running a fan.
On very hot days, it can be tempting to turn on the AC. But did you know that it uses 10 times more energy than running a fan? Try to find more sustainable ways of cooling off on hot days, such as going to the grocery store or mall, going swimming, or taking a cool bath or shower. If you really need to turn on the air conditioning, pay attention to the temperature inside and out, and turn off the AC when the indoor temperature has reached a comfortable level. Also, be careful not to leave the AC on when you are not home.
To help reduce the need to use air conditioning (and extra heat in the cooler weather) seal up any drafts in your house. Shutting the damper on your fireplace and hanging heavy curtains will also help in keeping the house tighter, which will keep your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. To look for drafts, run your hand around windows and doors to detect air coming in. You can also prevent drafts by properly installing storm windows, replacing old windows with energy-efficient models, and using weather stripping. These efforts will really pay off – drafts can account for a 10-30% increase in your heating and cooling expenses!
The United States produced more than 251 million tons of garbage in 2006, which equates to 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day.
Imagine carrying an average of 4.6 pounds of garbage with you every day. That's a lot of trash! Reduce your impact by looking for ways to reduce the amount of garbage you generate every day. Look for products with less packaging, find new uses for items that you would otherwise throw away, purchase reusable items instead of disposable ones, and donate items that you no longer need to goodwill instead of throwing them away.
98% of the U.S. power grid is non-renewable energy.
Learn more about the many kinds of renewable energy online or by reading books and magazines about renewable energy. Then, request renewable energy through your utility companies, and encourage others to do the same.
The average American meal has ingredients originating from 5 countries outside the U.S.
Buy locally-made and locally-grown whenever possible to reduce the resources used to bring food to your dinner table. On average, locally grown produce travels 56 miles to reach your grocery story, while conventional produce travels, on average, nearly 1,500 miles. That’s almost 27 times farther.
Explore co-op food programs, and look for information in stores such as Wegmans about the sources of produce. Whenever possible, buy locally-made and locally-grown. You will be supporting your local economy, and you will be greatly reducing the resources needed to bring produce to your dinner table.
If all humans lived like an average American, we would need 5 planets to meet our needs.
If everyone lived your lifestyle, how many planets would we need to support your consumption? Check your carbon footprint at http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/ and learn about ways to reduce your footprint with a report customized to your usage.
Appliances in “standby” can draw as much as 20 watts – even when they’re turned off.
To save energy - and money - unplug appliances that are not in use, even if they're off, or turn off the power strip, if they are plugged into one. This is especially sustainable if you are going out of town for an extended period of time. While certain appliances, such as the refrigerator, really can't be safely unplugged, others, such as the TV, DVD player, radio, coffee maker, microwave, computer, and printer can be unplugged to save energy. This is a very useful practice for appliances that are generally not used much, such as sewing machines and bread makers.
Can one person really make a difference? Absolutely! You can make a difference in two ways:
- Make positive changes in your daily practices and activities with sustainability in mind.
- Educate others and encourage them to make sustainable choices.