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15 Things You Can Do To Save Our Planet
by Kathryn Schleich
I’ve been recycling for years, but it wasn’t until I read Alex Shoumatoff’s article in the May 2007 issue of Vanity Fair, “An Eco-System of One’s Own” that I realized there is a lot more I can do. Shoumatoff takes the reader through the typical American’s daily routine and the resources we consume are staggering. Following are 15 things that anyone can, and should, be doing in an effort to preserve our rapidly changing planet.
Recycle. Minnesota is a leader in the recycling business and we’ve been doing this for years. Our recycling covers everything from newspapers and magazines, cardboard, cans, plastic, and glass. Quick tip – rinse or wash out your cans and bottles and you won’t have bugs in your recycling.
- Use both sides of the paper. One of the truly amazing facts Mr. Shoumatoff mentions in his article is that no federal agency in the U.S. uses both sides of the paper when printing documents. My late father, Jerry, had this down to a science in his office and again, I’ve being doing this for years.
- Drive less or buy a fuel-efficient vehicle. If you can’t drive less, how about consolidating your trips? Since I work from home, I don’t have the endless commute of many Americans, but I do consolidate my errands and appointments. The ultimate change in driving habits is a fuel-efficient vehicle such as a Toyota Prius. Al Gore’s son was picked up driving his at speeds of 100 mph plus, meaning slow-going in a hybrid vehicle is no longer an issue.
- Keep a cloth bag in your car for small trips to the store, pharmacy, etc. Plastic bags have become another ecological disaster in the making, using limited resources and not being biodegradable. According to the Clean Up Australia web site (www.cleanup.com.au), “Most plastics are not biodegradable and will persist in the environment for hundreds of years.” That alone should make us shudder. Even worse, the resources used to manufacture plastic include crude oil, natural gas, and coal, all of which are in finite supply. My goal is to have no plastic bags in my home.
Wash and reuse plastic storage and sandwich bags. It’s not difficult and there’s the added benefit of saving money by purchasing bags less frequently. I’ve been doing this so long, its years before I buy a full box of plastic bags.
- Keep the heat in your home set lower and the air conditioning set higher. For example, we keep our thermostat set at 66 degrees on average during winter days and down to 62 at night (and we live in Minnesota). For summer, we set the air conditioning between 76 and 78 degrees. In either case, you’re not just saving resources but money, especially given the recent cost of fuel.
- Use fewer lights. If you don’t need the light, turn it off.
- Replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient florescent bulbs. Compact Florescent Lights (CFLs) use less energy and have a longer rated life. In the United States, a CFL can save over $30 in electricity costs over the lamp’s lifetime compared to an incandescent lamp and save 2000 times their own weight in greenhouse gases.
- Take 3-minute showers or less, and replace the shower heads with low-flow ones. You won’t even notice. Other places you can reduce your water usage is flushing less frequently, turning the water off while brushing your teeth, and not letting water run.
- Run the dishwasher only when it’s full. By taking this approach, I run our dishwasher two the three times a week versus every day.
- Properly dispose of cell phones and other electronic equipment. Another ecological disaster, discarded electronics are eating up landfill space at an alarming rate. We take the time to find community programs or companies that properly dispose of old computers, televisions, cell phones, and other electronics. We also don’t upgrade our cell phones every two years but hold onto them longer.
I encourage you to read Mr. Shoumatoff’s eye-opening Vanity Fair article for other ideas and consider how you and your family can save resources and live more efficiently. Our family still has a long ways to go – I love soaking in the whirlpool, but it takes gallons of water to fill up the tub, so I’ve cut back. I still haven’t figured out how to replace plastic garbage bags. For those of you old enough to remember, our mother’s used to collect the garbage in the paper sacks brought home from the grocery store. Not quite as convenient, but a definite option. Clearly, we still have a lot of work to do.
Kathryn Schleich is a freelance writer residing in Minnesota. In 2003 she published her first book, Hollywood and Catholic Women: Virgins, Whores, Mothers, and Other Images through iUniverse. She may be contacted at: kathrynschlei777@yahoo.com. Or visit the web site:www.women-write.com.
