Eco-Confessions

Fellow green blogger Jason at Scream to Be Green recently posted about a large corporation that is using Facebook to generate interest in their quest to be green (for the record, I do not have a Facebook account so I cannot speak intelligently about what the hell that even is). They provide this list of ways to be “green”, you can check off the ones you do, and look at what other people are doing. It certainly made me think.



Bold - Our family is doing
Italics - My comments

1. Get an Energy Audit - not necessary, used to practically give ‘em, house is ship-shape!
2. Donate Used Computers - you mean the ones sitting in my closet?
3. Use Cloth Napkins
4. Switch to energy-savings bulbs
5. Hang dry your clothes
6. Make your next outfit vintage – haven’t bought clothes in forever. But I love Goodwill and plan to visit them next time I need clothes.
7. Use public transit – we bike instead
8. Pay your bills online
9. Say no to Plastic Bags
10. Plant some Bamboo – Sean, need your help here
11. Unplug appliances when off
12. Taste test a local wine
13. Say Bye to your leaf blower – but mine’s electric, and I only use it to suck and chop up leaves from my compost bin…
14. Rediscover your library
15. Switch off your computer
16. Plant a Garden
17. Buy rechargeable batteries – I can’t remember the last time we bought batteries
18. Start a compost heap
19. Put back unused napkins
20. Bring you own coffee cup
21. Learn to love weeds
22. Read about green weddings – Um, already married. Perhaps I will forward to my brother in law’s new girlfriend
23. Carpool - when we don't bike, we usually carpool
24. Keep car tires inflated
25. Support Local Farmers
26. Use both sides of paper
27. Turn Heating down 1 degree - 80 summer/60 winter
28. Return old Cell phones – I need to do this, we have a few
29. Drive smart, plan your trip
30. Wrap water heater in blanket
31. Install low-flow showerheads
32. Wash clothes in Cold or Warm
33. Lights off when you exit a room
34. Use a lunch box, no paper lunch sacks
35. Give cloth diapers a chance - does it count since we plan to someday?
36. Pick up litter and recycle it
37. Take shorter showers
38. Choose Green-E products
39. Buy the largest size practical
40. Tune up your cars engine
41. Donate used books – I love my books
42. Seal drafts around windows – Our envelope is pretty tight…
43. Leave your car at home for a day
44. Don’t idle car more then 10 seconds – sometimes Chris shuts off the engine when he drives
45. Think before you print
46. Look for EnergyStar Appliances
47. Unload your car of excess weight
48. Don’t buy veggies in trays - they taste bad anyway, there's no going back once you've enjoyed vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
49. Choose an energy-efficient vehicle
50. Fix leaking faucets – we don’t have any, but we need to fix a toilet that’s leaking…for the mean time we turned the water supply to it off
51. Wipe spills w/ reusable towels
52. Install low-flow toilets - came with the house
53. Make your own cleaning solutions
54. Hold your own “buy nothing” day - lots of days here!
55. Reuse Jars & Containers
56. Clean windows w/ old newspapers
57. Build w/ Salvaged wood – want to do
58. Share magazines – great idea!
59. Wrap presents in old calendar pages – don’t have a calendar
60. Make Rags from old t-shirts
61. Send e-cards – or just call the person and tell them. Don’t clutter my inbox!
62. Buy spices in bulk - hmm
63. Capture rain water for gardens - rebate check to buy rain barrel setup?
64. Return unused sugar packets – sugar is bad, mmmkay (don't use packets anyway)
65. Drive the speed limit
66. Make note pads from used paper – I write notes on the back of envelopes, does that count
67. Don’t accept plastic utensils – guilty. But I did bring some silverware to work to leave here.
68. Take a break from TV - we love not having the TV on all the time
69. Give a donation instead of a present – or give a living or edible present that leaves no waste!
70. Buy a bike-Use it.
71. Buy organic cotton – looking into it. Have an organic t-shirt already!
72. When buying clothes, say no to tissue wrap – it’s been forever
73. Start a green team @ work – Hmm. I’m working on my team right now. They’re changing. (Congrats to David for switching to a washable coffee cup vs. styrafoam!)
74. Don’t boil more then a teacups worth – we have an electric kettle…?
75. Read about carbon credits
76. Appoint an “office lights” monitor – I always turn mine off and make sure all of my coworkers know why.
77. Use your legs, not the elevator - Always
78. Stop chasing “the latest” – Done! Life is so much better that way!
79. Invigorate your green passion, spend time w/ nature – We don’t really watch TV and we'd rather be outside anyway
80. Start a toy-swap w/ friends – no kiddos
81. Ease up on meat products
82. Buy items for durability
83. Buy seasonal produce
84. Take bubble wrap back to packaging stores – We keep to reuse elsewhere.
85. Upgrade your furnace – Fairly efficient when actually used
86. Snip six-pack rings - Haven’t bought anything that comes from one of those in a while anyway
87. Use low-phosphate detergent
88. Avoid chemical flea collars
89. Choose sustainable flooring – flooring was already here
90. Offer art schools your “trash”
91. Use a bucket not a hose - i luv mai bukkit
92. Learn to mend your socks – I can hem and sew basic stuff.
93. Eliminate impulse buying
94. Take extra hangers to dry cleaners
95. Teach kids thriftiness – no kiddos
96. Don’t sign up for mailing lists – GreenDimes helped us there
97. Slow down- consume less
98. Fertilize w/ Grass clippings – no bagging unless it goes into compost or on gardens as mulch
99. Consider using a solar cooker – summer project #12
100. Eat simply, choose whole grains