baby steps to green living

i am officially done reading my Gorgeously Green book, and am thoroughly sad that its over. i keep going back and re-reading sections (and am sure i will continue to do so for awhile to come). [i can only hope that Sophie puts out a sequel].




of course i have a million great ideas running around in my head right now, but when i stop and focus i realize i need to start slow, change some habits and make this a sustainable lifestyle change.

my baby steps for moving towards green:

1. stop using/buying plastic water bottles- its completely unnecessary. right now i have a plastic water bottle that i got free from the gym, similar to a nalgene bottle, but with the recent findings about plastic and the chemical leaching, i will soon be moving to a metal water bottle instead. i am looking at these my sigg bottles which are sold at REI.


2. stop using tampons with plastic applicators- commercials bombard us with idea of "don't you want a more comfortable tampon?" well sure... but they totally make you forget that that stupid plastic applicator will sit in a landfill until the end of time. cardboard isn't that much different. even better, there are made with 100% organic, non-bleached cotton. most commercial tampons are made with chlorine-bleached synthetic fibers and cotton that's grown with toxic herbicides, pesticides and other concerning chemicals. now does that reeealllly seem like a good idea?! let's think about this. here's a link for where to find them. they also sell some at Whole Foods which i'm going to check out. http://www.realgoods.com/


3. use reusable bags- i've been doing this at the grocery store for awhile. stop n' shop sells reusuable green canvas bags for only 99 cents. its definitely a habit that you have to force yourself into, but i've finally gotten it into my head. i leave the bags on the door knob to go back out to my car so i always have them with me. second step- remembering to take some when i do other kinds of shopping- beyond the grocery store. i do have a fold-up tote that i brought outlet shopping in philly. it worked well. just have to make it a habit.


4. don't wash the car at home- you use a lot more water and spill chemicals onto the lawn and into the sewers. there are car washes (one right on Rt 18 in Weymouth) that uses less water (they recycle some of the rinse water) and they dispose of it properly. plus its only $7 when i fill my tank there and its so quick and easy. why not?!


5. let boiled water (for pasta etc) cool to use for watering plants etc.- you can also do this with water you use to rinse veggies. why pour it right down the drain when its still fairly clean water. your plants won't know the difference. of course i don't currently own any plants, but once we live in the woods, i'd rather feed the grass, bushes or plants (eventually) than toss it down the drain.

a few facts i found enlightening:

"If high-yield biocrops were grown on all of the farmland on earth, the resulting fuel would account for only 20 percent of our current demand." (p246)

Looks like corn fueled cars are not exactly the way of the future!

"Seventy percent of all agricultural land in the world is used to raise farm animals. The rest is used to grow crops, a third of which is used to feed the animals. (p.192)

I've always heard people say 'there aren't enough veggies in the world to support an entire world of vegetarians.' It seems like we're going to have a harder time supporting all these carnivores!

"Recycling a glass jar saves enough energy to light a 100 watt bulb for four hours. Recycling an aluminum can saves enough energy to run a tv set for three hours."

now that's not too much to ask is it? toss it in a recycling bin instead of the garbage?