One Green Year: What You Can Do This Month
January 21, 2009
Photograph Courtesy Shutterstock Images
In this third installment in our series of small changes that add up to big results, we survey what you can do during the next month to gradually green your routine. Breaking your efforts into smaller, more manageable tasks isn't a cop-out: By following this plan, each small step adds up to changes that will benefit the health of the planet—and, yes, even your own health—immediately and in years to come.
Food
Switch one staple of your diet from conventional to organic: eggs this month, milk the next. For the greatest impact, choose something you buy all the time, not something that's an occasional purchase, and don't challenge your budget by going all organic at once. Also this month, find a farmer's market near you where you can start buying food that's produced within a few hundred miles of your home, further reducing the carbon footprint of your diet by requiring less fuel for transport.
Switch one staple of your diet from conventional to organic: eggs this month, milk the next. For the greatest impact, choose something you buy all the time, not something that's an occasional purchase, and don't challenge your budget by going all organic at once. Also this month, find a farmer's market near you where you can start buying food that's produced within a few hundred miles of your home, further reducing the carbon footprint of your diet by requiring less fuel for transport.
Transportation
Strategize and commit to a "green" commute one day a week: Either clear it with your boss to work from home, or carpool, take public transportation, walk or ride your bike to the office. Buy an air pressure gauge and make a monthly habit of checking the air pressure in your tires. Properly inflated tires increase gas mileage by about 3 percent, and according to Bridgestone Europe, improperly inflated tires cause an additional 12.3 million tons of CO2 to be released every year—just in Europe! Because tires can lose pressure as temperatures drop, check the pressure when your tires are cold, ideally before you start your car in the morning.
Strategize and commit to a "green" commute one day a week: Either clear it with your boss to work from home, or carpool, take public transportation, walk or ride your bike to the office. Buy an air pressure gauge and make a monthly habit of checking the air pressure in your tires. Properly inflated tires increase gas mileage by about 3 percent, and according to Bridgestone Europe, improperly inflated tires cause an additional 12.3 million tons of CO2 to be released every year—just in Europe! Because tires can lose pressure as temperatures drop, check the pressure when your tires are cold, ideally before you start your car in the morning.
Energy
Set aside a weekend "green-the-house" day: Enlist the help of your fellow household members to tackle the simplest suggestions from your energy audit, such as wrapping your hot water heater or installing a programmable thermostat.
Set aside a weekend "green-the-house" day: Enlist the help of your fellow household members to tackle the simplest suggestions from your energy audit, such as wrapping your hot water heater or installing a programmable thermostat.
Everyday Purchases
As you use up conventional products, replace them with more environmentally friendly options—household cleansers that use essential oils for fragrance, laundry detergents formulated for cold water (which saves the energy normally required to heat the water), cloth napkins to replace disposable ones. You'll reduce your chemical exposure and trash a little less. In addition, you'll send a message to manufacturers to produce more environmentally friendly products. "When you vote with your dollars, corporations listen," says Trish Riley, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Living ($16.95, Alpha, 2007).
As you use up conventional products, replace them with more environmentally friendly options—household cleansers that use essential oils for fragrance, laundry detergents formulated for cold water (which saves the energy normally required to heat the water), cloth napkins to replace disposable ones. You'll reduce your chemical exposure and trash a little less. In addition, you'll send a message to manufacturers to produce more environmentally friendly products. "When you vote with your dollars, corporations listen," says Trish Riley, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Living ($16.95, Alpha, 2007).
For more in our green year planner, see:
"One Green Year: What You Can Do Today"
"One Green Year: What You Can Do This Week"
"One Green Year: What You Can Do Today"
"One Green Year: What You Can Do This Week"
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