Lanah's Ideas on becoming GREEN!

I thought I’d share some things I’ve recently learned in a class on living more sustainably (so the earth we pass on to future generations can stand a chance…).  The organization that developed this class can be found at www.nwei.org.

Some VERY EASY things that we all can do that will have positive/sustainable effects on our planet:

BYOB - bring your own bottles & bags!
The best answer to “Paper or Plastic?” is NEITHER.  Bring your own re-usable bags whenever you shop.  I find that keeping one of those tiny “ChicoBags” in my purse prevents ever having to use those flimsy  plastic bags.  Re-using an aluminum container for water or bringing your own cup to your local coffee shop is easily done.

PRE-CYCLE 
Re-cycling is good, but it is EVEN BETTER to not buy things you don’t really need.  You can use the library, patronize vintage clothing stores, and always try to avoid products with too much packaging waste.  There are MANY ways to pre-cycle and raising your consciousness is the 1st important step!

Become more of a LOCAVORE
A “locavore” is a made-up word for someone that eats food that is grown locally.  You can also expand this concept to anything you buy (consider how far it had to travel, thus petroleum products and other resources used to get it to you).  You can patronize farmer’s markets or subscribe to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to get your weekly allotment of veggies and/or fruits, and consider eating less meat.  Here’s a link to a list of CSAs local to the bay area:
http://www.localharvest.org/search-csa.jsp?lat=37.4123&lon=-121.86291&scale=5&ty=6&co=1&nm=

Less trash can save you money!
Lots of things you can do to be more sustainable will save you $, but here’s one you could see every time you get your utility bill.  If you change from the standard 32 gallon size trash can to a 20 gallon one, your monthly bill in RWC for that will go down from $19 to $8! (http://www.redwoodcity.org/finance/utility/utilityrates.html#garbage)

SHARE with others
Share your sustainable thoughts/ideas/habits with others.  I read an interesting (though poorly titled) article in the NY Times (http://tinyurl.com/msghry)about this concept.  We may have more impact on others than we ever imagined.

Links and other stuff:

• See where many of the world’s flimsy plastic bags end up and NEVER WANT TO USE ONE AGAIN.  You can “google” many ways to find links to the great plastic gyres that occupy unthinkably large parts of our oceans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch ).

• You can have your home energy-assessed for free, and Acterra will most likely find easy changes for you to make that will save you money on your utility bill. (http://www.acterra.org/programs/greenathome/housecalls.html )

This only scratches the surface of sustainability issues, and I know that it’s not always easy to live more sustainably.  I admit I use my car more often than I probably could/should, and that some issues are quite complicated.   I’m no expert at all, but feel free to call or email me if you want to talk about any of this!