I've been recycling for years, but it was not until I read Alex Shoumatoff's article in the May 2007 issue of Vanity Fair ", an eco-system of One's Own" I realized that it is much 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 everyone can and should, be it in an effort to preserve our rapidly changing planet.
1. Recycle. Minnesota has been a leader in recycling, this is something we have been doing. We recycle newspapers, cardboard, cans, bottles, plastic and glass. Quick tip - rinse or wash your recyclables and you will not attract bugs.
2. Washing and reusing plastic storage and sandwich bags. It is not difficult and there is the added value of money. It's years since I bought a new box of plastic storage bags.
3. Printing on both sides of the paper. One of the truly amazing facts Mr. Shoumatoff mentioned in his article is that no federal agency in the United States uses both sides of the paper when printing documents. My late father, Jerry, had this to a science in his office and again, I had not expected to years.
4. Take less, or buying a fuel-efficient vehicles. If you do not drive less, such as consolidating your travels? Since I work at home, I have not the endless commute many Americans, but I consolidate my errands and appointments. The ultimate change in driving habits is a fuel-efficient vehicles like a Toyota Prius. Al Gore was the son picked up his trip with a speed of 100 mph plus, so that complaints of slow running in a hybrid vehicle are now moot. Another option, especially for those living in urban areas graeren - use mass transit.
5. Keep a cloth bag in your car for small trips to the store, pharmacy, etc. As already mentioned, plastic bags become another environmental disaster in the making, with limited resources and not biodegradable. Firstly, plastic made from crude oil, natural gas and coal, all of finite resources. Secondly, plastic is not biodegradable, and will continue in the environment for hundreds of years. For more information about this topic can be found in the Australian Web Sites Clean Up Australia and the Berkeley, California based Ecology Center below.
6. Keep the heat in your home, the lower and higher air conditioning. For example, we keep our thermostat to 66 degrees on average in winter to 62 day and at night (and we live in Minnesota). For summer, we set the climate 76 to 78 degrees during the day and not less than 74 degrees during the night time. In any case, you are not only resources but saves money, particularly given the recent cost of fuel.
7. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Also here is not only saves resources, but can reduce electric bill. If you do not need the light, turn it off!
8. Replace light bulbs with energy-efficient fluorescent tubes. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) use less energy and have a longer life. In the United States, a CFL can save about $ 30 in electricity costs over the life of the bulb compared to a light bulb and save 2000 times their own weight in greenhouse gases.
9. Check the filter for your ventilation system and replace it often in regelmaigen intervals to repeat it. Replacement may be made by any 90 day period to 3-4 months depending on the home.
10. Replace your toilet. If your house was built before 1992 and has never been replaced, it is very likely that you have no water efficient, that the toilet uses 1.6 gallons per flush. The difference? Some older toilets use up to 8 litres of water per flush. WC's date stamp - the year was produced - is in the tank on the back. Grate toilets are the consumers of water in your home.
11. Take 3-minute showers or less, and replace the shower heads with low-flow. You will not even notice. Other places you can reduce your water use is less frequent flushing to get out of the water while brushing teeth, and not letting water run.
12. Run the dishwasher only when it is full. With this approach, I have two of our dishwasher three times per week compared to all day.
13. Ordnungsgema dispose of electronic equipment. Another ecological disaster, discarded electronics eat up landfill space at an alarming rate and put toxic substances into the soil. We take the time to find community programs or companies that ordnungsgema dispose of old computers, televisions, mobile phones, equipment and other electronics. We can not update our phones every two years, but they keep longer.
14. If you are a coffee drinker, bring your own mug for the latt� to go. Caribou coffee houses, such as your own itinerary pitcher and some farms offer ermaigte prices on refillable cups. In the office, to avoid Styrofoam cups as the scourge of the environment they are and bring your own reusable cups. If your drink of choice is bottled water, use a Nachfellkanister rather than buying dozens of plastic bottles over a month. See the information on plastic above.
15. Non-away clothes, furniture, shoes, accessories, household appliances, etc. Donations these elements in a good condition to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, churches or other social service agencies. We make donations several times a year on the good will and the area churches, where they have a second or third life of someone else, can really use. The amount of usable goods, wind up in landfills way before their time is unbelievable and unnecessary.
These are just some of the things that you and your family can do to save resources, money and our environment. But think about it - almost 75% of what Americans throw away can be recycled. America has become the ultimate disposable society, but to preserve the Earth for future generations requires that we all seriously Lifestyle changes.
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