As an American currently studying in London for 4 months, I’ve already experienced how greener life in Europe can truly be. I walk 98% of the time to 98% of the places I travel. Also, farmer markets are more common than grocer chains. However, in an effort to further reduce my impact, I’ve started to take all my class notes by hand - less electricity. My cut off time for my laptop is 7:00 p.m. Not using my laptop forces me to fill my time with reading which I’ve taken a liking to again!
Also, I try not to use the heater at night (even though its freezing), I prefer to bundle myself in covers. Although I am not 100% impact-free, living in London has taught me the benefits of walking, using farmers’ markets, and simply reading for free. My efforts are minimum but I can’t wait to use these skills back home in Florida where I can give more and take less.
This post was submitted by Elizabeth Goueti.
I’m not sure taking notes by hand is the most environmentally friendly option… you use a lot more paper that way, which wastes both electricity and trees. Maybe you should try switching to an ebook reader (with writing capability) for both your books and note taking? They don’t use very much electricity, look just like real paper, and will save a bunch of trees! Plus you can easily transfer your notes to anyone or to your own computer, take notes in your books, take notes anywhere and carry them all with you in one lightweight little device, save money on books/paper, save trees, not use your computer so much which consumes a lot more energy.
Comment by Natalie — October 15, 2009 @ 12:42 pm