Our students in 11th and 12th grades are taking a two-week low-impact challenge. Right now they’re doing individual challenges, but as a school, we’re using no non-essential electric lights. So the lights have been off in the high school for over a week now, and it’s been very nice. The principal commented on how calming it was.
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This post was submitted by Leah Plath.
We all know how much a human being polutes, so this is the BEST you can do to lower impact on a long term.
Let me tell you, life without kids is great: I have a lot of time and I retired at 38 (some money, easy/cheap lifestyle and no kids) which would not be possible with kids. The environment is actually one of the reasons we don’t want kids. We didn’t like to put a child in this already messed up world and implicitely contributing to it.
Just give it a thought before you start having kids; kids might be fun, but also a lot of work, and life without them is not actually “better” or “worse”, just different. In our case, we are very happy not having them!
This post was submitted by Frank.
I decided to stop buying the newspaper 3 times a week. Same for magazines (which I was totally addicted to).
My husband and I stopped buying coffee-to-go in paper cups and drink coffee at home.
When I go grocery shopping I take my reusable bags with me and politely decline all plastic bags.
I decided to stop eating red meat.
I decided to try to make my own toning lotion with natural fruit juices and water, instead of buying one full of chemicals (I realized that the one I recently bought at the store was giving me allergies!).
I decided to stop flushing the toilet everytime I use it, and I’m teaching my 3 year old daughter to do the same.
I decided to stop buying harmful cleaning products and use borax, bicarbonate and vinegar instead.
That’s all for now, but I’m planning to do a lot more in the near future…Which is a huge challenge here in the DR because here NOBODY lifts a finger to protect the environment. There is no recycling, no organic food, and people don’t have a clue about ecology…SCARY!
This post was submitted by MARIE SANTOS .
My family recently purchased a share in a local farm, Community Shared Agriculture (CSA). For a very reaasonable price we will be recieving local, organic produce from a farm right here in Colorado! We will be eating what is fresh and in season. The produce is brought just a few short miles to a neghborhood very close by and distrubuted to the shareholders in the area. We receive a share of fresh fruit and veggies once a week from June all the way to December. We own a share in the farm and are invited to events and to get to know our local farmers personally. We are even invited to work on the farm. I feel this is a HUGE help not only ecologically but economically. When we buy a share we are suppporting the local organic farmers, what could be better!
If you are interested go to localharvest.org to find a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) farm to participate in
This post was submitted by Stacy.
I am quitting my addiction to food wrapped in individual packages.
I found a website called reusablebags.com and have decided to start buying food in bulk at my local co-op using reusable bags, taking my lunch to work in reusable containers, and doing whatever else necessary to eliminate the number of plastic bags/containers I throw in the bin. My goal is to get down to less than 1/2 bag of trash per week.
Truthfully, I think using my own bags for food might be a healthier alternative to using the plastic. Who knows where those bags came from and how they were processed.
This post was submitted by Kristin Noelle.
I am writing on behalf of my mom, who does not own or know how to use a computer. While reading “No Impact Man” I would sometimes read portions out loud to my mom, Angela. As a result, before she even began reading the book on her own (which she just finished), she decided to start by separating her trash.She NEVER recycled anything before. Just by separating her trash she reduced the number of 13 gallon garbage bags in her trash from 7 per week (for 1-2 people mind you) to 3 and sometimes 2! She started reading the book and now she does not line her smaller plastic garbage cans with plastic bags anymore, and she has cut down on her paper towel usage, which was unbelievably high, by using reusable cloths instead.She’s probably saving about 500 paper towels a month from going into the landfill. The best part for her was knowing there is something she actually CAN do to make a difference. And she has only just begun.
This post was submitted by Christine Mondello.
Eat only organic
Increasing plant based meals
Eating local from farmer’s markets
No take out- bring food with us.
Composting
Wash laundry in cold water
Chemical free household (cleaning with baking soda and vinegar, chemical free/ organic body care products)
Setting the thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer
Recycling
Reuse all cardboard - art trading cards, kids projects
Wearing preowned clothes
Enjoying nature on weekends instead of shopping
Adopting an animal from a shelter- then donating toys make from old clothes back to the shelter.
Hosting green bday parties with near zero waste
Bring cloth produce bags and bags for shopping
This post was submitted by Marga.
We live in a neighborhood that doesn’t allow cloths lines in the yard. We started drying our laundry on indoor wooden laundry racks(we have 4). We can do 2 loads a day if needed. It is just as nice as outdoors but without the bugs & bird poo.
This post was submitted by LaVern Thibodeaux.
I’ve always reused my shower water in order to flush the toilet. I have a shower/bath combo, so I simply plug the drain when I get in the shower and keep the water in there after I’m done. Throughout the day, whenever the toilet needs a flush (I still try to conserve my flushes), dip a large bucket in the bathtub and pour it in the toilet. Voila! Other uses for the leftover bath water include: rinsing my running clothes out in between washes.
This post was submitted by Holly.
By keeping an environmental blog that chronicles all my greening successess and failiures, I am inspired to meet my own goals of CO2 reduction. Seeing it all on “paper” is inspiring not only to me, but to others. Please see www.debgoesgreen.com for specifics
This post was submitted by Deb Seymour.