Collectively, small lifestyle changes can make a huge impact on the environment-and your life. Looking for happiness and health? What’s good for the environment is also, it turns out, great for you. Here’s a collection of tips from the No Impact community.
After the birth of our daughter, my husband and I were horrified at the amount of waste we were creating with diapers. I decided to only take the trash out every other week. This forced us to recycle more than we trashed. I started buying products with little packaging or packaged with recyclable materials. We also use “green” trash bags made of corn products that are biodegradable. We plan to potty train my daughter as soon as possible in order to cut down on waste. Just being concious of the waste your family creates is a first step.
This post was submitted by Casey .
Buy reusable grocery bags and keep some in your car and your house. I’ve found so many uses for them other than groceries. And for those times when you forget or have too many groceries, collect the plastic bags and reuse them. An easy way to make a dispenser is to cut the leg or sleeve off an old piece of clothing. Sew elastic into the opening on one end and a drawstring on the other. Hang it by the drawstring, stuff bags in on top and pull them out from the bottom as you need them.
This post was submitted by Michelle.
Clothes dryers use a lot of energy! What could be simpler than drying on a clothesline?!? At least when the weather is good, and at least for larger and thicker items like sheets & jeans.
For permanent press items, it helps to tumble them on air dry (no heat) for several minutes before hanging out.
For those who object to the stiffer texture of line dried items, you can briefly tumble them on air (no heat) after they’re dry.
This post was submitted by Alan.
All across the US there is a group called “Freecycle”. They are online, and you can usually only join for your local area.
They work by you offering things that are still usable but no longer need or want. This has been great in our area. I’ve given away a printer, reclyner and a treadmill (which we obtained from another freecycle member).
This realy lets you get the whole use out of items, and keeps them out of the landfill. I’ve seen people give away old tires, cardboard boxes, lots of things.
This post was submitted by kevin.
I actually got this idea after reading Amy Tan’s discussion of her trip to China. She described that they didn’t fill the bathtubs very deep. I’ve started doing that, using a wash cloth and a cup to wash with. I use the cup to pour water over myself. But, sometimes I want to really have a good soak and I’ll fill the tub up. It takes less time too, to fill the tub.
This post was submitted by dippi.