Make Things Yourself

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Homemade/DIY projects are fun to do and can be extremely beneficial to the environment.  If you are not ready to grow your own food then buy fresh, local, unprocessed foods and cook up a nice recipe.  If cooking isn't your forte, then maybe arts and crafts are.  Consider giving homemade greeting cards based on your own photography!

The reason that making things yourself is green is because it does not require much economic activity.  You are not buying plastic goods produced at an environmentally degrading factory halfway across the world, then paying for pollution causing transport and then retailing costs, both financial and environmental. 

Many people like to make household items that the can actually use.  For example, instead of buying wasteful paper towels, re-use old rags or make new ones from old garments.  Others may consider making their own soap, cleaning solutions, or toothpaste.  This saves a TON of money and also limits the damage done by commercial factories.

In general, making or doing things oneself allows us to totally control and thus limit environmental damage.  When you buy something at a store, you never truly know all the details regarding where it came from and what methods were used to produce it, including their relevant environmental damage.  In addition, it can be extremely satisfying to make something using your own creative meddle.  Making something could spark a new hobby or even a potential small business!

Conserve Water in Everyday Situations

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Conservation of resources is one of the tenets of going green.  Society has made possible many luxuries that are quite affordable, but can have far-reaching costs for the environment and our future.  Running water is taken for granted by many, as it is nearly universal and affordable.  However, wasting this water is not green and should be avoided, no matter what.  Some of the earlier tips including running full loads will save both electricity and water.

 One simple way that I try to employ and think will be incredibly easy to implement in your lives is taking shorter and less frequent showers.  I am not advocating any stop bathing completely and become a dirty hippy, but certainly there are ways to shorten your showers so you can save valuable water.  Showers use gallons and gallons of water, and at minimum 25% of the water used is probably wasted.  There are water conserving shower-heads available as well, for those who want to take the next step.

Another pet peeve of mine is when people leave the water running while brushing their teeth.  This is completely unnecessary and pure laziness.  Simply turn of the water while you are brushing, and turn it on and off to rinse off.  This also applies to washing dishes by hand, turn off the stream while you are scrubbing!

I truly believe that water will and should become much more expensive in the next years.  Whether this is from a "green tax" imposed by governments, which would go to providing for other green pursuits, or if it is due to dwindling resources.  Like the bottle deposit, there should be a high cost for wasting water, which will cause people to reconsider their water usage.  Punishment, especially financial, works a lot better than rewards.  The people who decide to continue wasting should suffer a much larger penalty and some of those dollars diverted to other ways of going green.

Do not Run Partial Loads in Dishwasher/Laundry

  This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Of course it is probably more green to wash your clothes and dishes by hand, but with modern green technology, the difference is fairly minimal. Also, this series is seeking to provide practical ways to go green that will actually have results. In the words of some economist, "the low hanging fruit."

This tip follows the same thought process as driving less. Strive to get the maximum utility out of the energy we use. In the case of driving you don't take a trip for each errand, instead wait until you have a number of stops to make and hit them all at once. In this case, when you have dirty dishes or laundry wait until you have a full load to run the washing machine.

These machines are designed to run with full loads, and are more efficient this way. Waiting for a full load will conserve water, electricity and cleaning soap in one fell swoop.

Don't wear your clothes just a single time. Often they aren't dirty yet, and can be worn a couple more times. The less often you wash a piece of clothing, the longer it lasts. Also there is more $ in your pocket from spending less on energy and using cleaning soap slower.

For dishes, wash off sticky sauces by hand before putting in the dishwasher, so you don't have to wash again after the cycle. Also feel free to wash by hand if you have time, but make sure to shut the water off while scrubbing.

A final step is to not overuse soap. It is bad for the machine and will cause it to break down earlier. Also you will conserve more soap. Consider eco-friendly soap options if your budget can afford it.

Turn Off the Lights

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

We have already touched upon conserving gas when driving and we all know that we should reuse and repurpose old clothes and furniture.  Another aspect of our life that we can improve our green footprint is electricity consumption.  The easiest and most effective is to shut off the lights!

When you are done in the room, shut the lights off.  Leaving them on wastes electricity and causes more pollution by needing to produce more.  You do not need the lights on downstairs if you are upstairs, so shut them off.  This applies to other electronics, such as TVs, video games, computers, and even microwaves, just shut them off once you are finished using them.  Some people advocate unplugging them completely to save a tiny bit more energy, but not here on this list.  I am trying to offer and promote tips that are practical to implement but will actually provide results.

Another tip is to use energy conserving light bulbs and appliances, which I totally support.  Although, I believe you should use the items you already have before buying new ones.  Even for green products, there is a cost to producing each of these units, so finish using the items you have, and when it's time to replace them, consider the environmentally friendly options.

A final trick that I learned from my father is to automate the shutting off procedure for appliances.  Lights outside, inside, heating, and fans can all be set on timers instead of switches.  If you are handy, which is definitely green, then go ahead and still these timers yourself!  At my parents house we had the bathroom/shower fan set to a maximum of 20 minutes, then it would shut off automatically.  If you are taking longer than 20 minutes in the shower, that is not green!

Green Garbage?

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Garbage in the US is a major environmental problem.  Landfills are disgusting and they are rapidly growing, they waste potentially beautiful space, and are a symptom of our toxic culture.  We know that putting all that trash in one place can't be good for the earth, so learn to effecitively deal with your waste in a way that harms the environment as little as possible. 

In our house, there are three places that we put trash: compost, recycling and the trash barrel. (as a last resort)  Many things can be composted and recycled, so they do not have to be thrown out.  Old food can be composted and used as a fertilizer for you to grow your own food.  Almost all paper plastic and metal can be recycled, and since we have single stream recycling, they all go in the same barrel. 

Finally, if all else fails and you simply have to throw it away, then do so.  Make sure to dispose of electronics properly as chips and batteries contain corrosive ingredients which can hurt the environment substantially, if thrown into a landfill.  Also consider donating items of clothing, furniture, and media to thrift shops or onto the free section of Craigslist.  This will give others a chance to give your stuff a second lease on life!

As you can see, none of these suggestions will take that much additional time or effort, but I assure you the benefits will be worth the increased effort.  Consider the implications of what you do before you do it, that's the motto here at Think Act Prosper.

Reusable Water Bottles

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

 This tip may seem pretty obvious and simple to many of you readers, yet everyday I see discarded Poland Springs, Dasani, and Smart Water bottles all over the place. First of all, buying these bottles is a raw deal, the markup is insane! Even when bought in bulk (which is bad for the environment) the cost is still high considering it's just filtered water. Don't even get me started on the LA restaurant Bazaar's "water bar".

The solution is to buy a reusable water bottle, I have a Sigg and Nalgene, and my wife has a Camelbak, I'm sure there are other quality vendors like Klean Kanteen, etc, but that doesnt really matter. The point is to get one, it should be available locally for under 20 bucks. Wash it out and start carrying it daily. 

Fill it everywhere you go, the tap at home, if your water is good, or through a filter such as a Brita. Public water fountains and many workplaces offer filtered water, the bubbler at the gym, whatever. Every time you refill it you are saving .25-2$, and you are not potentially creating waste and by limiting reliance on plastic bottles lowering pollution!

If you do have to resort to buying water, buy a large gallon or other container, return it for a bottle deposit where applicable, or put it with your other plastic recyclables.  Then when you are done with it, re-purpose it, like used shopping bags, as its own reusable water bottle (consider BPAs which many water bottles have)

Shopping Bags

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Almost all retailers provide plastic or paper bags for every transaction and customer.  These are often provided at no additional costs, and thus customers do not value them.  This adds up to lots of waste and pollution, since people discard these bags after bringing home their purchases.  There are many easy solutions to this issue that would significantly curb this unnecessary waste.  

My favorite is reusable bags.  This could mean a burlap sack, cloth bag, or a plastic bag that is durable.  Packing these on the way to your store is a simple step, then simply bag the groceries/items yourself or give them to the bagging person.  These bags can be acquired in many ways; given out free as marketing or promotion, purchased from a dollar at a retailer or given by family and friends.  Even consider using a backpack especially when you are not driving. Many retailers even offer small incentives for bringing your own bags.  Trader Joe's enters your in a drawing for a gift card and Whole Foods offers 5 cents a bag.  

For those times that you forget to bring your reusable bags and need to use store provided ones, there are a few things you can do to limit harm.  First, fill the bags up, so you don't use more than you need.  Second, reuse or re-purpose these bags at home, there are tons of different applications, something will always come up that gives these bags a second lease on life.  Finally, after they have run their useful life, recycle them properly, rather than putting them into the garbage.