Spring Cleaning

Spring is in full swing here in New England, as temperatures peaked up above 70 degrees in Boston over the weekend.  After a dreadful winter, with historic snow totals, every single citizen of the region is ready for Spring.  An annual tradition, across the globe, is the practice of Spring cleaning.  Out with the old and in with the new.  Or, if you are a Think, Act, Prosper reader, then let's try to make it just out with the old.  If you really need something new, lets carefully consider the options and make sure that it is something you need critically before purchasing, quality over quantity.

Spring cleaning is generally the time when you clean your entire residence from top to bottom, every nook and cranny.  As you go, you will come across a number of items that have long outlived their welcome and need to be disposed of.  Think of it as another time to declutter.  This year, take a critical look at items that you have not used, and likely won't use again.  Even if they have some sentimental value, but literally no practical value, they should probably be purged.  If you see things that could be repurposed, make sure to set them aside!

I like to start with big jobs first, and for my family that is the kitchen and bedrooms.  The kitchen is used every day, since we much prefer to make our own food than purchase take out food.  This means that the oven, microwave, and cupboards get dirty.  Obviously, we spot clean as needed, but the spring cleaning ritual is a great time to do a more thorough cleaning than we typically would.  Next, each person is responsible for cleaning up their bedrooms, and we will aggregate all the items that are no longer needed to dispose of them in the proper manner.  Another perpetual junk collector is the garage, take special notice for items that might have value to someone else, and give them away!

I am not going to put together a guide, because I actually think Martha Stewart's checklist is quite solid!

Repurpose What You Can

Repurposing things is a great way to avoid new purchases and help the environment.  I always try to re-use plastic/paper bags from the grocery store and other shops as many times as possible.  I use newspapers from work as packing material.  I always use a refillable water bottle.  Those are obvious, but here are some of other ideas!

If you aren't buying in bulk already, then you are likely accumulating a ton of packaging from the modern food industry.  One of my favorite repurposing tips is to take the jars that salsa comes in, wash them out, and use for organizational purposes, Mason style jars make great cups as well!

This may be obvious to people, but if you do a lot of mailing, particularly for gifts, you should always seek to repurpose the boxes you receive to save on packaging!  Then you can use newspaper or mailing to ensure the package is tightly packed and the contents safe inside!  While I like to send gifts electronically to avoid the damage of shipping cross country via a courier, sometimes you need to send your homemade gifts to your cousin in Los Angeles!

If you ever purchased CD's in bulk to create your own playlists, repurpose the empty container into a bagel sandwich holder!  Obviously not practical for everyone, but it looks great.

Paperclips are great for wire organization rather than purchasing some plastic doo-hicky.

Repurpose old books as shelves, for a cool antique look

I use broken clay pots as garden markers rather than purchasing some sort of cardboard marker that sticks in the ground.  Aesthetically they are much more pleasing, and it gives new life to your chipped pots!

Buy Once - Quality Over Quantity (Minimalism)

Buying products is an integral part of life in the modern world.  We need products to provide various services and for various functions that make up our lives.  The bad part of this, is that the manufacture, sale, distribution, etc of these products can have a horrible impact on the environment.  My thesis is to buy something of high quality that will last an extremely long time, so that we can minimize the amount of purchases that need to be made.  A prime example of this is in clothing, which is something I think about constantly, but it also applies to furniture, cooking utensils, and really every product.  The one that can be most frustrating, is technology which goes through constant iteration, and products that were recently state of the art are almost entirely outdated in a few years.

Let's consider this through the furniture example.  Furniture at Ikea or other low cost makers is extremely affordable for any budget, however the expected life on many things is only several years.  In addition, the amount of travel and economic output that went into this product is extremely high.  Instead, you could contract with a local woodworker to have a piece custom made for your home with high quality materials.  Sure, the price would be much higher, but you would have a one of a kind piece, made by a local craftsman.

That may be a bit extreme, especially since the marginal price increase of artisan furniture is probably beyond the budgetary confines of most people.  Instead, you diligently research your options and find a piece that you know will last you a long time from a stylistic perspective, and also make sure that the item is sturdy and well built.  For example, check out the Herman Miller above.  This means you will not need to replace it nearly as soon.

If your piece of furniture begins to wobble in its legs, instead of just donating it to the Goodwill (or even worse throwing it in the garbage) try to repair it yourself.  Or if you are not able to, call in a favor with a handy friend.  It would even be preferable to consult with a carpenter who would possibly be able to repair it himself.

This applies to all things.  If your computer is slowing down, instead of simply replacing it, see if you can upgrade it.  Your car as well.  Clothing may become damaged or you may gain/lose a few pounds.  That's what tailors are for, especially if the garment is well made, it can be adjusted.  Shoes can be repaired.  Make sure to perform all regular maintenance to ensure that you can facilitate the longest possible life out of these assets.

Go Green for Free

Going green is often done by those who are thrifty in method, it can be a great money saver over time, but one of the biggest problems is start up costs.  Not everyone has $35,000 laying around to buy a Prius and not necessarily everyone can afford to buy from a CSA.  I would definitely argue that both of these things are worth the money, but that is beside the point.  I wanted to present some ways to go green that won't cost a penny, and hopefully will have a positive impact.

1) Reuse - Reusing stuff is one of the simplest ways to go green for free.  Need rags?  Don't buy them from Target, cut up old threadbare shirts or sheets, these make perfect rags.  Storage containers?  Reuse old grocery bags, beer crates, produce boxes!

2) Recycle - Take your old bottles and cans to be turned to cash in bottle deposit states, something that I think should be expanded.  In those states you will make 5-10 pennies per can.  Even if you don't live in one of those states, recycling require minimal effort, especially in single stream recycling communities.

3) Borrow - Before you go out and buy something new, especially a book or media, ask your social network if they have it available for you to borrow.  Maybe you can repay them buy letting them borrow one of the many things you already own, or trade another service such as cooking or watching their children.  Libraries are a great resource, not only for dusty old books, but DVDs and Blu-Rays are available in most towns.

4) Re-gift - Giving green gifts is an extremely effective way of saving money.  You can bake, cook, build or create online tons of gifts that will be appreciated.  You can also let your extended family know that you would prefer they not purchase you any items for upcoming events.  Let them know your philosophy about buying frivolous things and the impact it has on the environment.  They might think you a little eccentric, but will respect you.  If you have something that you received as a gift, don't feel bad to re-gift it to someone else, just make sure you don't give it back to the person who gave it to you!

5) Exercise outside - Don't get me wrong, I love to exercise in the gym, but that $30 a month that Gold's gym takes from you each month really adds up.  Not only that, but they keep the lights, TVs, and legion of machines on 24 hours a day at many gyms, no need to support that!  Get outside, take a hike, run, walk, play.  It's free!

I hope I can come up with more cost-free tips to go green, but feel free to check out my list of 20 Effective Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference.

T.A.P. 2012 Year in Review

If I haven't said it before, thanks for reading my lowly little blog.  I write it because it gives me an outlet to promote my thoughts regarding recycling, green living, and environmental friendliness.  The blog is not an overwhelming commercial success in any sense of the word, but thanks for those of you who put up and occasionally click on ads through my blog.  I sincerely thank you for tolerating them even though I generally am not in love with the thought of acquiring more items.

I have made many personal strides in my own life this year.  Eating locally, purchasing items second hand, preferring hand made goods to those commercially made abroad are some of the strategies I have focused on.  I will continue to put these to good use, and may even opt in to a local CSA for the summer months. 

Here are three of the most popular posts on Think, Act, Prosper this year, and I hope you will re-read them or discover them for the first time, since many of these articles are worth reading more than once!

1) Replace Paper Towels with Rags
2) Use Natural Light and Air Conditioning
3) Go Green: Beer Growlers
4) Green Investing
5) Buy Food in Bulk

Check out my series 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference for a number of small ways to make impactful change

Finally my favorite post of all time, Single Stream Recycling, a topic I plan to revisit!

Environmentally Friendly Christmas

Holiday Seasons are upon us and as an Anglo-Saxon American, I celebrate Christmas with my family.  The holidays are a time of excess and consumption here in the United States.  It's extremely unfortunate, because the bedrock of Christmas is the Christian holiday, but all of that has changed.  People eat tons of unhealthy food, max out their credit cards to buy gifts, and drive all over the place to get to sales, malls, and various parties.

All of this is a shame and it hurts our precious environment.  Here in New England, where I live, we are having an extremely mild winter so far, which one of my favorite bloggers, An Affordable Wardrobe, touched on this week.  This thrift shopper extraordinaire laments the lack of snow and bone chilling cold of the days of yore, and although it can't be definitively proved that global warming and our pollution is at fault, it can't help.

We do not necessarily need to go as far as Leo of Zen Habit's who is advocating his Buy Nothing Until 2013 Challenge.  There are however some things you can do to limit the impact you have on the environment this holiday season.

• Consider second hand gifts, such as from a thrift store or eBay
• Green gifts
• Make things yourself, people love a personal touch
• Bring your own bags when you go shopping
• Support a local business and buy a real Christmas tree and adorn it with homemade ornaments
• Buy local food in bulk for meals
• Have a fire with your family, and turn off the lights
• If Grandma gives everyone ugly Christmas sweaters (or not), turn down the heat!
• Drive less often, and when you need to go to malls or parties, drive slower!
• Be careful with waste, always recycle

Obviously, we all can't do all of these, but we should do our best to enjoy the holidays responsibly!

Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkuh!

20 Ways to Go Green That Make a Difference - COMPLETE!

On September 12, 2011, I penned a list of 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference.  It took me more than half a year, but I am glad to say that I have finished.   I tried to write up tips that would not be huge investments of time or money, and would actually have a positive impact.  I think that I was successful.  Here is the full list, I have bolded the posts that I think are my best.

1) Drive less 
2) Drive at or below speed limit, saves gas and is safer

3) Eat local food, less resources used for transport and supports local farmers

4) Grow your own vegetables, even if its just herbs in your window

5) Bring your own bags to the grocery store, fully reuse paper/plastic bags if you forget

6) Drink from a reusable water bottle

7) Green garbage?
8) Turn off lights when you are not using them

9) Run full loads in the dishwasher/laundry
10) Conserve water in everyday situations
11) Make things yourself
12) Use rechargeable batteries

13) Buy clothes/furniture sensibly

14) Utilize libraries, and other green options for media

15) Give green gifts

16) Green Investing

17) Volunteer

18) Use natural light and "air conditioning"

19) Limit food packaging, buy food in bulk

20) Use rags or old clothing over paper towels

My next series will be on affordable ways to go green, I have still not developed the list, but I expect there will be more than 10.  Not everyone can afford to buy a Prius, but we can all find ways to go green!

Replace Paper Towels with Rags

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. 

Paper towels are extremely expensive.  Several cents per sheet, in fact.  Don't believe me?  Peruse your local Wal-Mart and see the packs of rolls on sale for $20.  They are also extremely not green.  Many people use them for a small stain and toss them right in the garbage.

A much better alternative is to use rags.  The key with them is reusability.  Unlike a paper towel, after you soil a rag, just toss it in the laundry.  If you have a large set of rags, you can run a load just for rags, or even toss them in with your regular laundry.  While this does increase the cost from the ~75 cents you pay for the rag, it will pay off in green dividends and cash dividends if you wash the rag enough times.

Rags do not necessarily have to be purchased, and this is where the real savings both green and otherwise comes in.  You already have a bunch of rags sitting in your closets somewhere, the fiber is just in the form of your old clothing.  Old t-shirts (see above) make great rags, and repurposing your old clothes means you don't need to outlay any money for rags.  Just grab your scissors and an old shirt or set of sheets and cut into rectangles.  Soon you will have a big bucket of rags.  Reach for them in any situation that you would need a paper towel.

Finally, if you must use paper towels, make sure to get maximum utility from them.  Do not use a huge piece of towel for a miniature stain.  Make sure to grab a small piece of towel and use it completely.  If you are mopping something up, make sure to wring out the excess liquids and try to re-use.  If you end up getting a paper towel not that dirty, you can recycle it.

Buy Food in Bulk

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. 

The modern food industry is a topic that fascinates me and is often the subject of posts here.  There are many ways we can make this industry greener and it is very important to consider changes, as this is one of the industries that affects every single person in the world.  We all need to eat, and if we can make green improvements in this industry, the scale will make a big impact.

One of the biggest problems is packaging.  It is very wasteful and in most cases unnecesary.  Preservation of food is one thing, but the excess packaging favored by marketing types to "differentiate" processed foods is completely excess and unnecesary. 

We do not need food wrapped tightly in plastic, then stuffed into a cardboard box. Many of us simply see this as more garbage, and promptly deposit it into the trash barrel.  This could be recycled, which would be better, but what would be best is simply avoiding it at all.  I have mentioned my "deposit theory" and I believe if there were a deposit on cardboard boxes and plastic bags, it would incentivize people to reduce consumption or increase recycling, any excess money would go to recycling programs to sort the actual garbage to find deposits which were not redeemed. This would create more jobs and would improve the environment, a win/win if there ever was one.

One way individuals can go green is by buying their food in bulk.  Not just granola is available, although feel free to buy that in bulk as well.  Beans, rice, nuts, candy, flour, sugar, spices, vegetables, coffee, meat, syrup, honey and many other commodity goods can be purchased with simple bags (that you will re-use) and priced by the pound.  You may want to consider bringing reuseable containers right to the store, to avoid wasting bags.  Another way to buy in bulk is by purchasing a large side of beef direct from a farmer or a fish from a fisherman and wrapping it minimally before putting it directly into your fridge or freezer.  Bring back old egg cartons and fruit boxes to the farmers market and re-fill them.  There are many ways to go green in the food packaging world, so be creative.

A related topic is the packaging of commercial foods.  Although 100 calorie snack packs allow you to keep your portions of crappy processed food in check, they are mainly vehicles that allow food companies and their marketing teams to make a few more percentage points of profit from you.  Avoid pre-sliced food that is then packaged and sold in smaller containers (for a higher price).  When buying deli meats, have them weight your meat and cheese separately, then put into one deli bag.

These changes may seem small, and on an individual scale, they might not make a difference.  However over the course of a year they certainly will.  Every human on the planet needs food and if they bought in bulk, it would cause a huge shift in the food industry and cut down on waste and pollution.  I also bet everyone would have a few more bucks left in their pockets!  Green and cheap, a solid combination.  Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma is a great read if you want to re-think the food industry.

Go Green: Beer Growlers

As anyone who reads my other blog, A Terrific Life, knows that I love beer.  Specifically, good, local craft beer.  The beer brewing process uses an unfortunately large amount of resources, specifically water, grains, and electricity.  The beer must then be stored while it ferments, and then packaged and shipped to the consumer.  Then the cans or bottles are often discarded or thrown in the trash, rather than recycled.

Growlers present a great alternative that will hopefully limit the environmental impact of the packaging and distributing activities involved in beer.  Growlers are large jugs, often 32 or 64 ounces, that can be filled directly from the tanks or kegs and sold directly to customers.  This cuts out the distributor, since consumers can buy the beer directly from the brewery.  Also, there will not be electricity wasted on packaging, storing, and shipping the cans or bottles that are traditionally used in the beer market.  In addition, the nature of a growler means that you will be getting fresher beer, often from a local brewery.  This is important, because beer tastes better the fresher it is, and there is not as much energy wasted in storage between the time produced and ultimately consumed.  Finally, supporting local businesses is something we always encourage.

Another point that I like about growlers is the higher bottle deposit. This is something that I have advocated in the past and stand by firmly.  Many people who do not recycle, would, if it was in their own selfish best interest to do so.  This can be accomplished by raising recycling deposit limits.  People will have to shell out extra money for the container when purchasing, and then be refunded upon return.  Growlers are large containers, and I am sure expensive to buy, so they charge $1.50-$5 bottle deposits.  Of course, once you pay it once, you can re-use the growler or bring it back and exchange it at the brewery for a new one. 

Selling growlers makes good business and environmental sense, as the middle-man distributors are cut out, and there is less waste as a result of packaging beer into 6-36 packs of bottles and cans, and the recquisite packaging for individual retail and wholesale cases.  Of course growlers can not serve every single consumers needs, but using them more, as well as increasing bottle deposits on smaller vessels will help to lower the environmental impact of one of my favorite beverages.

Drink Craft Beer!

Green NCAA March Madness

The play-in games, or Round 1, as the NCAA is trying to push, are upon us.  The NCAA March Madness tournament is one of the biggest sporting events of the year, after the Super Bowl.  It may seem like an odd time to think about the environment or going green, but I consider it a reminder and a prompt for us to reconsider and evaluate how we think about our impact on the world.  Also, it s a time where many often host parties or gatherings, which can result in a large amount of unintended and ultimately unnecessary waste.

Let me preface by saying that I am a huge fan of the game of basketball, and although I prefer the NBA, and my beloved Boston Celtics, I still am a fan of the college game as well.  The desperation that is brought out by a single elimination tournament cannot be matched in professional sports other than in championship situations.  Let's take a look at some of the points I thought were important regarding the green aspect of March Madness.

First of all, there is the electricity consumed while people make up their brackets, watch games on the television or computer, and even stream them through their mobile devices.  Granted, this would probably occur normally anyways, but I think it is always important to be conscious of when we are using energy.  There are often parties or gatherings to get together to watch games.  This is one of the positive aspects of a group event like this, a single television can be shared by many, not to mention the great times had by sharing the experience of an underdog taking out a heavy favorite.

Where there are parties gathered to watch sports, there is likely to be food and alcohol, whether at a house or restaurant.  The host of the party may ask guests to bring specific items, such as appetizers, drinks, or an entree.  This will help to limit the amount of excess waste that is produced.  My recommendation to improve on this is to have the host provide all the food for the event, and charge a small fee.  This will allow the green-conscious party to provide just enough food for the amount of people expected, and in addition, there will not be the waste by-products from all the packaging material that guests would inevitably bring if left to their own devices.  As always, a focus on local foods is a positive idea.

If you are going to drink beers, consider drinking locally brewed craft beer, in a can or growler if you can find it!

There is going to be a ton of garbage and mess after the party, make sure to take care and dispose of it all properly.  Recycle as needed.  You can have the guests all do their part before they leave, especially as they are all aware that your party is a green one.  Before, during or after the games consider getting outside and actually playing basketball.  It is a great, fun way to excercise with no effect on the environment!

Enjoy the tournament and go Michigan State Spartans!!!

Single Stream Recycling

After a very green Thanksgiving, spent volunteering at the local homeless shelter, our family's 10th year of the tradition, I came home and watched some NFL football at my parents house.  Tony Romo and the Cowboys were given quite a scary by the wily Miami Dolphins squad, but they pulled it out in the end.  My father asked me to take a bag of garbage down to the trash and next to his garbage barrel, was another one marked "single stream recycling."  This was news to me, so I decided to research more.

Single stream or "fully commingled" recycling basically means that all recyclable materials: papers, plastics, glass, metals are combined, and then sorted at the recycling facility.  Traditionally, separate collections of paper and other materials was the norm, and required separate containers.  I think the new single-stream method is far superior and offers significant benefits, but obviously these come with added costs.

The benefits end up making recycling more attractive.  People are busy and if a process requires too much time, it will simply be cut out, even by those with the best intentions.  Separating and maintaing different locations for different types of recyclables is a time consuming process and many people may simply opt to throw everything into the garbage instead of bothering with sorting.  Single-stream makes it much easier, since all recyclable material is combined, making recycling much easier for people to implement.  Collection costs go down as well since trucks can simply combine all materials together, instead of needing separate locations for paper or glass only. 

The downside is that all new things come at a cost.  There is the capital investment required to produce new containers and to educate people about the new system.  Then there are extra ongoing costs for processing the combined recycling into separate piles.  Another legitimate concern is the fact that the recyclables will be contaminated by extra dirty things being thrown in due to careless recyclers.  For example, if paper is contaminated it can only be recycled to a lower quality use.

The chance to increase recycling, by making the process easier, far outweighs the added costs.  The costs could be funded by other recycling taxes such as bottle deposits or a small tax.  Any reasonable measure to increase recycling participation should be considered and gradually implemented.

Follow Up: Drink Bottled Water

" In 1976 Americans drank an average of 1.6 gallons of bottled water every year. Roughly 30 years later consumption increased to 30 gallons per person, according to the Earth Policy Institute —- despite the fact that bottled water can cost anywhere from 240 to 10,000 times more than tap water, which is brought right to your home for pennies a gallon. " (link)

Solution: Buy a reuseable water bottle!

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.

Drive Slowly

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.

As I mentioned in yesterday's tip, driving is one of the largest contributors to pollution.  In addition to driving less often, the manner in which we drive can have a huge impact on the environment.

Every time you hit the brakes you are wasting energy expended to get you up to that speed.  Driving slowly, at or below the speed limit will make you waste less from braking.  Also more fuel is used to attain and maintain higher speeds, which means driving slower will conserve gas.  Speeding up to 70 MPH from 55 MPH does not save you much time on your commute, so don't do it.

Another benefit is safety on the roads.  As a reader of this blog, you are someone who cares about going green you do not want to ever do harm to others.  Driving fast is not as safe, and by driving more slowly, lowers the risk of accident.  If a car accident occurs, expensive new parts or even a replacement is not a good use of resources, especially if it could have been avoided by driving slower.

Another green driving tip is to always maintain your car with scheduled oil change and emissions checks.  This limit damage done to the environment by dirty emissions.  This will also lower the rate of break downs and save you from costly repairs and replacements.  Not idling in your car, when it is unnecessary, will also conserve gas.  Turning the AC off and opening your windows will help the environment as well.

20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference

You always see tips to go green that are very small and will not make a difference.  I have drawn up a list of 20 effective tips that will do the most overall good.  Please feel free to leave any posts in the comments that you think I missed, lets only include things that will really make an impact and is practical to implement.  I am going to also expand on each of these in a separate post, and will edit this page with the links each time.

1) Drive less 
2) Drive at or below speed limit, saves gas and is safer

3) Eat local food, less resources used for transport and supports local farmers

4) Grow your own vegetables, even if its just herbs in your window

5) Bring your own bags to the grocery store, fully reuse paper/plastic bags if you forget

6) Drink from a reusable water bottle

7) Green garbage?
8) Turn off lights when you are not using them

9) Run full loads in the dishwasher/laundry
10) Conserve water in everyday situations
11) Make things yourself
12) Use rechargeable batteries

13) Buy clothes/furniture sensibly

14) Utilize libraries, and other green options for media

15) Give green gifts

16) Green Investing

17) Volunteer

18) Use natural light and "air conditioning"

19) Limit food packaging, buy food in bulk

20) Use rags or old clothing over paper towels