Today I'm joining thousands of bloggers around the world as part of Blog Action Day 2009. This year's topic is climate change. It is my sincere hope that each day we all do whatever we can in our own small way to help fight climate change because I truly believe it's the little things that we do each day that make the biggest difference, and I don't know about you but it makes me feel good too!
What I don't think we do enough of, however, is share our little tips with our friends, family and co-workers. Come on! What might seem obvious to you may not be for others, so spread the word and start chattin' up about all the little things you're doing. None of us are perfect, we're all leaving a footprint, but it's how softly you walk that makes the biggest difference and I enjoy the challenge of trying to go 'barefoot' whenever I can.
I've talked before about how eating local is important, on so many levels, not the least of which is cutting down on fuel emissions. However, moving to the country and living on a septic system (a very bad, bad septic system for almost a year) has made us re-look at some of our shopping habits. We now purchase eco-friendly toilet paper and paper towels and have switched from paper napkins to cloth. I picked that idea up from another blog and I wish I had thought of it sooner myself because cloth is just so darn prettier!
I refuse to buy plastic water bottles. We have a stash of cute steel bottles that we use for school, work, sports, hiking or day trips and, best of all, refills are free! We pack our lunches in re-usable containers and we try to limit the packaging we buy. My husband likes to make pudding in reusable containers rather than buy it pre-made and it gives him the flexibility to add in some fresh fruit, which is always tasty. And before it was no longer an option to use plastic bags, we switched to bins and re-usable cloth bags for all of our grocery shopping.
Now that we have the space, I can also compost to my hearts content. In fact, our two compost bins are so full, I think we may need to build a compost 'yard' next summer or whenever we get that far down our 'list' of repairs.
As you can see, they're not grand or novel ideas that we practice but the fact that we try to do what we can is what's most important. I know I'm teaching my kids to responsible citizens of this planet we call home and that future generations will one day be grateful. For in the end, it's not really the earth we're saving, this planet will be around for a long, long time to come but rather we're ensuring the survival of our species. We're far less adaptable and if we don't take the bull by the horns, we'll be trampled to extinction.
So, start now and share what you're doing to help fight climate change, inquiring minds want to know!
I've talked before about how eating local is important, on so many levels, not the least of which is cutting down on fuel emissions. However, moving to the country and living on a septic system (a very bad, bad septic system for almost a year) has made us re-look at some of our shopping habits. We now purchase eco-friendly toilet paper and paper towels and have switched from paper napkins to cloth. I picked that idea up from another blog and I wish I had thought of it sooner myself because cloth is just so darn prettier!
I refuse to buy plastic water bottles. We have a stash of cute steel bottles that we use for school, work, sports, hiking or day trips and, best of all, refills are free! We pack our lunches in re-usable containers and we try to limit the packaging we buy. My husband likes to make pudding in reusable containers rather than buy it pre-made and it gives him the flexibility to add in some fresh fruit, which is always tasty. And before it was no longer an option to use plastic bags, we switched to bins and re-usable cloth bags for all of our grocery shopping.
Now that we have the space, I can also compost to my hearts content. In fact, our two compost bins are so full, I think we may need to build a compost 'yard' next summer or whenever we get that far down our 'list' of repairs.
As you can see, they're not grand or novel ideas that we practice but the fact that we try to do what we can is what's most important. I know I'm teaching my kids to responsible citizens of this planet we call home and that future generations will one day be grateful. For in the end, it's not really the earth we're saving, this planet will be around for a long, long time to come but rather we're ensuring the survival of our species. We're far less adaptable and if we don't take the bull by the horns, we'll be trampled to extinction.
So, start now and share what you're doing to help fight climate change, inquiring minds want to know!
5 comments:
Excellent post Andrea! Aren't water bottles and plastic bags just the worst??? I see them with new eyes now that I know where they end up and how long they last in a landfill. Good on ya, girl.
Elle
Great post! I taught my kids very early on, yeah and hubby too, to turn the tap on and off when they brush their teeth or hubby shaves. And Christmas light strings, take advantage of the energy star ones. We take advantage of instant rebate coupons offered by hydro and our town to lower the purchase price of these. When we had to switch out our washer, we chose a front loading energy saver. It is amazing how much less water we are using. Friends at work are using reusable bags as gift bags now too. So many ways to help that take little effort and not a lot of extra cash, things that often save money too.
Love all the suggestions, and I'm going to incorporate some.
This is great, love all your suggestions, esp the cloth napkins part. Where do you buy your eco friendly toilet paper - the only thing that has held me back is the cost!
I don't know if I have any tips. One of the things we try very hard to do is watch our use of electricity. We unplug everything because those appliances, televisions, etc. are drawing precious electricity even when not in use. Sure, it is inconvenient but it is something.
Also, we are very conscious of trash. We only throw away what absolutely can't be used again. We repair it or find an alternate use for it and we've been pretty creative.
I seem to acquire lots of packing peanuts so I put them on Ebay and they were snapped up in an instant and then I donated the money to a earth friendly charity.
And, we never go anywhere without planning because we want to minimize our use of fuel.
I'm going to be using a solar paneled horse trough this year and we are looking into converting to wind power for our home.
Anyway, you have been an inspiration to me because of your commitment to a green life.
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