With the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day behind us, here are a few quick tips to help you in the months ahead.
Give Up Plastic (and Paper) Bags - Cost: $1
Neither paper nor plastic is a good choice. Twelve million barrels of oil were used to make the 88.5 billion plastic bags consumed in the United States last year. And it takes four times more energy to make paper bags. The best choice is reusable shopping bags.
Give Up Hot Water (At Least in the Clothes Washer) - Cost: $0
Did you know that only 10% of the energy used by a typical washing machine powers the motor? About 90% of the energy is used to heat the water, and most clothes will come clean in cold water. So switch your washing machine's temperature setting. For heavily soiled clothing, change it from hot to warm, but otherwise try to wash and rinse most of your clothing in cold water.
Give Up Paper Towels - Cost: $7
No matter how you look at it, paper towels create waste. Try some reusable microfiber towels, which grip dirt and dust like a magnet, even when they get wet. When you are finished with them, wash and reuse them again and again. When you absolutely must have use disposable towels, look for recycled products. If every household in the US replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels with 100 percent recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.
You don’t need to give it all up at once. Just reduce and make progress in the right direction.
