A friend of mine pointed out recently that she thought that 2008 would be a year of uncertainty in within the ecological movement.
This was right on track with where we as a team here, think we can be of service: figuring out those next or even first steps on your path to becoming more green and sustainable.
Some of the simplest steps you can take to reduce and reuse throughout your day include:
- reusing store-bought drink containers such as the POM Tea* glasses: great for on-the-go drink containers (just be careful as they are glass and will break easily when dropped)
- reusing plastic grocery bags as trash bags, particularly in the bathroom, as well as a perfect use for changing your cats litter
- saving the twist-ties from produce for future use for tying up electrical cables (especially all those USB, TV and video game cables)
*Check out this great example of POM Tea glass containers being reused as household glass, from Doug’s cooking blog:
Anyway, these are just a sprinkling of easy and immediate steps you can take to start reducing your level of consumption and waste production. Of course, buying less and less newly made products are another great step, but that’s more of a sacrifice that still many aren’t ready to make.
Either way, 2008 is a great year to start spending less and when you’ve got to, try to shop for items produced as close to home as possible and, be sure to keep your eye out for free and fair trade merchandise. If you don’t see a label touting this, do some digging before you so readily hand over your money. The cost of whatever it is you think you need is more than likely many times more than what you’re actually dishing out, be sure to consider (or research if need be):
- where the materials were sourced from
- where the item was manufactured
- how they were transported (if any such logistics were involved)
- whether or not it’s recyclable and made from recycled materials
- whether or not the manufacturer / brand name is donating any of its profits back to the planet
Just remember that every little step does in fact make a difference and that it’s all actually quite a bit of fun, once you start peering under the hood of all your favorite brands, you can really learn a lot. Not only about your preferred book seller or MP3 player, but also the processes with which these companies utilize in producing their goods and then finally getting them to you.
No matter where you start, how extensive or narrow your first steps, it’s well worth the effort. And as Adam Wiggins states in his Heroku blog:
“Getting your head around it may hurt a bit, but the effort will pay off very nicely in the long run.”
So true.
