Tuesday, April 22, 2008

every day is earth day

So, what are you doing for Earth Day?

Over the last year or so, Ryan and I have really made an effort to be as environmentally conscious as possible.

We:
...switched all our incandescent light bulbs to florescent ones.
...started using cloth napkins in place of paper.
...started using cloth towels in the kitchen instead of paper towels, for mopping up spills and cleaning counters, etc.
...became compulsive recyclers. I've always been careful about recycling in the past, but now I'm obsessed! I go after things accidentally thrown in the regular trash. Just a rinse and it's fine for the recycle bin.
...try to condense shopping into one trip to cut down on gas usage, and go to the public markets as much as possible.
...kept the thermostat REALLY low this past Winter (58 at night and when no one was home, 63 when we were hanging out).
...utilize our extensive Nalgene collection. We don't buy or use bottled water anymore, even at work.
...use the handy-dandy reusable Wegmans bags every time we go grocery shopping. When we go to the market, I tote along these wicked cool eco-friendly bags.
...use eco-friendly shampoos and soaps in the bathroom and kitchen.
...buy organic food as much as possible.
...pick up trash when we're out hiking or walking around the neighborhood. (People can be such slobs!)
... occasionally share showers. *wink*

There are always more things one can do. I think this is a pretty decent start.

3 comments:

Ryan said...

Some of us don't even use eco-friendly shampoo... who needs it? The Kirk's Castile soap does a damn fine job for me...

My head is naturally eco-friendly (but thankfully not green)!

Luis Baars said...

We've been doing our part as well, although not quite as much as you. Our list of changes over the past year is very similar to yours.

One thing that we've really started doing is saving all of the plastics that we used to throw away. Our curbside pickup only recycles #1 and #2 plastics. We are actually now saving all the other plastics and occasionally taking them to the local recycling center where they accept all plastics.

Unfortunately, I'm now driving to Denver every day for work (130 miles round trip). I'm looking into carpool options, but nobody seems to be on a similar schedule as me.

battlemaiden said...

Rochester is still behind the times - our recycling center doesn't except any plastics other than the #1's and #2's. Bummer.