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In two recent episodes of our Deep Impact Investing Podcast I’ve talked about a list of thirty things we all can do to make the world a greener place.
Here’s the full list:
1. Footprintcaclulator.org: How many earths does it take to live like you?
2. Carbonfootprint.com: What’s your actual carbon footprint and how can you reduce it or buy offsets
3. Watercalculator.org: Same thing here, and an educational component. These are really eye opening so do them!!!
4. Reduce your un-needed purchases. Can you get it used or borrow something that you don’t use all the time? Try the 30-day rule, wait 30 days before buying something that you “think” you need before buying it to see if you really do need it.
5. Have an Eco-Sabbath: Take a day, an afternoon, an hour if you must where you don’t buy anything. If you are feeling bold, try a week, where you buy nothing but essentials like food or transportation. Don’t use energy if you can for an hour?
6. Replace all the disposable items in your home: batteries, razors, food storage containers
7. Don’t throw away used items that can be used by someone else: Try Freecycle, thrift stores, consignment, Ebay, a garage sale, some communities have free community repair days for broken items.
8. Make your own: projects with the kids? Soaps, bathbombs, gifts for friends and family?
9. Borrow items you only use once and a while: Tool lending libraries! Or borrow from friends and neighbors, but be sure to give them back in better shape than you borrowed it.
10. Share books, magazines, movies, games with friends and neighbors or read them with electronic media. Or go back to the Library….
11. Replace paper napkins and paper towels with cloth and reuse them. Throw them in with your regular laundry.
12. Use a digital grocery list like Wonderlist! It’s our families favorite as we can all use the list to add items and check them off.
13. Get a write/on wipe off family message board for chores and family messages, stop using paper notes.
14. Green Building options: straw bale, bamboo, recovered lumber, cob, there are many more.
15. Cut back on packaging by buying in bulk and using your own containers.
16. See if your community has a refillable soap store and bring your own bottle and refill your soap, laundry detergent etc.
17. If your community doesn’t require it yet, bring your own grocery bags anyway. Or other shopping bags.
18. Stop all the junk mail, and get all your bills paperless. Pay all your bills online.
19. Carry a refillable bottle and stop buying single use water bottles!
20. When you travel, encourage your hotel to be more eco-friendly, pick up your towels and reuse them the entire time you are there. Don’t let them change the sheets every single day. Separate your recyclables. If they don’t offer these services, leave them feedback and ask them to be more environmentally friendly and let them know you will choose a more ecofriendly hotel next time.
21. Buy things are resale shops or garage sales first! Don’t buy new. Recycle!!!!
22. You should be recycling everything that can be first.
23. Donate items to places like tool libraries and book and movie libraries
24. Compost all food waste and if you don’t have a garden see if a neighbor would like to have your food scraps for their garden compost. This should not end up in the landfill.
25. When you shop, choose items with less packaging. Less waste.
26. Know your foods carbon footprint and eat food that is as local as possible.
27. After determining your baseline water usage, set a reduction goal of 15 to 20%
28. Aim for carpooling 1 to 2 days a week if you are not doing it already, thereby reducing energy consumption by 10% for each person if 2 of you do it in a 5-day work week.
29. If you can use public transportation 1 day per week.
30. Reduce your homes temperature by 2 degrees and you will drastically reduce energy consumption or simply weatherize your home! Or do both!!!