Green Living
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Top Three Tips
Hi All,
So, somewhat hypotheical discussion question from a newbie....
If you could suggest just three tips/changes/adjustments for a greener lifestyle what would they be and (if you feel like elaborating) why?
Re: Top Three Tips
#1 You can't always be green. I know that there are people who are as green as possible; but, sometimes money doesn't allow it, time doesn't allow it, logistics doesn't allow it, etc...
saying that
#2 Find the easiest green things for you to do and do them. For me this includes not using fabric softener and/or dryer sheets and to use vinegar instead; recycle plastic bags and recycle paper; use reusable containers to bring my lunch and store other foods instead of using plastic wrap; stop using "fake" air fresheners; wash in cold water and line dry when possible, etc... The easiest way to feel that you've made a change is to change the things that are easiest and then slowly add another item as you can. Trying to change your lifestyle in one day/week can seem overwhelming and then you may give up.
#3 Stop buying things. Easier said than done (and I struggle with this); but, if you don't buy things, you're less likely to throw away other things. Start rethinking how you can reuse what you have. I have reusable containers for food storage so I don't have to buy plastic baggies or the like. My SIL cans things for us and I end up using the mason jars to store beans, almonds, etc... and give the rest back to her. I don't need 4-5 sets of sheets--yes it would be nice but it's not necessary. I just recently stopped buying books. That's not to say that I won't buy anymore but the last (apx) 15 books that I've read have been from the library. Also, if you're not out shopping, it's unlikely that you're driving your car around (just a thought).
I know that what I've said isn't mindblowing or original but it's really about doing what you can. You'll start to see that you'll want to add more changes to your life. I've already started eating less meat but for various reasons... Just take your time so that when you mess up, you don't feel like a failure.
It depends a lot on where someone is starting, but changes in these three broad areas make a major difference:
Choose food wisely (organic, local, minimally processed, reduced reliance on animals).
Decrease fuel use by increasing efficiency (plan/combine trips, increase energy efficiency of your dwelling and appliances, etc.).
Reduce packaging (switch from disposable water bottles to steel/plastic/glass, reuse bags, choose low-packaging products). (ETA:) An adjunct to this is to buy quality when possible and avoid cheap/low quality things (and used is good!).
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
Start with the things which either aren't any more trouble (like washing clothes on cold, skipping dryer sheets) and/or save money (combining car trips, using reusable bags).
Be open to new ideas. I've used a Diva Cup in place of pads/tampons for the last 8 years. It's saved me money (it was about $30, and that's all I've spent on my period pretty much since then), and it turns out I like it better than conventional products. So it saves waste, saves money, and is actually better. Win win win.
Make as much automatic as possible. Install a programmable thermostat and use it. Turn down the water heater a few degrees. Put in low flow shower heads. If you have older toilets, consider converting to dual flush (there are kits at Home Depot that go in the tank, which are pretty cheap and easy). We signed up for recycling pick-up, even though it's $8/month, because we knew we'd do it more if we didn't have to schlep it to the central locations ourselves.
By "green" I assume you mean reducing your impact on the environment, so reducing your contribution to global warming, pollution, and other environmental hazards. Sometimes people use "green" and "healthy" interchangeably, to me they are similar goals but not identical. Here are what we worked on first, because these are the largest contributors to your carbon footprint and pollution.
1. Try local and organic food.
The average item in the supermarket travels 1500 miles to get there. For reference, this is the distance from West Virginia to Florida, so about 2/3 of the size of the East Coast. That is a ginormous amount of fossil fuels, especially when you think of the typical American meal. For example, before I got involved in buying local food for my Mom's easter dinner, she would have served lamb from New Zealand, asparagus from Chile, potatoes from Idaho, and wine from France. That is tens of thousands of miles of fossil fuels, and that's just the shipping! Local food is better for the environment. You support your local economy, and the food is fresh and in season. It will be the best food you ever had.
That being said, food from the Farmer's Market does cost more. And it should. Industrially-raised food is artificially cheaper because its subsidized by the government and because important things are short-cutted - there's harmful pesticides used to generate a much higher yield per acre, no money is put into environmental considerations, there's more animal cruelty, and less food safety mechanisms in place. These things all cost more and there's no way around it. You can buy responsibly priced food or irresponsibly priced food. If asparagus is $2 a pound at the grocery store in December, think of all the human rights, environmental protections, and dedication the grower must have broken in order to produce food that cheaply, and STILL make money after shipping it halfway around the world. It's even worse for meat because those animals can and do suffer.
As Americans, we spend the lowest percentage (Michael Pollan says 10%) on food than any nation in the world. The truth is most people could afford to spend more on food, but we choose not to. We choose to have tiny portable music devices instead of the radio, super-fast internet for leisure use, and new clothes every year instead of wearing last year's clothes again. I'm lucky enough that the lowest price doesn't have to be my highest food shopping priority. My highest priority is that the animals lived a real life and were slaughtered humanely, and the produce was raised by a real person and harvested just before we bought it. I've talked with the farmers at length and their meat is pasture-raised, no hormones or antibiotics. They're not certified organic as the certification is expensive and a lenghty process, and they sell directly to consumers like me who know how they treat their animals. Their tomatoes weren't harvested green by migrant labor then riped on a truck from California or even farther away.
2. Change your transportation tactics
A large part of a household's global warming emissions come from your choice of transportation. Walk or bike places whenever possible. Carpool or rideshare if you can't. At the very least, group your errands together so you're not running all over town. This is obviously a $$$ saver too with gas at $4 a gallon.
3. Buy less stuff
Ditto PP on buying less stuff. When most people start on their green journey, they're bombarded with new stuff to buy. New green household cleaners, hybrid cars, organic clothes. If you try to replace all your conventional items with "green" ones, you're going to be buying a lot of stuff. I don't think that's right way to go about it. Part of being green is reducing waste. Use your clothes until they wear out, then donate them or turn them into rags. Run your car into the ground, even if it's a gas guzzler. Manufacturing and shipping a hybrid car from overseas takes a lot of resources, you'd have to run your gas guzzler for a long time before breaking even with the mining and shipping of those resources.
Try to think about the whole life cycle of the things you buy. This is a great video about "The Cycle of Stuff", I highly recommend watching it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM
Eating local food can be another side of "buy less stuff." There's no packaging on local food, so in addition to saving those food miles you're saving the manufacturing and shipping of all that packaging. As Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm, a "beyond organic farm" would say, "Greetings from the No Barcode People." For the things you have to buy from the grocery store, buy in bulk. If you buy 10 lb bags of rice, that's much less packaging as 2 lb bags five times as often. Do you really need mushrooms in that styrofoam container wrapped in plastic wrap? Buy the loose portabello mushrooms instead.
I know that I am not near as green as SuperGreen; however, I somewhat disagree with this reasoning. You should be careful about what you buy in bulk. Do not buy more perishables than you can consume before it goes bad. I don't know that I could eat 10 lbs of rice before it would go bad. You could possibly freeze it (I'm not sure) but don't buy so much that you'd have to throw any of it away....
This is very true, good point! We move the rice to airtight tubs after we open the package. Some stuff though is much cheaper and has less packaging in bulk than individual packages. For example, the nuts in the bulk section at Whole Foods are much cheaper per pound than buying a whole package of them, plus I can put them in my reuseable produce bags. Plus, sometimes I have a recipe that calls for a small amount of something, so buying it from the bulk sections prevents me from throwing out the rest of the package later.
1. Make a one-step change. There are a few changes you can make that you just do once and it's done. For example, lowering the temp on your water heater, changing out your light bulbs, switching to low flow shower heads/ toilets.
2. Switch to reusable shopping bags.
3. Meal plan and pantry plan. By planning meals for the week and keeping track of what you have in your pantry/freezer, you can significantly cut down on waste.