Josh Dorfman's Guide to "Green-overs"
Making environmentally friendly decisions shouldn't mean having to change your entire lifestyle. Instead, think of going green as giving a few daily habits a makeover, or in this case a "green-over." Start simple, and stick to these small changes that, when continued on a regular basis, can have a huge positive impact on the environment.
- Think before you eat. Only buy locally grown produce. The fruit or vegetable you're about to buy may be great for you, but if it traveled thousands of miles to get to your local grocery store then it's not great for the environment. Plus, buying locally means your purchase will support local farmers.
- Green is the new black. Mainstream and high profile designers alike are using eco-friendly materials in their clothing lines. When shopping, check the labels for ingredients like organic cotton and even bamboo, or look for organic collections from some of these well-known brands. Check out lowimpactliving.com for some suggestions.
- Fill your bottle with filtered tap water. If you found FilterForGood.com then you're already aware of the harmful effects bottled water has on our environment. Choose the greener solution by using a reusable bottle, like the FilterForGood bottle, and fill it with filtered tap water.
- Paper or plastic? How about neither. Each year the United States uses 30 billion plastic and 10 billion paper grocery bags, requiring approximately 14 million trees and 12 million barrels of oil1. Cities across the country have begun efforts to ban plastic bags in stores, but everyone can do their part for the environment by keeping a reusable bag handy for shopping trips. Start your search for a bag at reusablebags.com.
- Alternative energy. Contact your local utility company about alternative energy options for powering your home like wind power, landfill gas, biomass, and low-impact hydropower. Often switching to alternative energy won't increase utility bills. And if local companies don't offer any of these green alternatives, then consider purchasing carbon offsets to reduce your overall eco-impact. Check out a list of providers at the Green Power website maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Watch Josh Dorfman's 30-second video about the campaign to reduce bottled water waste.
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1 Noble, Craig (March 27, 2007). San Francisco bag ordinance offers consumers way out of false choice. Press release.
2 Rogers, Elizabeth (2007). The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time. New York: Three Rivers Press.
3 Treehugger. "Fifteen easy ways to go green." Weblog entry. 3 Apr. 2007. House and Garden. 26 Sept. 2007.
4 Gordon, Cambria. "'Down-to-Earth Guide' Offers Green Projects." Interview with Renee Montagne. Morning Edition. National Public Radio. NPR. 19 Sept. 2007.
5 "A shopper's guide to home tissue products." NRDC.org. 26 Oct. 2005. Natural Resources Defense Council. 28 Sept. 2007.
Josh Dorfman is an environmental activist, radio personality and author of The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, Green Living (May 2007). He believes in creating stylish, innovative and convenient solutions to environmental challenges.
1 Minute Green-overs
It can take less than a minute to do something green. Try some of these simple solutions to be on the path to a greener lifestyle.
- If everyone in the U.S. said "no thanks" to ATM receipts, it would save a roll of paper so long it could circle the equator fifteen times. 2
- Change light bulbs from traditional incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs. If every American did, it would reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars. 3
- Turn off the car instead of idling when waiting in a carpool lane for the kids at school. When a car idles for more than 30 seconds, it's actually using more gas, therefore putting more greenhouse gas pollution into the air then if it was turned off. 4
- If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees. 5