With the recent explosion of “green” everything, I was a bit surprised that Earth Day wasn’t publicized more noticeably in the news, at least around here. There are events like the river cleanups and other activities here in town, but this year I was scheduled to work.
That doesn’t mean nothing happened, though! My husband (who, much as I love him, can be somewhat contrary and resistant to new ideas) and I talked about what lifestyles changes we could make that would be more environmentally-conscious. We live in a large apartment building, so there is little financial incentive to save energy and water or to reduce trash as the burden is divided among the tenants. However, we did talk about the simple changes we could make. We already recycle and compost, use cloth grocery bags, and walk or bike when possible.
My goal is to shut down the computer when it is not in use and to unplug other appliances that continue to drain energy when plugged in (hair dryer, phone charger). We also discussed switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs (something my spouse initially resisted, though he doesn’t remember!).
His goal is to turn off the media power strip (TV, PS2, Wii, cable box…) when not in use, as he is the one using it 99% of the time. He might also work on actually turning off the lights behind him when he leaves one of the three rooms in our 700-square-foot apartment. Maybe.
Then gain, when I got up this morning, the media power strip was, in fact, turned off. Have to start somewhere!
Between the two of us, I spend more time online reading blogs and other sites with “green” content, but he watches more news coverage. Sometimes we simply are not on the same page when it comes to environmental issues because we don’t have the same information. To avoid knee-jerk rejection or perceived fanaticism, we have found it helpful to read articles (or take quizzes) together to see if we think the same way about the issues. Armed with the same information, it makes for a good starting point to discuss changes. Here are a few sources:
Discussion tools:
- PublicRadio.org has a Consumer Consequences Sustainability Quiz that allows you to see how your daily life affects the planet. You can compare to other Americans and get tips on how to reduce your impact on the planet.
- This Earth Day post at TheKitchn hits a number of my favorite simple points for “going green.” Everyone can do one of these things painlessly (if you aren’t already!).
- Green vs. Brown. This article from the NYTimes considers examples of “extreme green.”
- A follow-up in Peak Oil Blues Blog picks apart the NYTimes article for saying that that level of environmentalism is “nutty.” Interesting debate. How far is reasonable?
What, if any, changes could you make today?
