How can you "go green" in 2009? (1/6)
Each week, the Environmental Protection Agency posts a new question on its Greenversations blog page. This week’s question is: “What are your New Year’s resolutions to help protect the environment in 2009?”
Here are some of the responses that EPA received:
“I will eliminate unnecessary trips in my car. I will use energy efficient light bulbs in all fixtures replacing each as the old bulbs burn out. I will conserve my water usage.”
“I will become an ‘empty nester’ when my youngest goes off to college in the fall of 2009. So I plan to downsize my living space and move closer to work so I will have the option of using public transportation.”
“Since our town does not have ANY recycling services (the landfill collects aluminum cans and cardboard only — with no pick-up), I keep my ear to the tracks to find out about any recycling facilities or opportunities nearby. We burn our office paper and envelopes in our wood stove, drive efficiently (combine errands, coast up to stoplights, I own a Prius, etc.), compost our food and beverage scraps, buy recycled products when possible, change our bulbs to CFL once the old ones burn out, and use low-flow showerheads and toilets. We also re-use glass jars if they have good lids and the mouths are large enough to put things into them (again, no local glass recycling). My goal for 2009 is to find places who can use or recycle more of our non-compostable materials.”
“Like most people, I make about a half pot of coffee every morning. Now instead of just throwing away the grinds everyday, I save them. I will put the used grinds into a reusable plastic sandwich bag that I keep in my kitchen. About every three weeks I will empty the saved grinds into my rose beds. Old coffee grinds act as great fertilizer for roses and I am also able to reduce my waste. I average about one pound of used grinds per week. That’s about 52 pounds of waste per year that I am eliminating and turning into useful, non-harmful, fertilizer!! Happy New Year & Think Green!”
“1- Use my own bottle for drinking water when at office, own cup instead of the plastic cups for drinking coffee at office. 2- Use handkerchief for washing hands instead of tissue papers. 3- Use public transport only for office. 4- Stop playing 3D games and reduce the power consumption. 5- Switch off my monitor at home/office before leaving the desk. And also switch off others monitors if they left it on (locked). 6- Use stairs in my office than lift and persuade others to follow the same. 7- Change my TV from CRT to LCD. etc., etc.”
To read more, visit http://blog.epa.gov/blog/category/question-of-the-week/.
Here are some of the responses that EPA received:
“I will eliminate unnecessary trips in my car. I will use energy efficient light bulbs in all fixtures replacing each as the old bulbs burn out. I will conserve my water usage.”
“I will become an ‘empty nester’ when my youngest goes off to college in the fall of 2009. So I plan to downsize my living space and move closer to work so I will have the option of using public transportation.”
“Since our town does not have ANY recycling services (the landfill collects aluminum cans and cardboard only — with no pick-up), I keep my ear to the tracks to find out about any recycling facilities or opportunities nearby. We burn our office paper and envelopes in our wood stove, drive efficiently (combine errands, coast up to stoplights, I own a Prius, etc.), compost our food and beverage scraps, buy recycled products when possible, change our bulbs to CFL once the old ones burn out, and use low-flow showerheads and toilets. We also re-use glass jars if they have good lids and the mouths are large enough to put things into them (again, no local glass recycling). My goal for 2009 is to find places who can use or recycle more of our non-compostable materials.”
“Like most people, I make about a half pot of coffee every morning. Now instead of just throwing away the grinds everyday, I save them. I will put the used grinds into a reusable plastic sandwich bag that I keep in my kitchen. About every three weeks I will empty the saved grinds into my rose beds. Old coffee grinds act as great fertilizer for roses and I am also able to reduce my waste. I average about one pound of used grinds per week. That’s about 52 pounds of waste per year that I am eliminating and turning into useful, non-harmful, fertilizer!! Happy New Year & Think Green!”
“1- Use my own bottle for drinking water when at office, own cup instead of the plastic cups for drinking coffee at office. 2- Use handkerchief for washing hands instead of tissue papers. 3- Use public transport only for office. 4- Stop playing 3D games and reduce the power consumption. 5- Switch off my monitor at home/office before leaving the desk. And also switch off others monitors if they left it on (locked). 6- Use stairs in my office than lift and persuade others to follow the same. 7- Change my TV from CRT to LCD. etc., etc.”
To read more, visit http://blog.epa.gov/blog/category/question-of-the-week/.
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