Blog Action Day - for the Environment

[chomiji]

No, I did not realize that it was Blog Action Day! Fortunately, my librarian colleague Abbie told me about it.

I don't claim to be a tremendously good environmentalist, but we try. Here's a quick list of things we do manage to do, without feeling like we're putting ourselves through the wringer at all. I realize, however, that a lot of these things are possible only because we live in an area that has moderately good support for these kinds of efforts. But a lot of time, people think "nothing I can do will make a difference anyway, and it's all such a pain." It can make a difference, and it doesn't have to be a pain.

• We've replaced a number of our lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. The great thing about this is that it's actually more convenient than using regular bulbs: they don't need to be changed as often, so they're a really great solution for us in the front and back hallways on the ground floor, where we have 12-ft ceilings and the bulbs are a pain to change.
• We take full advantage of our local curbside recycling program. I placed a couple of decent-looking baskets on each floor of the house, to encourage us all to drop off magazines, catalogs, packing cardboard, shampoo bottles, etc. for recycling during the week, and every Monday (like today, in fact!) I put put bins full of newspapers, mixed paper, plastic bottles, glass, and cans (tins) out for recycling pickup.
• We compost all our fruit and veg scraps, except for very large pits (like peach or avocado), because they don't rot down well. I also compost the bunnie's litterbox - I use a pelleted sawdust litter, and it composts very nicely. Between the recycling and the compost, we only throw out a bag or two of trash most weeks.
• We re-use/re-distribute old clothes etc. Ragged stuff goes into my rag bag for cleaning rags (which means we're not buying disposable cloths for that), stuff that is outgrown or just turned out to be a bad purchase goes to either friends who might use it (saving them money, especially in the case of friends with growing kids) or to charity groups. A lot of charities will collect your stuff right at your house - you just leave it out, wrapped for weatherproofing, and they come take it away.
• I commute by walking to and from the subway. I also get my hair cut at a place to which I can walk, and pick up my pet supplies at a shop that's on the way home from the subway. So that's a couple of weekend errands that I can do without a car. We moved to the current neighborhood, in fact, so that I would be able to do all this. The Mr. still has to commute by car, but it's a pretty fuel-efficient one, and the next car will probably be a hybrid.

Time magazine had a list of other suggestions. Of course, YMMV - the bio-fuels issue, for example, is rather complicated.