Making Progress in the Environmental Challenge
© Erin Konrad
Jul 7, 2008
Here are five simple steps to reduce your carbon footprint.
Many people believe that making changes to be more environmentally sound is just too difficult. Most of us are too busy to make any real steps towards reducing our carbon footprint. However, there are tons of easy, minor ways everyone can help use less energy and resources. Here are five simple steps to ‘going green.’
- Unplug cell phone chargers. This is one component that seems fairly inconsequential, but in reality can save a lot of energy. Your utilities that are left plugged in actually use more energy than when they’re turned on. So, once you’re done charging, unplug devices like cell phones and camera batteries, so that extra energy isn’t being zapped away. And it only takes a second to remove your charger from the outlet.
- Don’t get receipts at the bank. It’s an easy thing to say yes when the ATM asks if you want a receipt. But tons of paper is wasted everyday when those receipts are printed. Not only does it use unnecessary paper, receipts from the bank are often discarded and littered. Don’t forget to deny receipts at other places like gas station pumps.
- Pay bills online. This is not only a great move for the environment; it also gives you a better chance of organizing and keeping track of your bills. By forgoing paper statements, you’re also saving paper that is used to print your statement and be mailed in a paper envelope.
- Canceling catalogs that get mailed to your home. This aspect often gets forgotten about, but lots of paper gets wasted by mailing catalogs to your house that you would never order products from. In order to save some more trees, cancel the catalogs that just end up in your trash. There are several websites that offer catalog cancellations or go specifically to store websites and ask to not be mailed paper catalogs. This will also help to decrease the amount of junk mail you receive.
- Shop at farmers markets. Buying produce and other locally grown products at farmers markets helps in a number of ways. One, you’re supporting local farmers and their crops. Two, less energy is being wasted because you’re not having produce shipped from far away locations to your store. Finally, you’ll be feeding your family food that you know is safe and fresh. If you bring your own canvas bags to the farmers markets, you’ll also be cutting down on the plastic or paper bags they waste when they hand them out to customers.
There are more ways to help the environment, use less energy, and save resources. But these are just a couple of suggestions to get you started. Happy recycling!
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