The thought of actually having to do something makes you want to stop in your tracks?  No worries, just take your next free 5 minutes to help get you on your way.

1.  Sign up for paperless statements from your bank, your insurance, your utilities, etc.

2.  Set up your online banking account to pay your bills online.  Not only do you save time and money (no stamp!), but paper, ghg emissions (remember, that bill travels by truck), water to that used to make the paper, etc.

3.  Gather up that big wad of plastic grocery bags that you know you’ll never get to the bottom of, no matter how many you use for trash, your lunch , etc.  Then, go put them in your car.  How many times have you walked into the grocery store, seen that bin where you can leave your plastic bags, and thought to yourself, “gee, I should have brought my bags but I always forget!”  If you forget them in your car when you go in, then turn around, and get them.  This may be two 5 minute segments for some people, but the decluttering also feels good!

4.  Take 3 or 4 paper bags with handles, fold them up and put them in your car.  Why all the bags in the car?  Well, this is for when you go to the grocery store, think to yourself, “I should have brought my own bag instead of having to get more.”  Of course, the bags could also be string bags, cloth bags, etc.

5.  Get up out of your chair, and check your thermostats in your house.  Turn them down, even by only 2 degrees.  Check for drafts.  Check the temperature of your hot water heater.  This may take you two 5 minute segments, but every little bit does help.

It’s very easy for all of us to fall into the trap of “what difference will just one person make?”  Well, according to new statistics out by McKinsey & Co. (yes, that McKinsey…and these guys don’t fool around), American consumers have direct or indirect control over 65% of the country’s ghg emissions. 65%!!! (please note that the figure is 43% for the rest of the world).  This requires a major shift in perception, given that we have all been told that the biggest gains in cutting emissions would have to come from the industry sector.

Well, we could go into the fact that the US has 5% of the world’s population and burns 23% of the world’s oil, but that’s a downward spiralling conversation.  Instead, how about we look at the areas we have direct control over…

• Cars – 17% of U.S. ghg emissions come from passenger cars.  To make a difference in this area you could drive a more fuel efficient car, and/or drive less.
• Air travel – 2% of US emissions.  To make a difference you could fly less.
• Housing and appliances – 17% of emissions.  To make a difference here, you could make sure your house is well insulated, lower your thermostat, use energy efficient appliances, live in a smaller dwelling…

I have to say when I looked at the areas where individual consumers have “indirect” control, it all comes down to looking for alternatives.  These are areas like sea transportation (1%), agricultural and livestock emissions (2%), landfill emissions (3%), commercial vehicles (9%), and commercial buildings and appliances (14%).

What kind of alternatives am I thinking about?

• Buy locally
• Buy from smaller stores, not big box retailers
• Eat less meat
• Buy American made products
• Be careful about what you throw away
• Support businesses that are creating green initiatives

The sticking point, one has to grapple with, is that you’re not always going to save green to be green…

Special thanks to Jeff Ball at the WSJ for writing “A Big Sum of Small Differences,” 2 Oct.2008 which brought this to my attention.

However much I hate to admit it…WalMart is creating many green initiatives.

See what WalMart and the Environmental Defense Fund announced at the Clinton Global Initiative conference that was held last week in NYC.  This comes to us from Grist, thanks to the brilliant reporting of Kate Sheppard.

“Walmart and the Environmental Defense Fund just announced an initiative to reduce plastic bag waste one third by 2013, by encouraging the use of reusable bags. The company estimates that a one-third reduction would take 9.5 billion plastic shopping bags out of waste stream and eliminate 290,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year … taking 50,000 vehicles off the road.”

So, what can YOU and plastic bags have in common??

1.  Don’t use them.  Use a reuseable bag.

2.  Choose a reuseable cotton bag, or one made of recycled products.  Check out these beauties – they are made from cotton and one style is made from recycled bottles!  Fashionable!!!  (Many of those bags you see in stores are made from more plastic that will be in the landfill forever!)

3.  If you do use them, recycle them.  Recycle all those bags you have stored under the sink.  Take the extra minute to bundle them up, put them in the trunk of your car, and put them in the recycle bins at the grocery store!

So, you too stuck in the muck of the election?  Thoughts, words and insanity seem to be flying everywhere.  As an American, it is your job to vote, and to know why you are voting for one candidate over the other.  Research the facts.  Don’t believe the nonsense they throw at you.  Learn and think for yourself in a time when not many else are…

There are multitudes of sites that compare the candidates, but if you want to see the greener side of things, try Grist’s comparison of the candidates on energy and climate issues.   Easy to read.

And this issue ain’t just about a bunch of acronyms…

Just a quick note to let you all know that the EPA has not been preventing unscrupulous US recyclers from shipping e-waste illegally to developing countries, according to a recent GAO report. So, basically not only does the U.S. want to continue dumping our high tech trash in other peoples’ backyards…poorer peoples’ backyards, but the EPA is even willing to passively help!

Read a summary of the report here.  Go here for an overview by National Geo of the problem.

Wait! Don’t stop reading because you don’t have kids! All the advice to be green while getting ready to go back to school could be applied for adults at work! Read on!

• Bookbags/purses/briefcases: One way to go green is to look for a bookbag that is made of recycled materials. There are really creative things out there, such as bags even made from old seat belts! If you don’t have access to these “different” possibilities, and you want to make things simple, buy a Jansport bookbag. Why Jansport? Well, they will take back and repair your backpack FOR LIFE. And if they cannot repair it, they’ll send you a new one! I recently sent one back that I had traveled with for 15 years! This is also true of many other labels, such as Coach, although there maybe other fees that apply. Check out the policy of your fine bag manufacturer!
• Lunch: Did you know that the average school lunch generates 67 pounds of waste a year? I’m sure the average “work lunch” does too! So how can you combat that? Using reuseable containers, such as Tupperware, Gladware, or old food containers. It will help cut costs too to buy a larger quantity and break it down! And water bottles? Don’t even think about it! Unless you are refilling them!
• School/office supplies: The biggest name of the game here is recycled materials. They are readily available now – at Target you can find recycled notepaper, notebooks, etc. You can find pens and pencils online that are made of recycled material, and buy refillable whenever possible. What about that box of tissues you’re supposed to send in? Seventh Generation or other recycled brands are all over the place. Remember – buy “recycled” and “reycleable.”
• Transportation: Did you know if you left your car at home 2 days a week, you would reduce green house gases by 1,600 lbs/year? If the prices at the pump aren’t enough to get you on a bike or public transportation, who knows what would be! Another way for you and the kids is to carpool! (and for those of us around metro areas, check out the slug lines! This is not recommended for sending the kids to school)
• A Green Attitude: Ok, so you may not want to walk to work, or reuse your baggies, but take a “green attitude” with you…ask your teacher what the school is doing regarding recycling and what your class can do to help. Or perhaps you could create a clean-up day for the neighborhood! Or talk to your office manager about buying recycled copier paper from Staple next time…you’d be surprised how infectious it can be!

What other ideas do you have?

Does this look familiar at all?

Do you have any old TVs, computers or cell phones in your basement?  Garage?  Closet?

You know you can’t just “throw it out” like any other trash, and yet what do you do with it?

E-waste is becoming a huge problem.  Consumers are buying more and more consumer electronics, always upgrading to a newer, better, faster something.  Did you stop to think what’s inside those things?

FACT:  In some of the old CRT TVs, the EPA has estimated there is between 4-8 POUNDS of lead.  (No wonder they are so heavy!)

These electronics are filled with toxic materials, and don’t think that the newer “green” products are any better!  Most of the time these “green” electronics just consume less electricity.  Good on grid, yes…bad at the end of the product life cycle.

Think you are RECYCLING it?  Maybe…but the problem is that millions of tons of e-waste is  exported and dumped in developing countries every year under the guise of recycling.  Leave it to the U.S. to let someone else deal with our trash!  (sorry, I’ll stop the rant)

So, what’s a conscious minded consumer to do?

1. Try to use the old electronics.  Can you put that old TV in the basement with a DVD player?  Or play video games on it?
2. Find a responsible recycler, who does NOT export.  Go to www.takebackmytv.com and look for one in your area.
3. Buy electronics from responsible manufacturers – those who actually take back their old products and dispose of them without exporting.  (LG, Sony…we’ll talk about this in PART 2).

Millions of TVs are being purchased this year in anticipation of the TV digital conversion.  E-waste is going to continue to grow as an environmental and public health hazard until we decide to get responsible and also hold manufacturers accountable.  Maybe if they had to deal with the problem at the end of the life cycle, they’d create products that weren’t so toxic?!