When people find out I am
environmentally conscious they tend to ask what I do to help the environment. I
feel this question is asked partly out of a curiosity about my lifestyle, but
also because of a cynical desire to pick me apart and prove that I am not as
caring as I pretend to be. I detect the negative intentions because of a note
of hostility in the voices of my would-be detractors. This used to happen more
often when I had my Prius. I think people believe that Prius owners often do
nothing more for the environment, but still parade around as saviors. There is
evidence that the manufacturing of the hybrid cars takes its toll on the
environment, for example the production of the battery. I had to get rid of my
Prius for financial reasons, but rest assured even when I had it I did many
other things to lessen my adverse impact on the earth.
Most recently I decided to make reuse,
recycle fun by turning cardboard toilet paper rolls into wall art. I am saving
them and I intend to fashion them into a geometric design and paint them for
wall art. I am also considering turning them into napkin holders.
This isn’t the only way I conserve
in the bathroom. I cut down on my water usage not flushing the toilet after
every use and taking shorter showers. I do not shampoo my hair every day, which
cuts down on chemicals that are washed into our ground water supply. However, my
biggest bathroom contribution is my shower bucket. I have a bucket in the
shower that collects water that would normally run down the drain while it is
heating up.
I use the
water from my shower bucket to rinse dishes in the kitchen. Also in the
kitchen, I reuse my produce bags to cover leftovers instead of buying
disposable zip lock bags. This is of course in addition to my use of reusable
containers. I do not buy plastic utensils or paper plates. I use cloth napkins
and rags instead of paper products. The dish rags I use are all made out of cut
up clothing that is too worn to donate. I filter tap water to drink instead of
buying bottled water. My cleaning products are all green friendly Method items.
My
apartment is typically cold in the winter and hot in the summer. My thermostat
is set at 68 degrees in the colder months, no matter how hard it is for me to
cope. I simply put on more clothes or cover up with a blanket. When I leave my
apartment for an extended amount of time I turn the thermostat way down, since
there is no reason to heat my house when no one is here. In the summer I keep
my thermostat at 82 degrees during my waking hours and turn it down to 80 when
I sleep. This is unbearable for most people, but I have fans that help keep me
cool without needing to expend energy on cooling my entire apartment unit. I
get very annoyed when I leave my apartment and I hear the air conditioning
units churning when it’s not even marginally hot. People tend to overuse energy
just to ensure their uninterrupted selfish comfort.
To save
energy elsewhere around the house, I unplug appliances I am not using,
especially chargers since they are energy suckers. I turn off lights when I
leave the room. Those lights are compact fluorescents and in the past I have
even not replaced lights on a vanity just because it seems wasteful to have so
much light on at one time. I also buy and use rechargeable batteries. I wash
most of my cloths in cold water to alleviate the use of the water heater. I air
dry much of my laundry on a drying rack so I do not have to waste energy using
the dryer.
This is a
topic that I could discuss for great lengths of time. There are many more green
things I do than the one’s I have listed here. I have tried to break them down
into easy to organize groups and there’s more to come.
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