It *is* easy being green. Doable ideas for Earth Day resolutions.

I don’t know about you, but my commitment to being green tends to ebb and flow—erring more on the side of “ebbing” than “flowing”. Don’t get me wrong, at home I’m a recycling nut. But I’m also the first one to throw empty plastic water bottles into the garbage can at the gas station rather than waiting to bring it home and toss into the recycle bin (I assuage my guilty conscience using the rationale that I like a clean car).

Last year I attempted the “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Challenge: No baggies, water bottles or paper towels” for a week and did great, continuing for some time to shun the excessive use of the landfill clogging villains. But over the past few months, I see that my affinity for plastic baggies has slowly and inconspicuously crept back in to my lifestyle—“I’m so easy and convenient, and don’t I do a great job of keeping things organized and compact?”. Terrific argument.

This year, Earth Day is on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, and it’s a great time of year to recommit to our eco-promises of last April. Here are some particulars that strike a clanging eco-chord in my household.

  1. Deliver clothes and other castoff household items to legitimate thrift stores rather than tossing garbage bags into those roadside boxes (where does that stuff go?). Out of sight, out of mind is easy to adopt, but not at all helpful.
  2. Deny plastic baggie use for food items—those can be stored in reusable Tupperware.
  3. Turn the water off when I brush my teeth. Not sure why this is such a difficult one for me.
  4. Be more diligent about finding refills for things like hand soap and detergent. There’s no excuse for throwing a big ol’ plastic bottle in the garbage every two or three weeks. That really adds up.
  5. Plant my own garden and live solely off the land. HAHA, kidding. I would if I 1) had enough yard space and 2) didn’t have a black thumb (sorry houseplants).

I need more ideas! What are your green routines? Share with us and inspire other families to live more eco-friendly!

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1 Response

  1. Ideas you’ve come up with so far are all excellent, other possible things to include would be the use of a compost bin to reduce trash. Also, and this is an easy one to forget, turn off the power on your unused electronics! This also includes unplugging chargers from the wall when not charging (even then they’ll suck electricity!) and also, if you have the funds, consider rechargeable batteries! There’s a wealth of options to reduce our effects on the environment, it’s nice to see people taking the initiative and taking them on! Thanks for posting!

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