To commemorate Blog Action Day, I want to challenge our readers (and myself) to think of one thing you can change in your life to help save the earth.
For the record, here’s a little background on Blog Action Day:
On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind – the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.
We all know the earth needs some serious help after all the abuse humans have heaped on it. And let’s face it, moms are going to be the ones who clean it up (what’s new?) Despite our busy schedules and full plates, we will find ways for our families to live a little greener.
So what’s yours?
If you’ve already been toying with a change and just need a place to commit, why not do it here and now? If you’d like some inspiration or ideas, check out TreeHugger’s How to Go Green guides. Pick one thing and announce it here. Shed your carbon-producing guilt and start feeling good about how you’re making the earth a better place for your kids!
Here’s mine: I’m ditching the plastic bags at the grocery store and bringing my own canvas ones instead. I know it will be an adjustment, and probably even a pain at first, but I’m doing it. Here’s why (factoids courtesy of the Sierra Club):
- In New York City alone, one less grocery bag per person per year would reduce waste by 109 tons and save $11,000 in disposal costs.
- When 1 ton of paper bags is reused or recycled, 3 cubic meters of landfill space is saved and 13 to 17 trees are spared!
- When 1 ton of plastic bags is reused or recycled, the energy equivalent of 11 barrels of oil are saved.
Now it’s your turn, WMAGs. State your change and let’s save the earth!
One thing we did this year was stop using our dryer and line drying everything. We’ve saved a ton on our energy bill. Laundry actually takes less time (since you don’t have to wait for the clothes to dry before doing another load). We use the free-standing drying racks. We have four racks which hold three big loads of laundry.
One thing I’m doing as much as possible is to ride my bike instead of drive. I got myself a cute but sturdy basket for my bike and will now ride to the convenience store to get a gallon of milk rather than drive. It’s a quick, easy, and fun way of getting around.
We’ve been taking our own canvas bags to the grocery for about a year now. We also switched to the compact florecent blubs all over the house.
We started composting and taking our newspapers to a community recycling bin. We’re also going to switch our lightbulbs to the energy-saving kind.
One thing we need to do is ditch the plastic grocery bags. I need to start bring canvas bags to the store.