Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Earth Day Everyday

What can I do every single day to make the Earth a better place? How can I leave our little blue planet better than I found it?

I try to live a green life. I'm not off the grid by any means. I live in the city, so I can walk to many destinations that I frequent - the library, restaurants, an organic grocery. Last evening I walked to the movie theatre - it was sort of chilly, but only about a mile and I knew that I could catch a ride home with Jonathan. Not a great big deal, but better than driving and a bit of exercise. I am replacing my regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and LCDs. My general thriftiness and greenliness go together nicely sometimes.

This summer I am expanding my garden to grow more food, lessening that carbon footprint. But in this area that involves a water use trade off, so I'll be working on the rain catchment system. Perhaps our spring rains will continue?

I read some instructions about solar dyeing the other day. Instead of using the stove or the crockpot, how about a bit of black plastic? Will buying black plastic bags hurt my credibility, not to mention my budget?

Drying clothing outdoors has a certain appeal, at least for sheets, towel, socks, T-shirts, etc. I just have to figure out the best site in my not-so-big city yard.

Asheville has an excellent curbside recycling program, so my cans, bottles and paper stay out of the landfill. My composter works hard to keep the garden happy - and gives me interesting volunteer plants.

What else can I do? Other than remember to bring my reusable grocery bags more often?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As the weather warms up, you could turn off your water heater. I live in Charleston... and last summer I was only turning it on for about an hour before showers or washing whites.