Posted on December 23 2010 by Charles Thompson

Resolutions for helping the environment

Since it’s the new year I thought we should all set some green resolutions. Below, you’ll find a list of things you can do throughout the year to make your home, town and planet a bit greener. Pick a few or do them all. Whatever you do will make a difference; that becomes clear with some statistics from The Daily Green.

1. Recycle everything you can. Remember cereal boxes, tissue boxes, junk mail, papers and magazines. Most town transfer stations now take plastics with the numbers 1-7 (look for the little triangle on the bottom of your container and spot the number inside). My goal is always to try recycling more than I’m throwing away.

2. Make a commitment to run dishwashers and washing machines only when you have a full load.

3. Break up with plastic shopping bags for good. In one year alone, 12 million barrels of oil are used to make 88.5 billion plastic bags.

4. Go to catalogchoice.org and cancel all those repetitive and unwanted catalogs that show up in your mailbox. There are 19 billion catalogs sent out in this country every year. Those catalogs are made from 53 million felled trees. If you mostly do your mail-order shopping online, opt out of the catalogs. If you still like to shop via catalogs, make sure to recycle them when you’re done.

5. Stop washing clothes in hot water. I was stunned to read that only 10 percent of the energy used when you do a load of laundry is from the washer itself; 90 percent comes from heating the water.

6. Use toilet paper made from recycled paper. This small indiscernible change can save lots of trees and water that is now used to make virgin paper.

7. I’m not sure I can completely give up paper towels, but we can all be mindful of how we use them. Buy ones made from recycled paper, and if possible, the ones where you can select the size – a small cleanup might not require an entire sheet.

8. In the same vein, use cloth napkins. You can even assign family members their own and use them a few times before laundering if you’re not eating something messy like spaghetti.

9. Avoid dry cleaning as much as you can. Be mindful when purchasing clothing if it requires dry cleaning, and look for alternatives. If you do dry-clean an item, hang it outside for several hours before you bring it into your home and hang in your closet to get rid of some of the harsh residue and fumes.

10. Green up your workplace. Enlist your co-workers to do things like not use paper cups, plates and plastic cutlery. If your place of business has a small kitchen, everyone can wash and reuse eating utensils and coffee/tea mugs. You can also encourage others to not waste paper, keep the heat and air conditioning at a reasonable temperature and put out some plants to keep the air quality healthy.

11. If you don’t already have one, get a low-flow showerhead and lessen your use. You’ll save money and be less wasteful.

12. As you integrate all those new holiday gifts into your house, don’t just throw away the old. Someone else might be able to use your old laptop, or if your old items are beyond repair, make sure to recycle everything you can. Think the same way when it comes to spring cleaning — reuse or recycle whenever you can.

13. Think about packaging whenever you buy anything. At the grocery store, don’t feel you need to buy the individually wrapped items when you can break things (like snack crackers for your child’s lunch) into serving sizes and put them in a reusable container. Think the same way with drinks — go reusable, not throwaway.

14. Give up toxic household cleaners and switch to something healthier. There are lots and lots of products out there now that are much safer for you, your children and pets. We’ve come a long way in just a few years and there are natural products for just about any cleaning task.

I am a fan of Method products and have found a great wood floor cleaner, bathroom cleanser and an all-surface cleaner that I use all the time. I love that I don’t have to worry about my pets licking their paws after walking across a freshly washed floor.

15. Go organic in caring for your yard as well. It’s better for the water supply, your family and your pets.

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