Educating Our Youth

I just picked up the book, 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World at the library for my son. The steps are pretty simple, but I think it could go a long way in the attempt to start teaching kids young.

I try not to let my son watch too much television, but I do like that Noggin has started playing shows that talk about the environment. I know Yo Gabba Gabba has had a "green" show, etc. There are also little shorts between shows that concentrate on recycling and energy.

It all makes me excited for what's to come. Maybe this next generation will make the difference, assuming we don't screw it up before then.

Paperless Billing & On-line payments

Paperless billing, for those who don't know, allows you to receive an email letting you know when your bill needs to be paid instead of sending a paper statement through the mail. Everything that they would send in the mail can be viewed on their web site so you can still see a break down of your purchases, etc. Thus doing away with all of the paper waste.

Once you receive the e-statement, you log onto the biller's web site and you can pay your bill right on-line, eliminating the need for stamps and envelopes. With most places now, this is a free service. I think I have one bill now that charges a $4 fee to pay on-line. I have not written that particular place yet but I have written Circuit City because I didn't see a way to do paperless billing on their web site. While I thought I must be missing it, because surely they do it, I was amazed to receive this response:

We are sorry we do not offer the option of receiving online statements at this
time. We do apologize for the inconvenience.

As a result, I paid my remaining balance and will not be using them anymore. I would hope you would do the same. We have to show these companies that we are serious about becoming more environmentally conscious because they won't pay attention until we do.

UPDATE: After I wrote Circuit City, explaining why I would not be using them anymore, they wrote back saying that

This option is coming in the near future.

Packaging

Obviously, we want to use the most environmentally friendly packaging available, but what does that mean? It means:

• buying in bulk on items that are nonperishible
• buying items that are not individually wrapped within a larger package
• buying cardboard over plastic and recycling the cardboard
• It also means cooking at home more often so you don't use so many tv dinners that now come in plastic within cardboard. Just remember to cook a little more so you can heat the leftovers in the microwave the next day instead of using the stoce to cook a whole other meal. The microwave uses less energy than the stove after all. And, remember to use glass containers to heat your dinners rather than plastic tupperware. The toxins in the plastic can leak into your food (scary).

On the other side of things, we need to mindful when we package things. I sell on-line and ship items constantly. When I ship large items I try and use the collapsable cardboard filler and I try to avoid putting boxes within boxes. Because I don't ship large items a lot anymore, I recently returned a bunch of priority boxes to the post office rather than dumping them into the recycle bin. Little things like that make me feel good.

Related Articles: Plastics I & II

GreenDimes

You know it really is a good time in America right now because everyone and their mom is starting to go green. Even people in Hollywood are doing their part.

GreenDimes is a company that has been endorsed on Oprah, Ellen. Matt Damon uses it among so many others. GreenDimes actually helps

"stop up to 90% of your junk mail and plant 10 trees on your behalf"

So it saves trees already planted, plants new ones and reduces unnecessary waste!!!

Don't forget to check out GreenDimes blog. It has some great ideas.

As far I know all the services that get rid of junk mail for you do cost money. However, I would love it if someone were to tell me different.

Of course, if you don't want to pay for this service, at least recycle your junk mail.

Stop the paper!

I don't know about anyone else but I'm so sick of getting so many phone books and so often. I swear it seems like they come every month. I'm going to try stop getting them. Please let me know if you know how.

I've already stopped getting the newspapers and I don't buy magazines. To tell the truth, I don't even buy books. I go to this thing called a library. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like enough people take advantage of it anymore. It's like a second home to me. I also get audio books, movies and CD's there. They really do have a wide selection of entertainment. You'd be surprised.

Occasionally, I go to Barnes & Noble or Borders and read magazines off the shelves. Any books I do own, I pick up at garage sales. Then I exchange them at a local book store or sell them on-line. If you're in the KC area, I have quite a few good tips on where to go to get books because I used to be a used book dealer.

I just love books! Newspapers and magazines I can live without. Any information I need I can get off the internet.

Toilet Paper & Paper Towels

Regarding toilet paper, I found this site, Toilet Paper World, that told me more about toilet paper than I ever wanted to know.

However, for a more pointed look at what I was trying to find about, which was the best recycled toilet paper, you should check out this toilet paper review.

If you want to know about environmentally friendly low flow toilets check out this site. They are pricey, but it's kind of neat to see what options are out there.

Of course, the cheaper, old fashioned way is to place a brick or a 1-liter, filled water bottle (you can fill with rain water for instance) in your toilet tank. I have done this and have not noticed a difference in the strength of the flush. This is an easy one people.

As far as paper towels go, I'll admit that I don't love the half sheet paper towels. I do see the pros though. So, if you have to use paper towels, use the half sheets.

Right now, we use cloth napkins and I save any old cloths that can't be salvaged and donated to use as cleaning rags.