I'm not what you'd call an environmentalist. In fact, my realization of how badly we treat the planet has come very slowly, as I've read the news and attempted to educate myself about ecology.
I've never been one to think of the planet as a fragile thing, but at the same time the effects of our throw-away culture are easy to see. Landfills are filling up, we're dumping things in the oceans that will never decay, and animals are choking to death on the items we throw so carelessly away.
In other words, while some aspects of the environmental movement are still up for debate, there are many other problems that can only be blamed on humans.
So I hope you'll forgive me for arriving late to the party, but I'd like to talk today about how ordinary middle class people like myself and my family can reduce the impact that our lifestyles have on the planet.
To start with, here's a few things that I've already done with green living in mind:
- Two years ago, I started composting yard and kitchen waste in a bin in my backyard. My little "operation" has expanded quite a bit since I began, and I've successfully used the resulting compost to grow some great herbs and vegetables.
- Around the house, I've begun to reuse items like plastic bags, plastic cups, aluminum foil and other items. The goal is basically to reduce the number of trash bags we carry to the curb, as well as save some money by limiting our usage of certain items.
- With our first baby on the way, I've successfully talked my wife into doing something that she originally didn't want to do -- use cloth diapers on our child. This is a huge savings in money, and will result in a lot less plastic getting thrown into landfills.
- Mostly as a result of financial need, we've worked to reduce our use of electricity, water and gas. We take shorter showers, "let it mellow" in the bathrooms and don't run the water while brushing our teeth. It sounds simple, but the savings add up.
Here's a few things that I'd like to do, but haven't done yet because of constraints on our time, money and resources:
- Start full-on recycling of metals. We use a lot of canned food, aluminum cans and tins of pet food. These all go in the trash as of right now. The problem is the lack of free curb-side recycling in our community. Further, space limitations in the kitchen, utility room and garage make my wife reluctant to leave big collections of smelly cans (her words) taking up valuable space.
- Install more energy efficient appliances. This is a long-term goal as we don't have the money for large purchases at the moment. However, I'm doing all I can to educate myself on how we can cut back on energy use with appliances like dishwashers, water heaters, furnaces and computers (all of which may have to be replaced soon).
- Get a car that will burn less gas. My wife needs a car, but because of the baby's arrival, it's going to be a while before that will happen. I'm not a "car guy" by nature, and so I know very little about what is available in the hybrid/energy efficient car market. I figure the best thing to do will be to buy a used older-model hybrid in a year or so, but perhaps there are better solutions than that.
- Eat less meat for health, money and environmental concerns. We're not at a point in our lives where we can completely phase out meat. However I am acutely aware of the massive environmental footprint of the meat industry. My goal therefore is to learn some tasty recipes that don't include meat and work them into our dinner repertoire. And when we do buy meat, I'd prefer it to be produced as locally and humanely as possible.
These are my ideas, but of course I'm open to new ideas, and ways in which I might be able to reach these and other goals sooner. My family is doing all it can with our limited resources.
We're not prepared to do things that are an "investment" in energy conservation. What I'm much more interested in is making improvements that will save us money with as little investment as possible.
Another factor to consider before offering suggestions is that we don't live in an area where there are a lot of options for green living. It's harder to get, say, organic produce here in Oklahoma than it is in Seattle or Oakland. We're not what you'd call "early adopters." ;-)
I hope my ideas have been useful to you as well!