Here are some great living green tips from Green America...
1. Grow Your Own
"The biggest thing I'm doing this year is growing my own vegetable garden. It will be organic, and it doesn't get any more local than my own back yard. Plus, it's one heck of a money saver. It will even help me build community, because I will surely have extra fruits and vegetables to share with my neighbors."
— Jessica S., Littleton, CO
2. One Less Car
"I don't own a car. Even in the cold Minnesota winters you'll find me biking. Riding a bicycle obviously saves money and resources, but I believe it also builds community. When I am on a bicycle, I feel more connected to my surroundings, and I'm more approachable. I'm always saying hello to people as I ride past, whereas in a car, that interaction would be lost."
— Sarah P., Minneapolis, MN
3. One Less Car, Part Two
"Although I get 48 miles per gallon with my hybrid car, I still make every effort to plan my trips to avoid needless driving, to carpool, and to take public transportation and telecommute, as often as possible. I write and call my political leaders in support of laws and funding for mass transit, and for greener cars."
— Jeanne T., Springfield, VA
4. Reuse, Reuse, Reuse
"One way I have discovered to keep items out of landfills and save a bunch of money in the process is FreeCycle – an online group where members post things they are looking for, and what they have to get rid of. I have received a dining room set (complete with six chairs, buffet, and hutch), bunk beds for my kids, a set of night stands, and a really good juicer for no cost. And I've used FreeCycle to give away all the clothes that my kids have outgrown."
— Lea P-W., Painesville, OH
5. Stop the Leaks
"I'm unplugging the toaster, lamps, cell phone chargers, laptops, and other electronic devices when I'm not using them. These things leak energy needlessly when they are plugged in all the time. It's the quickest way to save energy and it saves me money on the electric bill too."
— Rachelle N., Nashville, TN
6. Harness the Sun
"We installed solar panels on our townhome in March along with another family in our homeowners' association. Several others had expressed interest before the economic meltdown and then backed off, but we hope that with our example others will see that in the long-run it's a money-saver, and they will understand the benefit for both the planet and their bottom lines."
— Ellen S., Boulder, CO
7. Waste Not, Want Not
"I compost. I keep my garbage creation to a minimum. I refuse packaging and bags whenever possible (bringing my own cloth bag). I explain to the checkout person why I am refusing the bag or giving back the packaging. Also, steel is 100-percent recyclable. The recycled steel isn't downgraded or 'downcycled.' I recycle every unusable nail, every screw, every wire, etc., at my local transfer station. Even my steel roof will be recycled when it is done being my roof."
— Ruth O., White Salmon, WA
8. Dispense With Disposables
"This may seem like a minor thing, but it really helps on my limited budget. I have ceased purchasing paper towels and instead use old rags for cleaning and wiping up spills. I wash the dirty rags and reuse them until they wear out. I didn't realize how many paper towels I used to go through before I started this new system."
— Sarah F., Tullahoma, TN
9. Reallocate Your Resources
"Our path toward sustainability began when we realized the value of doing things for ourselves. I began by making our own laundry detergent. It is all-natural and costs less than a penny per ounce to make! We used the money we were saving to take bigger steps: buying our meat in bulk from local farmers who raise their animals on pasture and sustainably, and buying Energy-Star appliances for our house."
— Carrie C., Salem, VA
10. Examine Your Diet
"By becoming vegan I cut my carbon footprint to at least 60 percent and the amount of money that each meal costs me by an average of 78 percent. Beans and legumes are so inexpensive compared to meat! I cut costs even more by growing herbs and vegetables for myself, and I earn fruits by offering to do the picking for friends with fruit trees, in exchange for keeping the surplus. I preserve them in glass jars and make pickled fruits and vegetables to extend them even further ."
— Sarah F., Tullahoma, TN
11. Green celebrations!
"On June 20, I am getting married green style. Oh, green wedding, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:
1) Used wedding dress from eBay, $10!,
2) Organic, Fair Trade apparel for the wedding party that they can use afterwards,
3) Asking guests to carpool to save gas, money, and the environment,
4) Sending plantable wedding invitations [That's right, you bury the invitations and wildflowers spring forth, just like love blooms…],
5) Using leftover supplies from my cousin's wedding,
6) Buying organic flowers from the farmer's market … and more.
My fiancé Mark and I will be celebrating our day free from wedding-induced debt and the weight of a heavy carbon footprint!"
— Michelle B., Oshkosh, WI
12. Invest Wisely
(and Needs vs. Wants)
"We're always asking ourselves whether this next purchase is a 'need' or a 'want.' When we actually stop to think about it, there are precious few needs. People say things like 'I need cable TV,' but that's probably not true. Calling such things 'needs' cheapens the meaning of the word. We've also begun investing some savings with a community bank. Interestingly, in our experience, the smaller community bank with the social mission has been reliably beating the pants off of the mega-banks in terms of rate of return. We know that we're saving more by getting the higher rate of return, but we are also proud that our money is doing good in the community as well!"
— Steve O., Mamaroneck, NY
13. What Really Matters?
"I'm trying to stay focused on people and relationships rather than stuff. This helps me consider who is affected by what I do buy and from whom I buy it. I save by buying only thrift store clothes, but splurge on Fair Trade chocolate. I support locally owned businesses. I volunteer my time. And with some of the money I save, I use it to support organizations that help people help themselves. I do without stuff; that isn't what matters anyway!"
— Kelly G., Charlotte, NC
14. Get everyone you know involved in going green and saving green.
For more great green living ideas visit Green America at http://www.coopamerica.org
Showing posts with label Green America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green America. Show all posts
Friday, May 22, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
White House Garden
On Friday, March 20th, 2009, 23 third graders joined First Lady Michelle Obama on the South Lawn of the White House to break ground on an 1100 square foot kitchen garden that will provide organic produce for the first family and for world leaders and guests at formal dinners. In an effort to lead by example and to encourage others to plant a garden, the garden is being planted so it is visible from the street. A food garden was last planted on the White House lawn in 1943 by Eleanor Rossevelt during a time in our country's history similar to our current struggles - the economy was weak and the country was at war. According to the New York Times, the garden will have 55 varieties of vegetables grown from organic seedlings started at the executive mansion’s greenhouses. Michelle Obama says the garden will be a family affair with everyone helping out including the president.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Solutions from the Green Economy
Reposted from Green America -
Everyone now understands that the economy is broken.
While many name the mortgage and credit-default-swap crises as culprits, they are only the most recent indicators of an economy with fatal design flaws. Our economy has long been based on what economist Herman Daly calls “uneconomic growth” where increases in the GDP come at an expense in resources and well-being that is worth more than the goods and services provided. When GNP growth exacerbates social and environmental problems—from sweatshop labor to manufacturing toxic chemicals—every dollar of GNP growth reduces well-being for people and the planet, and we’re all worse off.
Our fatally flawed economy creates economic injustice, poverty, and environmental crises. It doesn’t have to be that way. We can create a green economy: one that serves people and the planet and offers antidotes to the current breakdown.
Here are six green-economy solutions to today’s economic mess.
1. Green Energy—Green Jobs
A crucial starting place to rejuvenate our economy is to focus on energy. It’s time to call in the superheroes of the green energy revolution—energy efficiency, solar and wind power, and plug-in hybrids—and put their synergies to work with rapid, large-scale deployment. This is a powerful way to jumpstart the economy, spur job creation (with jobs that can’t be outsourced), declare energy independence, and claim victory over the climate crisis.
2. Clean Energy Victory Bonds
How are we going to pay for this green energy revolution? We at Green America propose Clean Energy Victory Bonds. Modeled after victory bonds in World War II, Americans would buy these bonds from the federal government to invest in large-scale deployment of green energy projects, with particular emphasis in low-income communities hardest hit by the broken economy. These would be long-term bonds, paying an annual interest rate, based in part on the energy and energy savings that the bonds generate. During WWII, 85 million Americans bought over $185 billion in bonds—that would be almost $2 trillion in today’s dollars.
3. Reduce, Reuse, Rethink
Living lightly on the Earth, saving resources and money, and sharing (jobs, property, ideas, and opportunities) are crucial principles for restructuring our economy. This economic breakdown is, in part, due to living beyond our means—as a nation and as individuals. With the enormous national and consumer debt weighing us down, we won’t be able to spend our way out of this economic problem. Ultimately, we need an economy that’s not dependent on unsustainable growth and consumerism. So it’s time to rethink our over-consumptive lifestyles, and turn to the principles of elegant simplicity, such as planting gardens, conserving energy, and working cooperatively with our neighbors to share resources and build resilient communities.
4. Go Green and Local
When we do buy, it is essential that those purchases benefit the green and local economy—so that every dollar helps solve social and environmental problems, not create them. Our spending choices matter. We can support our local communities by moving dollars away from conventional agribusiness and big-box stores and toward supporting local workers, businesses, and organic farmers.
5. Community Investing
All over the country, community investing banks, credit unions, and loan funds that serve hard-hit communities are strong, while the biggest banks required bailouts. The basic principles of community investing keep such institutions strong: Lenders and borrowers know each other. Lenders invest in the success of their borrowers—with training and technical assistance along with loans. And the people who provide the capital to the lenders expect reasonable, not speculative, returns. If all banks followed these principles, the economy wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in today.
6. Shareowner Activism
When you own stock, you have the right and responsibility to advise management to clean up its act. Had GM listened to shareholders warning that relying on SUVs would be its downfall, it would have invested in greener technologies, and would not have needed a bailout. Had CitiGroup listened to its shareowners, it would have avoided the faulty mortgage practices that brought it to its knees. Engaged shareholders are key to reforming conventional companies for the transition to this new economy – the green economy that we are building together.
It’s time to move from greed to green.
--Alisa Gravitz
Everyone now understands that the economy is broken.
While many name the mortgage and credit-default-swap crises as culprits, they are only the most recent indicators of an economy with fatal design flaws. Our economy has long been based on what economist Herman Daly calls “uneconomic growth” where increases in the GDP come at an expense in resources and well-being that is worth more than the goods and services provided. When GNP growth exacerbates social and environmental problems—from sweatshop labor to manufacturing toxic chemicals—every dollar of GNP growth reduces well-being for people and the planet, and we’re all worse off.
Our fatally flawed economy creates economic injustice, poverty, and environmental crises. It doesn’t have to be that way. We can create a green economy: one that serves people and the planet and offers antidotes to the current breakdown.
Here are six green-economy solutions to today’s economic mess.
1. Green Energy—Green Jobs
A crucial starting place to rejuvenate our economy is to focus on energy. It’s time to call in the superheroes of the green energy revolution—energy efficiency, solar and wind power, and plug-in hybrids—and put their synergies to work with rapid, large-scale deployment. This is a powerful way to jumpstart the economy, spur job creation (with jobs that can’t be outsourced), declare energy independence, and claim victory over the climate crisis.
2. Clean Energy Victory Bonds
How are we going to pay for this green energy revolution? We at Green America propose Clean Energy Victory Bonds. Modeled after victory bonds in World War II, Americans would buy these bonds from the federal government to invest in large-scale deployment of green energy projects, with particular emphasis in low-income communities hardest hit by the broken economy. These would be long-term bonds, paying an annual interest rate, based in part on the energy and energy savings that the bonds generate. During WWII, 85 million Americans bought over $185 billion in bonds—that would be almost $2 trillion in today’s dollars.
3. Reduce, Reuse, Rethink
Living lightly on the Earth, saving resources and money, and sharing (jobs, property, ideas, and opportunities) are crucial principles for restructuring our economy. This economic breakdown is, in part, due to living beyond our means—as a nation and as individuals. With the enormous national and consumer debt weighing us down, we won’t be able to spend our way out of this economic problem. Ultimately, we need an economy that’s not dependent on unsustainable growth and consumerism. So it’s time to rethink our over-consumptive lifestyles, and turn to the principles of elegant simplicity, such as planting gardens, conserving energy, and working cooperatively with our neighbors to share resources and build resilient communities.
4. Go Green and Local
When we do buy, it is essential that those purchases benefit the green and local economy—so that every dollar helps solve social and environmental problems, not create them. Our spending choices matter. We can support our local communities by moving dollars away from conventional agribusiness and big-box stores and toward supporting local workers, businesses, and organic farmers.
5. Community Investing
All over the country, community investing banks, credit unions, and loan funds that serve hard-hit communities are strong, while the biggest banks required bailouts. The basic principles of community investing keep such institutions strong: Lenders and borrowers know each other. Lenders invest in the success of their borrowers—with training and technical assistance along with loans. And the people who provide the capital to the lenders expect reasonable, not speculative, returns. If all banks followed these principles, the economy wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in today.
6. Shareowner Activism
When you own stock, you have the right and responsibility to advise management to clean up its act. Had GM listened to shareholders warning that relying on SUVs would be its downfall, it would have invested in greener technologies, and would not have needed a bailout. Had CitiGroup listened to its shareowners, it would have avoided the faulty mortgage practices that brought it to its knees. Engaged shareholders are key to reforming conventional companies for the transition to this new economy – the green economy that we are building together.
It’s time to move from greed to green.
--Alisa Gravitz
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