Monday, October 27, 2008

Greenspiration

by Teresa

I can’t remember where I read it, but there was a little blurb, not a full article, just a single sentence, in the corner of a page of a magazine.  It said a recent survey showed that college students are pretty “green”—mindful of the environment, consistent with recycling, etc.—but can you guess which group is even “greener?“  Moms.
Since I can’t remember the source, Google hasn’t been able to help me find out more.  So I don’t know if the survey had any questions about WHY moms are so “green.“  If I had to guess, I would say it probably has something to do with us wanting to make the world a better place for our kids.

I think I may have mentioned this before, in this blog space, but at my house, we DO try to do what we can to be mindful of our consumption and of recycling.  I long ago switched to making coffee at home in the morning, partly because it’s cheaper than hitting the drive-through of the big coffee-and-donut chain each day on the way to work, but ALSO because I felt guilty about the sheer number of styrofoam cups I was throwing in the trash. 
And we recycle everything we can. 
I’ve also recently started shopping with those re-usable bags instead of plastic bags.  (Though I will admit there are certain things at the grocery store—meat & chicken, for example—that I still put in plastic bags, every time.) 
And, we switched this year to re-usable water bottles in the kids’ school lunches instead of the disposable kind. 
I think I probably fall somewhere in the middle in the spectrum of “Green” Americans.  I care enough to make an effort, but I readily admit I COULD be doing more. 
There are a lot of people out there who are really going to extremes to live sustainable lifestyles.  Their stories have been my “greenspiration” for some of the smaller, less dramatic things I do.
Here’s one example:  this guy, David Chameides, has pledged to NOT take out his trash for an entire year, in an effort to illustrate how much trash one person generates in 365 days.  He keeps it all in his basement after recycling and reusing everything he can.  Each day he tallies up what’s left over.  Check out his blog, “365daysoftrash”; it’s really interesting.  Or, just read this New York Times article, which profiles Mr. Chameides and a few other people with similar “green” goals.  After reading his blog, I decided to adopt one of his tips: I’m now keeping a set of reusable silverware in my backpack and my car, so that I don’t have to take disposable plastic knives, forks, and spoons, when I get food “to go” or fast food during the week. I know it’s a small thing, but little things DO add up, over time.
I’ve been “greenspired” by some other websites recently, and I’ll write about some of them soon.  Today’s post is already long enough!
However, I’d be remiss if I wrote about this topic without pointing you all toward NBC 10’s own “Green” blog: “It’s Your World: Welcome to It” by environmentalist Chip Young.  He has some great “green” information there, specific to Rhode Island.  Check it out, if you haven’t already seen it!