Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Earthly!

Plethora of articles today on how to be green, what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. It feels good to know that gini and I are already quite green.
1) Use reusable bags for grocery/shopping - check
2) Use public transportation - semi-check (MS is huge on encouraging an alternative commute option to work, I get free train and bus passes).
3) Replace incandescents with CFLs or LEDs - semi-check (still some antique bulbs in the house, should be replaced soon)
4) Unplug where you can - hell-yeah check (I heard this first on Oprah some years back, chargers with transformers will suck energy even when you have them switched off, unplugging or using a power strip is the way to go).
5) Switch off lights when not in use - big-check (it runs in our family, Electrical Engineer as a father y'all)
6) Most of our appliances are energy star since they are new - huge savings on monthly electricity bill.
7) I am growing veggies this summer - we still need to get rid of the lawn, which is an embarrassment to maintain these days. Considering farmers have no water to irrigate their farms and we are watering our lawn for curb appeal, yuck!
8) Use your own bottle and mug at work - like someone needs to tell you this. And yet there are people who will use water bottles and styrofoam cups every single time they need a drink.

The list is obviously open-ended, but these are the big ones for us. I have resolved to start composting from today, we already have a composting bin. I saved the vegetable scraps from yesterday's cooking (yes I cooked on a weekday, felt weird!).

Oh yes, the most important step:

9) Reduce shower time: I should get a gadget that turns off water after 5 minutes. A couple of days of getting out of the shower with soap here and there will be a nice learning experience.

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Happy Earth Day earthlings, make a resolution to do something green. And try to stick to it!

3 comments:

  1. We CFL'ized our house last week. Replaced even hob lights and planning on fixing the microwave lights too :p

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  2. yeah check for most of these except shower times :( I do like long showers but i guess it balances out by not showering every single day of the week :D hee

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  3. Nice! Yeah, something should be done for the shower times, and I've been bathing in scalding hot water. Feels really good!

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