10 Green Resolutions You Can Keep January 12, 2009

Make green a habit in 2009 with these easy to do resolutions:

1. Give your mailbox a makeover - It’s easier than ever to stop getting junk mail, credit card offers and catalogs. Click on DMAchoice to stop getting mail you don’t want. This year I only got one catalog. – Stop Junk Mail – Free at Last!
2. Use reusable bags - Plastic and paper bags are neither free nor cheap. The cost is built into the products you buy, the cost of disposing of them and the impact to the environment. - The Real Cost of Free Plastic Bags
3. Stop buying bottled water – This is a clever marketing scheme where companies take our own municipal water supply (tap water), filter and bottle it, then sell it back to us with pretty pictures of glaciers on the label at exorbitant prices. The truth is, bottled water is neither safer nor cleaner than tap water. If you don’t like the taste of your tap water or think it’s contaminated, find out what’s in it and invest in a filtration system. - Bottled water
4. Use public transportation - Even as gas prices drop (and they won’t stay down forever), public transit user still save $8,300 per household according to publictransportation.org. Find a transit system in your community. Even if your community doesn’t have public transportation (mine doesn’t), you can still Hit the Road for Less. You can always combine errands to reduce the number of miles driven.
5. Save energy – At energysavers.gov you can find free and inexpensive strategies for saving energy and money as well as energy-saving investments that can provide savings over the long term. You’ll also find information on financial assistance for energy-saving improvements.
6. Switch to cold water – Wash and rinse your clothes in cold water. About 90% of the energy use in a clothes washer goes to water heating. Run your clothes washer with only full loads. Fewer loads reduce energy and water use. If you’re in the market for a new washer, get one that is Energy Star qualified.
7. Load up the dishwasher – Run your dishwasher only when full but not overloaded. Scrape, don’t rinse, food off plates. Dishwashers don’t require pre-soaking or pre-rinsing to get dishes clean. Use the air dry or no-dry option on your dishwasher. You don’t need to bake your dishes to dry them. In general, using a dishwasher is more energy/water-efficient than washing dishes by hand. And your dishes are cleaner.
8. Use cleaning cloths instead of paper towels – Recycle old dish and bath towels into cleaning cloths instead of using paper towels to dust, clean counters, glass and mirrors. Wash them without fabric softener so they are more absorbent.
9. Use cloth napkins – Cloth napkins aren’t just for company anymore. According to the EPA, the U.S. generated 3,430,000 tons of tissues and paper towels to the municipal waste stream in 2006, none of which is recyclable. That’s a lot of trees turned into a lot of garbage. Paper Towels and Napkins versus Cloth
10. Make your own homemade cleaner – You’ll save money without exposure to chemicals. Better for you, better for the environment.
    • 1/2 cup white vinegar
    • 3 1/2 cups water
    • 3-4 drops Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap

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