The following are some of our favorite simple ideas that add up to big impact:
Replace them with the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), the funny-looking swirl that fits into standard sockets. CFLs cost more, yet use 1/4 the electricity and last several years longer.
Fruit, vegetables, meat, and milk produced closer to home rack up fewer “petroleum miles” than products trucked cross-country to your table. Visit the following sites to learn more about Chicago-area organizations supporting local, sustainable food production.
Green City Market
Familyfarmed.org
There are many Chicago organizations and city agencies working to improve Chicago’s environment by working directly with area communities and groups. By supporting these efforts (through leadership, volunteering, donations, etc.) your individual actions will add up to major impacts. Visit the Chicago Conservation Corps website to learn about their programs and to find a list of city-wide partner organizations.
The Chicagoland Environmental Network (CEN), a group of more than 200 environmental and natural resource organizations, can also get you connected. CEN covers northeastern Illinois and surrounding areas. Visit www.chicagoenvironment.org for a list of volunteering opportunities, jobs and internships, an event calendar, and listings of member organizations with links to their sites.
Also, visit the City of Chicago’s Department of Environment website for a wealth of information about the city’s efforts to make Chicago a leader in its environmental initiatives.
Items like TVs, DVRs, computers, monitors, stereos, and phone chargers are constantly pulling power, even when you turn them off. Unplug stuff when it’s not actively charging a device, and plug everything else into power strips and flick them off each night.
You can reduce the CO2 created by your laundry up to 90% by washing your clothes in warm or cold water, and drying your clothes naturally.
If every U.S. home viewed and paid its bills online, the switch would cut solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year.
Open your windows and use fans in the summer and fall. Adjust your thermostat a couple of degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter. Caulk and weatherstrip all your doors and windows. Insulate your walls and ceilings. Use the dishwasher only when it’s full. Install low-flow showerheads. Turn down the thermostat on the water heater. At the end of the year, don’t be surprised if your house feels lighter. It just lost 4,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide.
Shopping bags blow...into trees and streams. They also suck — energy and resources. Change your relationship — make a long-term commitment to a hemp or organic cotton bag, or even some other plastic throwaway that you will use over and over again.
Every year Americans throw away enough office & writing paper to build a wall 12 feet high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York City! Recycle what you can, but also reduce the need: don’t print that document if you don’t have to and make 2-sided copies whenever you can.
Besides just saving forests around the world, it takes 70% to 90% less energy to make recycled paper. And, of course, it diverts paper from landfills. When you buy recycled paper, you’re helping to increase the demand for recycled content products. This “closes the loop” on the recycling process. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Rebuy!
Using a gas-powered leaf blower for just an hour sucks down 1 pint of gas and oil. With more than 30 million acres of lawn in the U.S., it’s a high price to pay for a job that can be done with a rake.
Improperly inflated will wear out more quickly, can cause accidents, and they use up more fuel.
If every American family planted just one tree, it would reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by 1 billion pounds a year.
Freecycle is a nonprofit, email-based grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Check them out at www.freecycle.org.
Consume less. Just like that. Think about your consumption and your actions, and question your need. Oh, and get to know your neighbors so you can borrow when you need to and lend when you’re asked.
Tips were culled from various resources including Time Magazine, TreeHugger.com, StopGlobalWarming.org, IdealBite.com, and our own little minds.