Green Behind the Ears

Ok grasshopper, so you hear about going green all the time…hybrid cars, celebrity documentaries, carbon offsetting, but it can be a bit overwhelming. “There’s just so much, where do I start?” you ask. Well, for the general population there are a couple habits that we have that do the most damage, but are the most simple, easiest things to change. Here’s two great places to start:

1. To the perennial grocery question “Paper or Plastic?” you should answer “Neither!” and whip out your most functional or fashionable (depending on your personality) reusable bag. Be it canvas, jute, bamboo, cotton, or whatever, by bringing your own bag, you will help reduce your share of the 1 TRILLION plastic bags that enter the landfills globally every year (according to the EPA), and the wasted energy and resources to make more of them and then dispose of them.

Just for jollies, think about your personal use of plastic bags: Let’s say you go to the grocery store twice a week and use an average of 4 bags per visit equaling 8 per week, 416 bags per year, and after about 50 good years of that you’ve gone through 20,800 plastic bags (and scientists estimate that plastic bags take from 100s-1,000s of years to decompose). What a waste! Simple fix.

TAKE ACTION TIP: Always keep a stash of a couple reusable bags in your car or one bag rolled up in your purse, for those unexpected grocery runs. I love how MY ECO Bag is a system that contains 4 reusable shopping bags in one and replaces the need for 200 plastic bags. long-wearing, 100% recyclable shopping and carry-all bag alternative. All Four Bags in One Easy to Use Storage Tote.

Reusing MY ECO Shopping Bag System each time you shop versus paper or plastic is the perfect balance between consumer convenience and protecting our environmental ecosystem.

2. BYOB. Bring your own (water) BOTTLE, that is. The 2 good reasons being that it leaches the estrogen-manipulating chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) into the water you’re drinking, and 29 BILLION plastic bottles end up clogging landfills (unfortunately only 1 in 6 plastic bottles is recycled).

It’s easy and SAVES YOU MONEY to invest in a couple durable stainless steel bottles and a home water purifier so that you can stop paying for water that may not be much better than that from your kitchen sink (maybe even harmful to you), and comes in plastic containers that overall take millions of barrels of oil to

make and decades to decompose.

TAKE ACTION TIP: Stick to stainless steel because of its non-porous, stable material composition – a.k.a. less bacteria and no “stuff” getting into the water from the container, unlike different kinds of plastic, aluminum and copper. Reputable brands like

Klean Kanteen use high quality, durable stainless steel that doesn’t leech that metallic taste into the water, and they come in many colors with lids that twist, have sports pop tops, hooks and carabiner clips to choose from.