Of course even though the article is aimed at gay men, there’s no reason the rest of us can’t go green. Every little bit helps, and the more people who go green the better off the environment is.
1. I recycle.
I used to dread recycling, only dropping items into the blue bins because it was required by law. Then I saw an ad on the subway that said New Yorkers throw away enough paper waste every year to fill the Empire State Building. I asked myself how much effort it would actually take to drop my paper, plastic and metal products in a separate bin instead of the trash can? It’s turning out to be little effort at all. I keep a recycle bin right next to the trash bin in my apartment, which makes it easy to just tie and drop the separated trash and recyclables on the curb on trash day. It’s become routine for me to check the bottom of bottles and cans for their recyclability.
Here are some interesting facts:
*Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours — or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
*An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now.
*There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can can be recycled.
*To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
*If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year.
*If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year.
*The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. *This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year.
*The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
*Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper a year; about 680 pounds per person.
*Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution.
*The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use waste paper is 50 to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.
*Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away.
*Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.
*Americans throw away 25,000,000 plastic beverage bottles every hour.
*Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable.
*The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
*A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose — and even longer if it’s in the landfill.
*Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%.
2. I opt for electronic billing.
Checking the mailbox can be such a downer, especially when it’s filled with the cable bill, the cell bill, the gas bill, and ever other bill imaginable. After clogging up my box, these paper-wasters often end up in the recycle bin or trash once I pay them. Most billing companies, however, offer electronic billing options. Regular statements sent via email or text message alert me of specific bill due dates and amounts. I immediately log the information into my calendar and then schedule my online bill payments.
3. I use online bill pay.
I write—maybe—a handful of checks a year. I use my check card to pay for purchases whenever possible (which is easy to do now that most retailers are bank card focused). I’ve also set up online bill payment at my bank to pay monthly bills. This saves paper, envelopes and stamps. The only draw back is that in some cases the bank actually sends a paper check instead of me (which defeats my green purpose), but in most instances the bank is able to transfer funds electronically, saving a few trees.
The benefits to the environment are enough motivation to make the switch. But consider this; once I switched to paperless billing and online payments I also began saving myself a great deal of time and money. I no longer have to open, file and eventually shred/recycle my monthly statements. I also don’t have to fuss with checks, stamps and traditional mail. I get my statements via e-mail and after a few minutes at my bank’s online site my bills are paid.
5. I energy star.
I look for the “star,” as they say, on any home appliance that I purchase. This lets me know that they meet energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of Energy, using less energy. Learn more on the Energy Star Program website.
Remember to unplug any appliances that have “standby mode” when you’re not using them–particularly if you don’t use them frequently.
9. I use my own bags.
Single or double bag, sir? I’m sure you recognize this standard inquiry from grocery store cashiers everywhere. I take pride in my response: “Neither, I have my own.” I keep a few re-usable bags on me at all times just in case I drop by the grocery store or any other outlet. The double and triple plastic and paper bags add up to a lot of waste. By using (and re-using) my own bags, I save landfill space and I feel good about making a difference.
If you end up getting paper or plastic from the store for some reason, re-use the bags for trash, recycling or some other useful purpose. Don’t let them end up as mere trash in a landfill.
10. I use natural cleaning products.
Tough dirt, germs and grime call for tough cleaning products. The only problem is that those potent chemicals wash down the drain along with the dirt. These chemicals then swirl into our water supply. One remedy is to raid your cupboard for natural cleaning solutions like vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda (learn more), or you can buy natural versions of over-the-counter supplies, like I do. Many commercial brands, like Clorox, now make natural surface and bathroom cleaning products that pack a punch on germs, but ease up on our environment.
For more helpful hints on living green , fair trade and much more Co-Op America is a great resource. Their Getting to Zero Waste might be of particular interest to those wishing to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Addendum. A comment has arrived from
Ebon, who said:
Do you guys have seperate trash pick-ups there? Here (Britain), every house has three trash bins; one blue (glass, picked up Tuesdays), one green (card, paper, etc, Wednesday) and one grey (everything else, Thursday). Seems to work most of the time.
That said, I order groceries online (saves driving) and even they turn up in plastic bags! I could just carry the crate through to my kitchen but noooo. Still, the bags aren’t wasted, they’re used to line the cat’s litter box.
Regular garbage gets picked up weekly by the usual guys. We have special bins for recyclables that we put out every other week for pick-up by a special collection company. Any glass, plastics and cans go directly into the bins. Paper and cardboard we put in paper bags then put the bags in the bins or beside them if the ground isn’t wet.
For shopping I normally take cloth bags when I can. Whole Foods gives a 5-cent rebate for every reusable bag a customer uses, which can also be donated to a variety of charities. I’ll sometimes get plastic bags since we use them to line our trash cans (it makes more sense than buying trash bags as they’re only going to end up in a landfill anyway), and other times I’ll get paper since they’re used for the paper/cardboard recycling. Who knows, though…there’s talk of phasing out plastic bags altogether or at least charging for them around here so I may end up changing my habits even more.
