By Sue Brenner, PCC, PMP

You already know that global warming is serious and that we collectively need to do our part to cool it. But that doesn't mean you have to pitch a tent in the woods and drink your water from a stream. Here are 10 simple ways to cool the earth, from carrying your own water bottle to car pooling. Do any or all of these and you'll feel good about doing your part to cherish the environment. And you might inspire others to do the same.

1. Pack your own water.
   
   Rather than buying a plastic bottle every time you need a sip, pack your own H2O. Sturdy, reusable bottles last and are easy to clean. Fill your water bottle up at the office or gym water cooler, or filter your water at home. You’ll save money while you spare the earth, and you won’t need to find a place to recycle your disposable plastic water bottles.

2. Switch light bulbs.
   
   Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DeCaprio encourages everyone to switch bulbs. Replace standard household and office light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They cost less than $4 U.S. and are made by major companies. You’ll pay more up front, but will save about $60 U.S. for the full life of the bulb. Why not join in? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that if all American households swapped 5 light bulbs with fluorescent ones it would save the amount of energy equivalent to removing 8 million cars off the road. Another alternative—install dimmers on your lights. Create romantic mood lighting while reducing carbon dioxide.

3. Skip the solo drive.
   
   At least one day per week, ditch the lone commute. Ride your bike, carpool, take the Metro or tele-commute. Mexico City has a law that requires each vehicle to be parked—and off the road—one specified day per week. In many places throughout U.S., such as the San Francisco Bay Area in California, find a carpool pal by calling 511. Or, if you'd prefer to find a carpool buddy within your own company, encourage your HR department to look into innovative programs such as ridespring.com. RideSpring, a web-based service, makes carpooling a cinch and even offers cool prizes to give people an extra incentive to curb single-driver commutes.

4. Kick the idle off.
   
   Waiting for your carpool buddy outside the house? Cut the engine. When you turn your car off, you reduce the release of carbon dioxide. You save fuel too. Remove just 10 minutes of idling, and avoid putting 550 pounds of carbon dioxide in the air yearly. One woman, Lynn Romanek of Glencoe, Illinois, rallied parents to turn their engines off during kid drop-off and pick-up times. You can lead the way in your community.

5. Carry a portable coffee mug.
   
   How many times a day do you dash to the coffee shop and bring a paper cup back to your office? Invest in a ceramic or stainless steel mug to reuse every day. Lots of coffee shops sell them. Your company store probably sells them too. Why not add one to your birthday list? They're easy to carry and easy to clean. Use your mug in your car, on the train or during a walk to work. You can drink your favorite hot beverage in style while treading gently on the earth.

6. Keep the plastic off your clothes.
   
   Add these two easy steps to your dry cleaning routine: (1) bring a garment bag to the cleaners; (2) insert your own hangers into the bag. Have the cleaner put your clean clothes on your own hangers in the garment bag instead of using plastic covers. Pop your clothes straight into the closet when you get home, save the dry cleaner money and spare the earth. If you have extra wire hangers in your closet, take them back to the cleaner to be reused. You can also explore the growing trend of green cleaners, such as greenearthcleaning.com, who use non-toxic solvents.

7. Reduce packaging.
   
   While you’re losing the plastic on your clothes, limit other packaging as well. Sometimes you can find cereal in just a plastic bag, rather than cardboard and plastic. Purchase in bulk. Buy from local farmers’ markets using your own bags. Use concentrated items when it comes to laundry detergent and cleaners. Simple Green is a good concentrated nontoxic cleaning option. Along with your paper grocery bags, bring back those small plastic veggie bags for re-use too. Move beyond the days of tearing off a new bag at the store for your lone zucchini. Some things can just sit on top of other food.

8. Buy recycled paper towels.
   
   When you buy paper towels for the office or home, why not grab the recycled option? Also opt for recycled toilet paper, tissues and napkins. (Or use cloth.) The average American uses 6 napkins a day. If everyone started by cutting out just one of those, or using a 100% recycled one instead, it would save about a billion pounds of paper waste a year.  More and more stores now offer recycled paper products. If yours doesn’t, request recycled items or order online from sites such as ecoproducts.com.

9. Don't trash your cell phone.
   
   Or other electronics. Prevent landfills from turning into seas of gadgets. Mobile phones alone pile up 65,000 tons of waste and leak toxins such as mercury and lead into the soil. Sell your equipment on eBay, donate or recycle it. One entrepreneur says, "I'm amazed at how easy it is to sell old electronics on eBay. I sold a slide projector and computers... all stuff I had outgrown." You can also donate your items to non-profits. Try call2recycle.org or collectivegood.com—a company that supports groups like the American Red Cross. If you simply want to pass on something to someone else, use freecycle.com. It’s a resource for people who want to give away their stuff for free.

10. Bring your own grocery bag.
    
    Do grocery bags build up in your home? They do in other households too. Americans use nearly 100 billion plastic bags per year. Most of those bags don't get recycled. Bring a canvas shopping bag instead (ecobags.com) or reuse the bags you already have. You can also pick up canvas bags at local grocers and from environmental groups when you make a donation (such as nrdcwildplaces.org). Put a canvas bag with a few brown bags inside it in your trunk. Have them ready and at your fingertips when you need them. Form a new habit. Using your own bags is easy!

By now you can see that you don’t have to sell all of your belongings and live in a tent to help preserve the environment. Pick one change you’re committed to making and begin practicing it. Whether it’s packing your own water bottle, bringing a canvas bag to the market or passing your cell phone on to the next user, each step you take does make a difference. Take action today so that we can savor the earth for generations to come.

Eco Resources

Car Pooling

511
Grab a ride with someone in your San Francisco Bay Area community. Go to www.511.org. 

RideSpring
RideSpring makes it easy to find carpool partners from your company. Get cool prizes for using any alternative commute modes like biking, transit and carpooling. www.ridespring.com

Cleaning & Office/Home Supplies

Eco Products
Provides coffee cups made of 100% corn that are able to compost 100%. Also has recycled plastic take-away containers, toilet paper, etc. www.ecoproducts.com

Green Earth Cleaning
To find a toxin-free dry cleaner in your area go to www.greenearthcleaning.com.

Method Home
Provides cleaners without toxins that are dye and perfume free, biodegradable, naturally derived and without animal testing. Visit www.methodhome.com. 

Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies
Whiff the fragrances of biodegradable cleaning supplies made with natural essential oils and without phosphates. Find at www.mrsmeyers.com. 

Natural Value
Offers the best organic, recycled and natural products at great deals. Select from items like re-closable sandwich bags to sponges to laminate flooring. See www.naturalvalue.com. Order online at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_k/103-5328637-6540618?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=natural+value. 

If You Care
Provides high quality 100 % recycled and unbleached paper products, like coffee filters and cup cake cups. Even their aluminum foil is made from 100% recycled aluminum. Visit your local health food store or check out www.ifyoucare.com

Seventh Generation products
Seventh Generation is a top brand of nontoxic household products. Go to www.seventhgeneration.com. 

Simple Green
Simple Green is widely sold at supermarkets. It’s biodegradable, economical, concentrated and nontoxic.
http://consumer.simplegreen.com/index.php. You can also order it online at http://www.mybrandsinc.com/ShopOnline/Catalog.asp?t=7&s=SIMGR.

Shaklee
Offers a wide variety of safe, green cleaning products.
http://www.shaklee.com/
Find out about Healthy Home Pack starter kit by calling 1-800-225-0600.

Shopping

Books
1001 Ways to Save the Earth by Joanna Yarrow

Ecobags
Bringing your own bag when shopping saves plastic bags. Visit www.ecobags.com.

Natural Resources Defense Council
Receive a free canvas tote bag when you make a donation NRDC. See https://secure.nrdconline.org/08/biogems_home.

Oprah Boutique
Wear the stylish 100% organic cotton canvas “GrOceries Tote” for less than $10 U.S.
http://boutique.oprah.com/product/show/6191

Recycling

Earth 911
Find out what to recycle where, and what to do with non-recyclables and toxic stuff. www.earth911.org.

Freecycle
Pass on unwanted items to other people for free.
www.freecycle.com

Call 2 Recycle
Answer the call to recycle. Recycle your used portable rechargeable batteries and old cell phones here www.call2recycle.org.

Collective Good
Gives you a place to recycle old mobile phones, pagers or PDAs in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Discover more at www.collectivegood.com.

Water bottles

Nalgene water bottles
These water bottles are durable, inexpensive, can be used repeatedly and are widely recyclable. For more information visit www.nalgene-outdoor.com. 

New Wave Enviro Products
A nice alternative to plastic bottles, these corn-resin bottle with filter ($8.99) creates pure, clean drinking water. It can be reused 90 times. Plus, the bottle biodegrades in just 80 days. For more information visit www.newwaveenviro.com or call 1-800-592-8371.

SIGG water bottles
Gives you Swiss quality and fun, fashionable water bottle styles. Find out more at www.mysigg.com.
 

Copyright © 2008 Sue Brenner

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