Rather than simply buying packing material for his precious collection of shot glasses though, Terry opted to wrap all breakable items in his softer possessions, such as clothes, blankets, or towels. He also wedged small cushions or pillows around things that needed extra padding for protection. I’d never have thought of packing things that way; it also made me think of all the surplus weight you carry with you during a move in the form of foam peanuts and bubble wrap. Thanks to the way he packed fragile items, Terry would be able to “reuse” the same packing materials for their original purpose upon unpacking at his new home.

Where containers were concerned, Terry canvassed neighborhood stores for cardboard/wooden boxes rather than buying plastic storage boxes. Since these items, which originally held goods from their suppliers, were of no use to the storeowners themselves, they were more than happy to give them away. In fact, Terry wound up with more than he could use!

As much as he would have liked to take everything with him, there were some things that would never have survived the move. Any item of food deemed unable to survive the journey (but was still edible and presentable) was donated to the nearest soup kitchen, as were any cooking utensils Terry wouldn’t use. In fact, he gave away everything he didn’t need, which wasn’t a lot, since he would only buy things when absolutely necessary.

Loathe as he was to buy things just for a move, Terry did have purchase some items brand new. They weighed greatly on this frugal fellow, who tries to live an environmentally friendly life as possible, but he ensured that whatever he bought was either made of recycled materials, or could be recycled after the move. Knowing him, though, those things might also stored away until needed again, whether by him or by someone else.

Eliminating the use of plastic grocery bags from your everyday routines is possibly the easiest step. Stock up on reusable cloth bags, and leave them in the car. Once you’ve unpacked your groceries inside the house, take them back to the car, so you’ll definitely have them for the next trip to the store.

When in need of plates, glasses, or flatware, choose ceramic and glass first. These can even be used on the go. Just take a damp towel and wipe them down, then store them until you can make it to the kitchen sink; however, if that seems like too much of a hassle, consider buying paper alternatives made from recycled ingredients. These can be recycled or composted after they’ve been used.

When buying items for your home, consider using fabric instead of plastic. For example, mini-blinds are inexpensive and popular window covering options, but fabric drapes or bamboo blinds do the job just as well, and they are much easier on the planet. Vinyl shower curtains can also be replaced with fabric. Hemp is one sustainable fabric that’s perfect for the bathrooms, since it’s mildew resistant.

Although some plastics are here to stay for many more years, taking these baby steps will help keep tons of plastic waste out of landfills. In addition, as you adopt these steps and make them habits, removing even more plastic from your lifestyle will seem a lot easier.

First, buy only what you need during grocery runs. This means making a shopping list and sticking to it. A list makes you aware of what is needed in the pantry, and reduces the chances of impulse buying.

Additional ways to ensure that you only buy what you need is not shopping on an empty stomach, as you’re more likely to buy food items you don’t need, and that you are likely to toss out at the end of the week.

Shopping with a list also enables you to plan the week’s menu, so you won’t be at a loss for dinner ideas on a dreary Wednesday evening.

On the other hand, some food items wind up not being used, despite your best intentions. Fret not, as eating brown bananas won’t kill you. Of course, eating hideously overripe bananas isn’t fun, but you must agree that they make fantastic banana bread or muffins. The same goes for vegetables that are just starting to go limp. Rather than throwing them out or composting them, wring out all possible nutrients by making soup. Alternatively, juice everything, and have a detox day!

Leftovers are near unavoidable where cooked food is concerned. Save them from becoming rubbish by freezing them and/or incorporating them into meals the next day. Leftover roast chicken can be shredded and used to prepare a quick lunch of fried noodles or rice, or feature it in a salad.

On the other hand, you can avoid crowding the fridge with leftovers by simply cooking less. You’d save time on meal preparation each day, meaning there’d be more time for other things like TV, or an evening stroll around the block.

When it comes to individual portions of food, avoid food waste by providing smaller servings. This is particularly pertinent for children, who often overestimate how much they can eat. Not only does this reduce food waste, but parents will spend less time cajoling a child who’s already full into finishing what’s on his/her plate, and a happier meal time will be had by all.

One thing my mother does is arrange her pantry so that the older items are in the front. That way, she knows what to use when she has one of her “clearance cookouts,” where only old food items are used. I’ve wound up adopting this practice as well!

To begin with, if you’re interested in remodeling or decorating of your home office, it’s important to go for green materials. VOC-free paints are a must, as other paints are full of chemicals that will out-gas into your home environment. These paints can cost a few dollars more than the alternative, but are well worth it considering how much time can be spent in the office. As far as flooring goes, choose sustainable and toxic free materials, such as bamboo or cork. Hemp and organic rugs are another option.

Once you’ve gotten the walls and floor finished, you’ll need some furniture. Even if you’re on a tight budget, avoid furniture made with particle board. This material is usually made from unsustainably harvested wood, and then glued together with toxic chemicals that will pollute your home’s air. Instead, used furniture found on Craigslist, FreeCycle, or local furniture stores is a better option since you’ll be helping to recycle these items. You can liven them up by stripping existing finishes with sand paper and painting them with left over VOC free paint.

A second alternative for furniture is to buy sustainable pieces from environmentally responsible companies. Look for furniture made with solid wood that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. This certification guarantees the wood came from a managed forest. Even more, a well-made solid wood desk or chair will last a long time if taken care of, unlike cheaper versions made from plastic or particle board. Once its lifespan is up, it can be recycled into something useful as well.

Beyond these two parts of your office, you’ll need electronics and paper supplies. Almost any piece of office equipment can be found in Energy Star versions, guaranteeing that you’ll be using as little electricity as possible to get your work done. Computers certified by the Electronic Product Enviromental Assessment Tool are the most eco-friendly computers, as they have as little lead and mercury as possible, minimal packaging, and the ability to last years. Sustainable paper supplies should be relatively easy to find. Most office supply stores have 100% post-consumer recycled content paper products, including printer paper, envelopes, file folders, and boxes.

The simplest way to reduce household waste is to buy less. This can be achieved by shopping with a list, i.e., buying only what you need. That aside, try to make the effort to not buy things that need a lot of packaging. Alternatively, buy things whose packing materials are resource or energy conservative.

Another way to reduce purchases is by borrowing or renting things that are used infrequently. By the same token, donate or sell things that aren’t used (whether in the home or office), but are still in good condition. Items that are used frequently should be purchased in bulk to economize on money, time, and resources, i.e., fuel, used to get replacements. It’s also possible to decrease the amount of items bought by buying things that can be reused, such as drinks in reusable containers instead of cans, and batteries that can be recharged.

Food preparation tends to create a lot of waste, and one of the best ways to reduce the amount of kitchen waste that winds up in the landfill is by composting the organic material. Again, it needs some effort and a little time to “make” your own soil, but it’s the thing to do if you’re keen on gardening. If you don’t have a green thumb, you can always give away or sell the finished compost to someone who does.

Last, minimize the waste you generate by going as paperless as possible. Work environments have long used less paper for interoffice communications, and it’s also become more convenient to read the news online. For one thing, you won’t have to worry about someone swiping your paper, and you don’t need to remove the sections you don’t want to read.

To help make a dent in this problem, consider these ways to avoid contributing to the water shipping problem:

1. Just Say No to the Bottle:  According to one estimate, it takes more than 30 million barrels of oil to produce and transport the bottled water that America consumes each year – and most of this bottled water has little, if any, difference from your local tap water that is already flowing in your house or place of business.  I urge you to go treat yourself to the prettiest stainless steel beverage bottle (make sure the cap contains no plastic with BPA) you can find.  Get in the habit of filling it at home, at work, and anywhere you would be tempted to reach for a bottle of water.
2. Say “Oh, Yeah!” to DIY Drinks:  Powdered drink mixes are just one option to help you avoid buying pre-mixed, bottled beverages.  Get in the habit making your own iced tea, lemonade, and other beverages.  There are some very unique and tasty soda pop mixes as well, which will lessen your participation in the shipment of the estimated 15 billion gallons of soft drinks our country consumes each year.  You’ll save money, and you’ll also control the amount and type of sweetener you use.
3. Buy Concentrated Cleaners:  Most liquid cleansers you use around the house are primarily water, and you pay for the pre-mixed convenience.  Look into concentrated pine cleaners, which you dilute at home, saving lots of money in the process.  A brand like Super Pine, which is primarily pine oil, is biodegradable, environmentally friendly, and many times cheaper than the familiar brand that comes pre-diluted in the store.  Don’t forget the magic of eco-friendly vinegar and baking soda as household cleaners, and don’t assume you need a different bottle for each room or job.

Got these three tips covered?  Here are two bonus ideas:

4. When in Doubt, Dilute: Got a favorite beverage you can’t imagine doing without?  You are not alone.  Our family successfully dilutes beverages like juices and fruit drinks, giving us a 2-for-1 amount of beverage for our purchase and cutting transportation costs and calories in the process.
5.  Lather, Rinse, and Don’t Repeat: It’s an obvious suggestion, but one easily forgotten.  Remember that directions on cleaning products and personal hygiene supplies often encourage you to use more product than is needed.  With most products, you can experiment with the amount you use and may well find yourself using less product, which means less transported water and less money out of pocket.

What ideas do you have for reducing our national investment in shipping water to and fro?  I look forward to seeing more ideas in the comment section!

Using energy-efficient products is a good step up from simply switching off the lights in an empty room. The principle of energy efficiency is to use the minimum amount of electricity or fuel to derive maximum or satisfactory output. Examples of energy-efficient products include compact fluorescent light bulbs and washing machines with no standby power option, i.e., they switch directly to “off” mode. (Look for Energy Star appliances).

Ensuring that your car runs effectively is also energy efficiency in practice. Mileage can be improved by 3% or more if tires are correctly inflated (the opposite is probably true as well), and keeps about 20 lbs. of carbon out of the atmosphere for each gallon of gas saved.

Another way to reduce your personal impact on the environment is by driving less frequently. The price of fuel never seems to come down, so rather than silently fume though, it would be a better idea to drive less altogether.

Walking or cycling emits no exhaust, and most cities have a decent mass transport system. Alternatively, carpooling reduces the amount of personal driving, which also reduces reliance on fossil fuels, as well as the anxiety regarding the world’s dwindling oil supply.

Similarly, it’s possible to reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by consuming less meat. Livestock cultivation is less energy efficient compared to farming in terms of resources and time required to produce a “crop.” In turn, the consumer pays more for meat than for vegetables to obtain what are essentially recycled plant nutrients.

The savings gained from buying less meat in general can be used to buy free-range and/or organic meat, which contains fewer additives, but it does cost more. If anything, the profit margin might encourage livestock farmers to adopt environmentally friendly practices.

Another thing to buy is locally produced food. It’s one thing to adopt vegetarianism, but you have to consider the environmental impact of having your vegetables transported from halfway across the world.

Rather than stocking single-use water bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET/PETE) and fretting about the impact it will have on you, the landfills, and the environment, try doing without them altogether. It’s easier to fill up reusable water bottles from the tap rather than running to the store each time you need water.

In the workplace, replacing bottled water stock with a water dispenser is actually more cost-effective and generates less trash. To put things into perspective, more than a billion plastic bottles a year can be kept out of a city landfill if all of the city’s residents turned away from plastic, disposable water bottles.

Contrary to popular belief, there is very little difference between tap and bottled water. Water from the tap is treated and filtered so that it is safe for consumption, and if you read the labels closely, a lot of bottled water is sourced from municipalities, which effectively makes it higher-priced tap water. If the idea of tap water makes you squirm, home water filters are excellent for filtering out possible particulates and odors, providing “spring-fresh” water.

While you might be hesitant about reusing PET bottles due to health concerns, you don’t have to think only of water when it comes to reusing plastic water bottles. Oddly enough, the very items that are so easily disposed of, paper products and tin cans, are actually some of the best base materials for repurposing projects.

A simple example of plastic water bottle reuse would be to cut off the top of a bottle, and use it as a container for non-food items. These include: money, stationery, utensils, paint, and even plants.

Other uses for plastic bottles that I wouldn’t have thought of immediately include candle holders (the candle is held in place by the bottle neck), an emergency funnel, and drip irrigators.

Of course, bottles can always be sent to recycling centers, presumably to manufacture more bottles. On the other hand, recycled plastic bottles may take new forms – fabric, apparel, handbags, and office furniture.

Somewhere between selling my car and scheduling classes, lay the exciting task of packing up my bedroom and preparing to move into my college dorm room. For students and parents alike, it can be tempting to bring every single pillow, television, and ramen noodle bowl you can find. This can lead to space shortages and hundreds of dollars in extra energy costs. As the former president of my high school environmental club, I found it important to make sure I brought all of the essentials, while at the same time keeping a green existence -  even while living in a college residence hall.

It is easier than you may think. With these starter tips, you will be on the path to a green dorm room in no time!

1. Communicate with your roommate. Often roommates will overlap in the things that they bring for the dorm. Imagine how much electricity can be saved if you share a mini-fridge, as opposed to two separate units. Do the same for TV’s, printers, rugs, and even little things like toothbrush holders and soap dispensers. Every item takes energy to produce, and with a little thought, you and your roommate will have already cut your consumption by 50%. A bonus is that with all of the communication, you will already be acquainted by move-in day.

2. Avoid disposable products. College students often do not realize how much of a waste of resources and money disposable products can be. This is an easy fix. Buy a ceramic soap dispenser that can be refilled as opposed to several plastic soap bottles. When getting your morning coffee, use a reusable steel mug instead of a new cup each day. (Many coffee chains, such as Starbucks, even give discounts for this!) Finally, buy a ceramic plate and metal utensils. Too many times my friends have spent money on disposable silverware. This will again save a lot of money and plastic.

3. Bring a sweatshirt. It can’t be stressed enough how altering your thermostat by even a few degrees can save money. If each student does this, the campus will save millions of dollars in heating and cooling costs. Simply buy a sweatshirt with your university logo to stay warm, and show your school pride.

4. Buy some plants. Why spend money on expensive and wasteful air purifiers? Buying a plant or two will clean the air naturally and give your dorm room some much-needed life. My two cacti which cost about $20 total at Lowe’s, were one of the best investments I have made in college. Not only are they eco-friendly, they are a great conversation starter.

By making eco-friendly adjustments to your dorm room, you will be doing your part to help the Earth, and you may even make a few new friends by doing so.

Water conservation plays a large part in keeping a bathroom green. The most commonly cited methods for doing so include:

- Taking showers instead of baths

- Taking shorter showers

- Installing low-flow/aerated showerheads and faucets

- Leaving the yellow to mellow (there probably isn’t any other polite way to say this)

- Installing dual-flush toilets or placing water-displacing bricks/bottles in an old-fashioned cistern

In the same vein, the grey water produced from showering or bathing can be used for watering the (container) garden, or topping up the toilet tank; however, that requires diligence and a tank with a removable cover, which dual-flush toilets do not generally possess.

Similarly, bathroom containers don’t necessarily have to be made of plastic. Chemical cleaning materials can be replaced with green cleaning products, or simply white vinegar, baking soda, or borax.

It’s also a good idea to replace light fixtures with energy conserving alternatives. You might also want to consider using natural light; however, ensure that the cost of a window/skylight addition/enlargement does not outweigh the benefit.

A few bathroom items can also be replaced with more environmentally friendly versions. For example, most shower curtains are made from vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Though waterproof, PVC can emit phthalates, lead, and other volatile organic compounds that can be detrimental to health.

Rather than replacing shower curtains with a glass/walled shower stall (expensive), use shower curtains made with recycled polyester or vinyl and chlorine-free polyethylene vinyl acetate, which is biodegradable. Non-synthetic alternatives include hemp, bamboo, or cotton; however, there’s no guarantee they’re pesticide-free, and the potential for mildew growth is off-putting.

The same goes for toiletries. Try to avoid products containing petroleum-based ingredients, e.g., mineral oil, sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate, and polyethylene glycol. Cutting out these three ingredients alone means shunning the majority of toiletries available. No doubt, shopping will take longer, but the health and environmental benefits make it worthwhile.

Lastly, if you’re bent on a full-scale bathroom remodel, consider using salvaged or recycled items for countertops and flooring. Like sourcing for green toiletries, this takes more time to accomplish, but is certainly friendlier to the environment and your wallet.