My near panic attacks about the health of our world are coming with increasing intensity. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m a new mom worried about my son’s future, Al Gore’s ubiquitous doomsday predictions, or because I feel intensely guilty that I’ve purchased not one, but two SUVs (albeit small ones) in the past year.
Regardless, I’m calculating my carbon imprint on various Web sites, and I don’t like it.
So I’m trying to be green, and feel a special kinship with Kermit: it’s just not easy.
I canvassed friends around the country to find out what thirty year-olds are doing to make sure our children and our children’s children don’t have to live in a treeless, scorched-earth bubble.
A common thread is that people have an increased awareness of their earth-unfriendly activities. Long, hot showers and roomy SUVs are still facts of life, but they’re increasing looked upon as a vice. Some of the most common green activities include switching light bulbs to energy-saving compact fluorescents lights, turning off lights, moderating use of air-conditioning and heating, and recycling.
Sarah Montilla, an accountant who lives in Denver and works hard on being green, confesses to some weaknesses.
“I should actually take a bus when I go downtown for play, but I don’t. I suck,” said Sarah. “I think the worst thing I do is I love taking long showers. I think Americans have no concept of the amount of water we are constantly wasting!”
On the green-positive side, Sarah wears her clothes until they are “disgusting” before washing them. She drives a Volkswagen Jetta that gets good gas mileage, uses green cleaning products, buys organic food and clothes, sweeps instead of vacuums, and carpools with friends whenever possible.
Katrina Shonbeck, who works for Google and lives in Chicago, has a personal Top 10 list for being green. Here it is:
1. Turn off AC before I leave the house
2. Ride my bike to work
3. Use high efficiency (fluorescent) light bulbs—the GE ones
4. Use old newspapers as packing material for my next move
5. Only run the dishwasher/laundry when the load is full
6. Take lukewarm showers instead of really hot ones
7. Turn off lights whenever I leave a room
8. Reduce the AC usage by running ceiling fans and drawing curtains and blinds
9. Turn off computer whenever I’m done using it (not standby or hibernate)
10. Turn off the TV/music when I’m not watching/listening to it
Sarah Carter, a neuroscientist in San Francisco, says she tries to buy only local produce and meat.
“This cuts down on the distance that it has to travel, which is usually by truck,” Sarah said. “I always laugh at myself, though, because it’s easy to do that when you live in San Francisco, the land of milk and honey.”
Browning Jeffries is a law professor in Atlanta—a city less focused on the environment than San Francisco. Browning looked at the hybrid option when buying an SUV, but decided the energy savings did not warrant the extra cost when accounting for the type and amount of driving she does on a weekly basis.
She performs several earth-friendly acts on a routine basis, however. She and her husband switched the light bulbs in their house to the compact fluorescent lights. They program their thermostat so the air-conditioning or heater doesn’t come on until 6:30 p.m., and they always turn all the lights off when they leave their house.
In addition to switching light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, recycling, and turning down the thermostat, Lauren Powell, a teacher in Atlanta, braves the Southern heat while driving. She almost always rolls the windows down instead of using the air-conditioning.
Lauren uses only cloth napkins and washes them only once a week. She cleans the house with old dishtowels instead of paper towels, unplugs big appliances when she’s not using them, and saves (like her “frugal grandmother”) gift bags, boxes, and unwrinkled tissue paper for wrapping presents.
Michelle Graff, a journalist who lives in Atlanta, rides MARTA—the metro system—to work instead of driving. She schedules lunch appointments near a MARTA stop.
“I also walk places when I can, prompting car-obsessed Atlantans to say, ‘You’re walking all the way over there?’ even though it’s really not that far and people in cities like Boston and NYC do it all the time,” said Michelle.
When Michelle does drive, she sports a Honda Civic rather than a gas-guzzling SUV.
I’m inspired to be as green as I can be. I have recycled religiously for years, switched the lights in my house to compact fluorescent bulbs, walk instead of drive whenever I can, stopped buying bottles of water, shower only when I really need to, and keep the thermostat more moderated than would be completely comfortable. But it’s not enough.
Here’s my to-do list:
1. Buy a hybrid next time I’m in the market for a car
2. Use cloth bags when grocery shopping
3. Buy only locally grown food
4. Stop using paper towels!
5. Stop buying baby food in small, wasteful containers
6. Donate money to environmental organizations
7. Stop sending flowers (they’re shipped across the world and quickly die)
8. Teach my son environmentally friendly habits
9. Bring my own reusable containers to restaurants when I buy take-out food
10. Simplify my life! Consume less, buy less, and use less
What are you doing to be green?
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