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.
