Because I’m all about the puns and cliches on St. Patty’s day, I thought I’d play on the green theme.
First, I had to wear a green shirt today to work. It’s my wellness coaching morning, and I love this job. I pinch myself sometimes—I get to hang out with friends and talk about wellness for hours—and I don’t have to “Sell it” because the people who are interested talk to me, and those who aren’t, don’t. Lucky Me!
Second, I pulled out this book:
I attended a workshop with a bunch of dieticians in Santa Fe in 2008, put on by Field to Plate, and Kate Geagan was there. Her book relates habits that are both earth friendly and waistline friendly. Some fun facts from the book:
- The UN says that eating less meat may be one of the most effective ways to fight global warming, and it’s also one of the most effective ways to fight fat, heart disease, high blood pressure, and certain cancers.
- If every American switched from eating meat to veggies on one day per week, it would save 1.7 billion gallons of gasoline. If we strived to get our veggies locally, the savings would be even more.
- The annual fossil fuel footprint of bottled water consumption in the US is more than 50 million barrels of oil—that could run 3 million cars for a year.
Four years ago, when I was teaching Wellness classes at Keuka College, I needed to find some interesting information about “going Green.” You know, information college students would actually listen to. I picked up this book because it had a lot of fun facts in it.
- Buy used textbooks – $10 billion worth are bought every year. Recycling 1% of textbooks could save enough money to send 4,000 students to a 4-yr public college.
- If 5% of people could find a homeopathic remedy for half their med needs, 4.4 million pounds fewer pollutants would end up in the water system.
- Set your AC a degree higher and your heat a degree lower, and save $100 a year. If every American did it, we’d save $10 billion.
- Don’t ask for ATM receipts. If everyone in the US refused their receipts it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long, or enough to circle the equator 15 times.
The other theme that follows through these books, and through my mind right now, is that every little thing matters.
Whether or not we turn the water off when we brush our teeth, whether we buy local produce as often as possible, how we approach every single moment, whether we donate $5 to Japan or not…and so on.
Wegmans (a huge local grocery store chain) is asking every customer if they want to donate the balance on the dollar of their grocery bill. If you say yes and give your $.12…and everyone else does too, it can make a huge difference!
Do you find it easy or difficult to see what your tiny little actions do in the whole scheme of the world?
What have you done lately to make an impact?
I quit buying bottled water. I turned down my heat, I started walking to the grocery store (sometimes). I only buy organic produce—if something isn’t organic, I buy something else.
I also just took my jeans to get shortened, and my amazing tailor, Fuat (he’s turkish), shortened them on the spot (so I saved gas by not having to go back later and get them—and I can totally wear them tonight!). The little things do matter.
What a great post 🙂 The facts about how small changes can add up always blow me away. This one is definitely my fav: “If every American switched from eating meat to veggies on one day per week, it would save 1.7 billion gallons of gasoline.” AMAZING. I definitely drink fully out of a reusable water bottle (unless I'm in an airport- but I still pack my bottle for when I arrive at my destination), I use re-usable shopping bags, I try to car pool when I can.
Lovely post Lisa! It is so true — little things sure add up.
I love my reusable water bottle, use cloth shopping bags, carpool or walk when possible, try to do one stop shopping (save gas), only buy the food that we need (little or no waste), etc.
i use energy efficient light bulbs and try to turn things off when i can… although its hard to see that those little things will make a difference, but its true that they do!
I try to hope that those little things do matter. We started taking our own water bottles with us on vacation to keep refilling rather than buying cases of bottled water. We always keep the temp set around 68 in the winter and 76-78 in the summer. Partly b/c we have a very old house and it doesn't matter anyway. Thankfully it was built/designed to be cooler in the summer naturally. We switched over to the energy efficient bulbs – though they do not last as long as they say. Hmph
I've been a vegetarian for like 13 years, so I'm doing my part! 🙂
I try and be conscious of the decisions I make, especially when it comes to being environmentally responsible. My husband and I are die-hard recyclers, we have tried to reduce our meat consumption to 2-3 times a week, and we never buy bottled water anymore, but rather refill our own travel bottles.
Great post!
i love the grocery store thing. around here you can choose to round up to the next dollar and give the change to a charity. i think it's awesome.
I love the Wegman's idea! I don't believe my grocery store does that, but imagine if all of them did? Amazing!
these are such great tips and book recommendations. I love what Wegmans is doing as well! Go green it is!
LC
Lol! It made me laugh that he knew you were taking his picture but he didn't' say anything! 🙂
I definitely agree that the little things truly do matter. If everyone participated in doing the 'little things' then they would turn into big things!
So interesting!! The book must be really great!
Hmm I'm not sure if I have done anything to make an impact… I mean, besides buying local, eating way less meat and stuff like that… I do try to save water and energy as much as possible, and also recycle 🙂
xx
that is just the coolest, lisa, that you eagerly anticipate going to your wellness coaching job. i feel that way about my job, too: it's not work at all!! i love what i do and can't believe i can spend time absorbed in my hobby and get paid!
glad you wore green – me!
thanks for all the green tips. i totally believe that the little things add up. for example, at the store, i always ask people if they want a bag or not – more and more people are saying no, it's ok. i'd say we're at about 50% of bag takers vs decliners! progress!
will you enjoy a green dinner tonight?!
I do pretty much most of the stuff the typical eco-conscious gal does already. My current endeavors are:
1. Only shop locally (damn you Wal-mart!). So far I shop for groceries and doggy supplies locally.
2. to change out all of my products to eco-friendly ones as soon as I'm out of my current chemical-laden ones
3. to reduce my overall consumption because although the amount of trash I put out is probably not near the average person, I still feel it is too much
I'm trying to conserve water as much as possible by washing my face while I'm in the shower, and not drinking out of plastic bottles! Going green doesn't have to be difficult 🙂
bahahahaha you snapped his photo!?!!? lol
I bought used textbooks in college! always! and I do mucho green things. proooomise! =) and I only eat fishies once a week! holler!!!! the rest of the animals can stay off my plate! <3
xoXOxo
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons
I bring a stainless steel waterbottle to work and the gym with me — that way I don't have to buy plastic!
I also conserve on gas by grouping all my trips together, or by walking or taking the bus.
I buy locally whenever I can, and strictly buy my food locally during the summer
Go Green! yeay!
This is such a good, informative post! I love what Wegman's is doing for Japan… I hope some Canadian retailers follow suit. That's such an easy way to give!
I firmly believe in the fact that the little things are what matter the most! That's exactly why we've been making our own bread, planting our own garden, joining a CSA to support local farms, etc. etc.
So true – little things DO add up! I always wash my laundry on cold, take reusable bags everywhere and since I don't own a car, walk or take the metro! All helps :).
Happy Friday Lisa, have a great weekend!
– Beth @ http://www.DiningAndDishing.com
I love talking and discussing wellness with people that you feel like you aren't “selling” it to! I enjoy the occasional *sale* here and there though as well. 🙂
We have made a TON of little efforts over the past few years to go “green” It's Ryan's main purpose in life. Permaculture as a way of life.
I love love love that you snapped of picture of the tailor. Awesome.
great post, lisa! i agree that the little things (that can become good habits for us) really do make a difference. we are trying to eat less meat for health reasons and i'm glad to know it can help the environment too!
I knew that meat consumption effected the environment, but I have to say that I didn't know that it effected it so much and that such a little change could make things dramatically better. This is a wonderful post and have learned A LOT just in the past 10 minutes of reading this. Thank you!
What great facts!! I have also stopped buying water bottles, and I try to turn off the air everytime I leave my house for long periods of time and open my blinds instead of turning on lights during the day! Every little bit really does count!
I definitely do all those things and I so agree – little actions add up and the cumulative effect can be amazing!
LOVE this post! I'm trying to become more “green”; whether or not it has a huge impact on the world, I KNOW that it has a huge impact on my own psyche. And I believe that people who are in tune with the life that they want to lead are much more capable of changing the world.
Some of my actions: transferring to a job closer to home to reduce the commute, keeping the house a few degrees cooler in the winter and several degrees warmer in the summer, always use cotton shopping bags, use biodegradable bags when walking the dog. I don't always buy food locally and organically, which is something that i need to work on. And this might be too much information…but would I completely freak you and the rest of your readers out if I said that I use washable cotton fleece menstrual pads?
Hey gal! I'm def happy to be back… it's about time to get serious! heh I mean I was a little scared about all the changes and all that, but now I'm starting to get excited you know? 🙂
My family went “mostly” veg in August. Even my little guy, who LOVES meat understand that going meatless 4 or 5 days a weeks saves the planet!
Awesome post! I'm a vbegetarian, love farmers markets, and I also don't buy bottles of water!
we use water bottles instead of plastic, have energy efficient lights, recycle as much as possible…as well try to get what we can local!
I need a tailor to take some jeans in for me! How did you acquire yours? I don't know who to pick in my area!
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