By JillAnderson

This story came about as a result of my posting on Lakelink asking if you would please save your toilet paper and paper towel cardboard rolls for my son’s preschool summer arts & crafts program.

I heard back from several of you but was really impressed when Roxanna Douglas told me that not only does she already save these for recycle she also brings them home from her office trashcans. And, just the week prior, we had learned via The Washington Post that Nolan & Kathy Stokes had installed a Geothermal Heat Pump in their yard and are officially climate pilots.

It occurred to me that we have a big enough community here in Lake Barcroft that perhaps by sharing what we each do to help the environment that we could learn from each other. I know that what I personally do only scratches the surface.

So, I again went to Lakelink and asked if you would submit the things that you do to help – big and small.

While doing some research last night on this story I stumbled upon a website called Every Day Activist. I am really inspired by their tagline – “Little Things Everyone Can Do to Save the Environment and Reduce Pollution”.

From Every Day Activist Website:

“But I don’t consider myself an activist”

That’s okay! The purpose of EverydayActivist.Com is to show everyday people how they can make a difference. You don’t have to be a card-carrying environmental activist to help improve the planet. Each and every person has the power to change things for the better in their everyday lives. By getting into the habit of making eco-friendly choices, you can become a force of change without even thinking about it!

Imagine yourself in a silent auditorium filled with people. When one person begins clapping, the sound is small and it echos throughout the room. Sooner or later, everyone in the whole auditorium is clapping, and the sound is so loud, it almost hurts yours ears. The small choices we make every day do have an impact.”

Without further ado ….Below is a summary view of things that you are doing to make a difference. Some will be obvious while others may not.

Recycling:

• Recyles everything that Fairfax County accepts
• Recyles every scrap of paper; no matter how small
• Brings home TP and Paper towel rolls, plastic bottles, soda cans, plastic bags from her office to recycle at home

Reusing:

• Reuses junk mail and paper for all of their personal printing needs
• Reuses business reply envelopes by placing a sticker over the address on the front &/or using them to write grocery lists, to-do lists, etc.
• Not buying wrapping paper – instead re-using gift boxes and gift bags received and if all else fails, I use the kids’ artwork or the Sunday comics to wrap gifts
• Uses the back of ALL 8.5 x 11 paper including junk mail that has a clean reverse side
• Refusing plastic bags and asking for paper bags if reusable bag was left at home
• Uses refillable water bottles – each family member has their own plus a few extras for when they go missing
• Uses Newspaper plastic sleeves for picking up after animals
• Reuses plastic ware from parties and at the office. Washes them in the dishwasher but removes them prior to the drying cycle
• Re-circulate moving boxes for reuse

Shopping:

• Avoids buying products packaged in styrofoam
• Uses Freecycle.org and Craigslist to make purchases before buying something new
• Buying and wearing primarily hand-me down clothes; especially for the kids
• Buys in bulk as much as possible
• Shops at MOM’s Organic Market – especially for cleaning materials and detergents

Food Consumption:

• Eating at least one fewer meat meal per week
• Saving leftover food to be used as dog treats rather than purchasing dog treats
• Vegetarian

More Efficient Home:

• Replacing antiquated heating system with newer more efficient system
• Replacing windows with less porous ones
• Replacing old appliances with Energy Star high efficient
  Installing low-flow showers and toilets; even removing bathtubs altogether
• Using only low VOC paints to re-paint the outside of the house
• Using old rags to clean rather than paper towels
• Using only energy-efficient light bulbs
• Turning off all lights when leaving the room
• Unplugging electronics when not using them; including cell phone chargers & electric toothbrushes
• Keeps thermostats low
• Replace large single-pane windows with ones that open to reduce the need for air conditioning in early summer months
• Improved insulation in attic
• Added Front Storm door to improve efficiency
• Placed blankets in TV rooms and lowered thermostat
• Use baking soda &/or vinegar for cleaning most everything (sinks, floors, showers, windows) to avoid dangerous chemicals

Yard/Garden:

• Growing their own herbs and planted a small vegetable garden
• Composting all vegetable and fruit scraps as well as coffee grinds, egg shells, and tea bags
• Composting all lawn and garden waste to reduce the need for county pickup
• New Patio/Backyard with native plants and permeable surface and reduced outflow system
• Routing Rain runoff to creek bed
• Rake leaves rather than blowing with power blower
• Take household compost materials to place of work where they have a large composter
• Reduced the size of lawn by adding native plants in rich layers; mimicking nature
• Planted Evergreen screening plants on north side of house to save energy during cold winter months
• Planted large, deciduous trees on south side of house to reduce cooling costs in the summer months
• Set up rain barrels to catch rain water to use to water the garden
• Shred leaves into leaf mulch and use it throughout my yard (garden, tree and shrub borders)

Transportation:

• Rides bike to work; if possible also to the grocery store.
• Walks or Bike Rides with kids to school as much as possible
• Saves up errands to make one car trip rather than multiple ones
• Takes bus/metro to work most days
• Hybrid cars
• Carpooling

A few extra things shared by our neighbors:

Home Star “Cash for Caulkers” Program a newly proposed Federal program is intended to help homeowners increase their home’s energy efficiency with direct incentives. It will pay homeowners up to half the cost (max $4,000) to retrofit a house with eco-friendly attributes.You can read more HERE – shared by Anne Cullather

The Energy Detective which measures and displays energy used for the whole house. According to a 2009 study, a whole house display produces on average a 9% savings while highly motivated groups could save as much as 30%. This unit does require skilled installation perhaps by a professional electrician. Sold online at www.theenergydetective.com/store ~$200 – shared by Kay Cooper

Kill A Watt Plus Monitor tells you how much it matters to turn something off. Just plug Kill A Watt into an outlet and plug any device into Kill A Watt. The display shows instantaneous watts (W) or total electricity used (kwh) and number of hours since Kill A Watt was plugged in. Sold through Amazon (~$21) – shared by Kay Cooper

Lark Lovering sent me detailed instructions on how to Make Your Own Composter. I will (with her permission) post her directions as a separate follow-up post.

Betsy Washington provided me with an excellent write-up of things one can do in their yard to reduce pollution and energy waste. I included some of her items as bullet points above but am also going to post her summary with her permission as a separate follow-up post.

Rashne Green loves Chico Bags. They are inexpensive, lightweight cloth bags that available in many fun colors. They often participate in school fundraisers where they donate 30-50% of their revenue back to the schools – shared by Rashne Green

Trader Joe’s sells inexpensive reusable bags including wine bottle carriers (up to 6 bottles) and insulated cooler bags – shared by Kay Cooper

This post is by no means a comprehensive list of things you could do.

It is my hope that the list will perhaps point out a few things that you aren’t already doing but could be doing and inspire you to take more notice daily of additional ways that you could help reduce pollution and help the environment.

For me, this story has inspired me to consider doing the following:
a) Remove plastic liquid soap dispensers from my bathrooms; replacing them with only bar soap.
b) Purchase biodegradable dog poop bags as I don’t have newspaper sleeves to re-use.
c) Purchase sets of re-usable dinnerware from To-Go Ware so my family can stop using plastic silverware at fast food restaurants and ice cream shops.

Additional Resources:
Green Living Tips – consider signing up for their email newsletter
Tiny Choices – terrific blog
The Real Cost of Plastic Bags
Zero Waste America – outlines three factors (no effective Federal Plan, Foreign Waste Imports and Domestic Waste Exports as well as Over-population) on why recycling efforts struggle and provide three legislative steps that would help support Zero Waste.

I would like to extend a big thank you to all of you that sent me your Green Initiatives; without them this blog post wouldn’t have been possible. If you missed out on sending me your green initiatives feel free to add ones that you do in the comments section below.

I leave you with a photo of my son’s favorite t-shirt: