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| Green is the New Black By: Stephanie Bolmer When it comes to going green, we don’t want you to forget the essentials. Here are some tips on how to keep being fabulous while helping out the Earth at the same time. Your Wardrobe: Most of the energy that goes into keeping you looking stylish is in the laundry room. - Dry your clothes the way grandma did—on the line. Not only does the sun and the wind do all the work for you, your clothes will smell fantastically fresh. Better than one of those little dryer sheets that end up in the landfill! (And when the weather forbids, ask if you can hang a line up inside. If all else fails buy yourself a drying rack, under $20 and good for life if you treat it well.) - Find a detergent that is good for the environment. Or, make your own. At the very least, use a powdered detergent (no need to ship the water along with the soap!) - Hey, here’s a secret: no one will know if you wear those pants again without washing them. Really! You probably already wear clothes like jeans and jackets a few times before rewashing them. But, you can do the same with other clothes, too. Natural fabrics like merino wool, linen, and hemp will make you perspire less, so these are good candidates for re- wear. And, if you really want to freshen up before you recycle a piece of clothing, hang it out on the line. The UV rays from the sun are a good sterilizing agent, no washing required! Your Midnight Snack: And every other meal of the day. You want to be healthy, and you want the people and places putting food on your plate to be healthy, too. Here’s how. - Look at the labels. USDA Organic and TransFair are the most hardcore when it comes to what they guarantee. Organic means that it’s good for you, and it was good for the plants, animals, and works who raised the food. TransFair means the food was Fair Trade—which is not only great for the people who produced it, but good for the environment as well. - Keep your dishes close to home. Ask Mom if you can go to your local farmers’ market. You’ll be surprised how much fresh food is waiting for you there. It’s taken less energy to get it to you than shipping all the way across the country, and it’s probably cheaper and tastier, too. When you’re done with dinner, compost all of the vegetable and other eligible leftovers. This will be saving space in the landfills, and giving you great soil for Dad’s vegetable patch. - Think before you buy. Check out your options, and see which has the least packaging. All of the plastic is pretty wasteful. Your E-Life: As part of the wireless generation, we know you have a few gadgets you just couldn’t live without. So, how do you live with them and still conserve energy? - Unplug it. Your cell phone charger does not need to be plugged into the wall (or anywhere else) if you’re not in the process of charging up for Saturday night. This goes for lots of things: your laptop, your TV, your DVD player, the list goes on. If you’re not using it—unplug it! - So you got that iPhone or Blackberry you had your eye on last year. There’s nothing else left to ask for, right? Think again! To keep yourself juiced up and ready to go all the time, the next time Aunt Louise calls up asking what you want for your birthday, tell her: a solar charger. There’s sure to be one that’s the right size for you. - Now that you’ve got that new iPhone, what do you do with your old one? DON’T throw it away! That releases tons of nasty stuff into the environment. There are plenty of programs that recycle and donate old electronics, especially phones, so find a cause that you want to support or just someone who knows what they’re doing with recycling, and take that extra step today. As you can see, these are just a few ways to “Go Green,” but conserving energy and the environment is a job for all of us. With a few changes to what you already do, you can make a difference! |
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