make a smaller ecological footprint

When I send books out to people through paperbackswap.com, I’m wrapping them in plastic grocery sacks to keep them weatherproof and using recycled packing from books I’ve received previously.

As long as they haven’t had meat in them, I’ve started washing out my plastic ziplock bags and drying them on a plastic-bag-dryer job that I bought from Gaiam.

One of my co-workers and I are putting together a “Greener Nation” committee at work in the hopes of implementing some simple programs for recycling our office paper, soda cans, and plastic water bottles.

Baby steps, baby steps.

I signed up for bookswim.com, a book rental website based on the Netflix concept.

On their website under “Fun Facts” they list some postive environmental factors should you choose to go with their service rather than purchase your own books. I’m not certain how accurate these “facts” are, but at least they plant a tree for every gift card they sell. I can see how renting a book rather than buying new could potentially keep trees from being cut down.

I’m looking at the Nature Mill indoor composter. Sells for about $299-$399 and can handle up to 5lbs of waste a day. No stinky rotting banana peel smell either.

I’m probably one of those people that qualifies as “light” green – more granny smith than deep forest.

The story thus far: I am in the process of gradully replacing all the bulbs in my house with compact florescents as the current bulbs burn out (stupid can lights go FOR. EH. VER.) I use my various collection of reusable canvas and old-tshirt grocery bags when I go to the store. I support the local farmer’s market and purchase my organic eggs and goats milk locally.

Last year for the first time ever, I had the room to have a small garden where I grew all of my green leafy salad produce, herbs, tomatos, carrots, peppers and a few squash from heirloom organic seed. My neighbor and I started a compost pile that we share.

Thanks to IAmNotAPaperCup and To-Go Ware, I haven’t used a styrofoam cup or any disposeable silverware in over a year. The bottled water industry has not seen a nickle of my money because of Klean Kanteen (which, when full, also makes a handy weapon for fending off nutters and rabid elephants). I’m using eco-friendly, biodegradable soap, shampoo & conditioner, disherwasher powder and laundry detergent. All my clothes get washed in cold water. And the two blue hedgehog-y characters that I’ve named Urkel and Snurkle (which in real life are dryerballs meant to replace disposable dryer sheets/ fabric softener) have taken up permanent residence in the tumble dryer in the garage.

The next step: MORE RECYCLING!

Recently, the tiny town that I moved to has taken the first baby-steps toward an honest-to-god recycling program. I’m trying to get back into the habit that I fell out of when I moved away from Boulder. The debate is, however, if I have to drive all over town to dump off my recycling am I really reducing my carbon footprint? Perhaps the key is bigger bins and once a month trips.