reduce my carbon footprint

I’ve only brought it down by .4 tons, leaving me at 12 tons of CO2 emissions. I want to lower it by 1 more ton by January. That is my newest goal.

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/junk-mail.htm

a site with links to effectively reduce junk mail.

i am working to reduce the number of mails i receive.

paper is recyclable. but it takes energy for the postmans and such to deliver junk mails that i certainly don’t need.

opt for e-statements for unavoidable bills. set up remainder for bill payment online so i don’t need paper bills as a remainder.

i called up some places to remove my subscriptions for some quarterly catalogues.

i will continue to review all the mails that i receive. and investigate the option for no mailers.

I reduce, reuse, recycle. I just don’t think that’s enough. Yes, I’m open to suggestions.

I only use my organic green bags when retail or grocery shopping.
Wash only in cold water.
Stopped drinking bottled or canned beverages … no ice in my drinks, too.
Pay only in cash to limit credit card receipts.
No more to-go boxes from restaurants.
Use the best 100% toxic-free home products that just came out on the market.

with re-cycling at the minute, although not quite as obsessed as our neighbour who recycles stuff before his wife has even finished with it.

I think we are doing pretty well on this one.

1. I no longer accept plastic bags at any store. My cloth shopping bags go with me everywhere.

2. All the lightbulbs in our house have been converted to energy effecient ones.

3. The thermostat in the house is programmed to drop several degrees when we are not home. It is scheduled to rise about 15 minutes before we arrive home. Then, it drops again after we’ve gone to sleep. No sense in heating a home when we’re not there.

4. We compost.

5. Carpool in our more fuel effecient vehicle as often as possible.

6. Recycle aluminum. If my city recycled plastic, I’d be in line for that too. For now, I try to avoid plastic as much as possible.

7. We keep an empty milk jug under the sink. When I need hot water, I’ll let the water run into the milk jug until it gets hot enough for my use. That saved water is later used for the animals or for the plants.

8. There are 12 trees on my property. I plan to plant at least 3 more.

9. Clothes are always washed in cold water.

update on my compost. it is feb now. it is cold out. so, i think the degradation process is slowing down. however, it is really strange that the bin never gets full. i have been dumping so much stuff in it. even garden leaves in the fall. i am impressed by the volume of garbage that it takes care of.

http://www.seattletilth.org/resources/compost i got the “food scrape digester”

i just realized that my employer is associated with a city’s rideshare program. i would receive $1.50 incentive per day for their so called “smart trips” for each day that i make a “smart trip”.

there is a website for me to log my smart trip and the incentive goes to my pay check.

i am going to give it a try. may be walk to work and have my DH to pick me up at night. i am not doing it for the $1.50. i think having a website to track it is a great tool..

As I’m cleaning my bedroom out of the masses of junk that it’s accumulated over the years that I’ve lived here, I’m bagging up all white paper that I can part with. Once I fill it to the brim, I’m going to drive it down to the park where a recycling bin is eagerly awaiting my delishous gift. :)