reduce my environmental footprint

has enabled me to get MUCH better gas mileage. My Civic has EPA estimates of 25/35, but when I follow this rule I get 45mpg on long trips.

I started a compost bin out back and I’ve been throwing some of the compostable waste from my kitchen in there. With a little baby in the house, I it’s not easy to get out to the compost bin right away, so that’s why I have a tupperware bowl in my kitchen where I can throw food waste to take out later. Eventually the compost will go to nourish the tomato plants I got from a friend to plant out back.

Some compostable stuff still goes in the garbage can, but it’s a good start.

After a couple weeks of using disposables while we got used to the whole new-parent thing, we started using cloth diapers. It’s actually not that hard, once you get used to it. It would be easier still if the spin cycle on our washing machine didn’t require supervision.

I’ve heard that the carbon footprint of using cloth diapers is comparable to that of disposables, when you factor in the energy required for manufacturing and washing them. But cloth diapers have the benefit of not clogging up landfills, so I think this counts as reducing my footprint.

Do we go to the next step of making and using cloth wipes? We shall see…

according to this website
http://www.wwf-footprint.be/nl/
i use 2,6 ha.
I want to make that 2,1 ha.
I think it will take a long time ;)

I started recycling paper a week ago, and I’m also makinng sure the lights are off if nobody’s in a room. I’m still working on unplugging stuff I’m not using. I’ve also become a vegetarian. When I have food that I don’t want (but it’s still good), I’ll put it
outside instead of throwing it away, so other animals can have something to eat in the winter.

I’ve done a lot of recycling things (cardboard, TVs, beer cans – can’t find where to recycle DVDs though) recently, but there are always environmental areas to improve. Our new property (rented) is very badly insulated and so even when wearing plenty of jumpers we have to keep the heating on a lot during the winter. I need to spend some time putting up draught excluders etc.

On a more positive note, I’ve just signed up to Friends of the Earth’s eco tip of the day, so hopefully this will provide inspiration for this goal.

I just started recycling.

1. Turn off computer and/or monitor when I’m done using it
2. Turn off all lights when I leave the room
3. Start recycling
4. Learn proper ways to dispose of potentially “toxic” things (ex. paint, batteries, etc.)
5. Unplug small appliances when I leave the room
6. Become a vegetarian
7. Use cloth towels, silverware, and ceramic bowls instead of paper towels, plastic cutlery, and paper/styrofoam bowls and plates

I am used to drink cold beverages at breakfast and during the day. Usually I bought single-dose of tetrapack juices, to have the chance to change taste every time, but I realized that it was a big waste of packing, so I started to buy only 2 liters of juices packing. For the ‘isolated’ occasions I bought a soluble lemon ice tea pack: I tried almost all the choices I found in the big grocery centers in my city, and I found a really good one at a honest price. Now when I want a glass of ice tea, I just need to melt a spoon of this powder in a cold water glass, and with very few trash: in every big pack there is at least the quantity for 50 glasses of ice tea!

On February of this year (2008), I bought a menstrual cup: Mooncup, that permitted to me to save many many not reciclable towels. It is a very comfortable and hyigenic system that I suggest to all women.