Give it up for the New Year!!

1) Give up plastic and paper bags - Neither are good for the environment. Twelve million barrels of oil were used to make all of the plastic bags Americans used last year alone. And it takes up to 4 times more energy to produce paper bags. The solution- reusable shopping bags.  Almost every store you know sells them and most of them cost $0.99  Throw a few in your front seat and you are good to go!

2) Give up buying bottled water - Plastic bottles are one of the leading fillers in our landfills. They require a tremendous amount of oil to produce and are not always recyclable. Buying a reusable aluminum bottle one time will save you hundreds of dollars over a year and help cut back on the volume of plastic in our oceans and landfills.

3) Give up unwanted catalogues - Although it is fun to 'window shop' from home, junk mail is responsible for an estimated 53 million trees being cut down. Visit catalogchoice.org to end unwanted catalogs. Your mailbox should be much lighter within 10 weeks which means you are saving pollution and waste.

4) Give up hot water in your clothes washer - Did you know 90% of the energy you pay to wash your clothes goes to heating the water? You will save a decent amount of cash and energy buy choosing cold or at least warm when you run a wash.

5) Give up conventional toilet paper and buy a recycled brand-  If everyone started buying recycled toiler paper from brands like Seventh Generation and Green Forests (both of which are sold at our QFC) we would save 1 million trees, millions of gallons of water and 60,000 pounds of chlorine pollution. The best news of all, it now costs the same to buy a 4-pack of recycled toilet paper as the regular virgin-pulp brand. It is just as soft and effective.

6) Give up paper towels - Paper towels are a convenience that you CAN live without. Everyone from the local grocery store to Target sells dish towels that can be stacked next to your sink and used for the same purpose. When you finish with one, just toss it into the wash with your laundry. You will save lots of money not buying 12 packs of paper towels and help by saving endless trees. If you must buy paper towels, be sure to purchase 100% recycled ones from the same brands in #5.

7) Give up hand washing and toss it into the dish washer -  People often think that hand washing is more environmental than running your dish washer. In fact, by running a FULLY LOADED dish washer, without pre-rinse, you use 1/3 less water and save 20 gallons of water a day. Scrape food off your plate before loading them and de-select 'heat-dry' to consume half of the electricity without expending any effort!

8) Give up driving alone once a week - Although it is true that it takes a bit more effort to organize a carpool, the impact you will have on the atmosphere is undeniable. Send out an e-mail to co-workers to see who lives nearby and travels at the same time you do. If you can't get it together to go to work in a group, carpool on your way to the movies or dinner. The amount of pollution you are saving from the air by using one car instead of 2 or 3 is remarkable and will make your outing more enjoyable by chatting in the car on the ride there.

9) Give up 2 Degrees - Did you know that electric power plants are on of our country's largest pollutants that contribute to global warming? By throwing on a sweater or an extra blanket and turning down your thermostat 2 degress, you can save a tremendous amount of pollution from the air and money off of your bill. Try setting it for 68 degrees in the winter and 78 degrees in summer time for your air conditioner.

10) Give up the waste - The best thing we can all do in helping our planet is to work on waste reduction as a first priority. This means using durable, reusable containers and reducing paper use and eating edible food so that it doesn't become waste. The idea is to generate less waste in the first place! Then, of course, recycle any material that can't be reused.   

Happy New Year!