1. Buy basics in organic cotton.
Annually, conventional cotton is responsible for the use of $2.6 billion worth of pesticides, more than any other crop. Look for labels that say certified organic, which means U.S. Department of Agriculture or international standards—including the prohibition of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers—have been met.
2. Take your own bag when you shop.
Around the world, roughly 4,000 to 5,000 billion plastic bags of all kinds were manufactured in 2002, and Americans throw away a hundred billion plastic grocery sacks a year, the Worldwatch Institute reports. That’s a lot of petroleum used to produce items that clog our landfills.
Governments worldwide, from South Africa to Ireland, Taiwan, France, and the U.K., are restricting the manufacture of plastic bags or taxing them. Many stores are charging customers a few cents extra for them. And some markets give a small refund for each of their bags you don’t fill. So tuck your own bag into your purse, pack, or pocket next time you shop.
3. Do a safer spring cleaning.
Buy one green cleaning product to replace a conventional toxic one, such as those containing caustic ammonia and chlorine bleach. These chemicals can burn your eyes and respiratory tract and, if accidentally combined, produce toxic chloramine gas. Plus, once they go down the drain, these chemicals find their way into our waterways and harm wildlife.
Instead, try one of these all-purpose household cleaners:
• Vermont Soapworks Organic Liquid Sunshine Nontoxic Cleaner
• Aubrey Organics Earth Aware Household Cleanser
• Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds
• Seventh Generation Natural All Purpose Cleaner
Check under your sink and in the garage, and get rid of old toxic cleaning products, paints, and pesticides containing nerve-damaging chlorpyrifos (now banned for home uses). Find your community’s safe waste disposal options by contacting your local sanitation department or by visiting Earth911’s home page.
4. Save money and fossil fuels.
The average household spends 10 to 15 percent of its annual electricity bill on lighting, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And most incandescent light bulbs use only 10 percent of the energy they draw to produce light while 90 percent is wasted as heat. The solution: Buy an energy efficient, compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) to have at the ready next time a conventional one burns out. While they cost more at the outset (averaging $12 to $17), CFLs use 75 percent less energy, last for years, and save $55.60 in electric bills per 10,000 kilowatt-hours. For each incandescent you replace with a CFL, you will save 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms) of carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the bulb. The EPA estimates that if just one room in every U.S. home was lit by CFLs, we’d save 1,000 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) in CO2 emissions each year.
These are available at most hardware and home improvement stores. Look for EPA’s Energy Star approval rating on the package. Also, check your utility bill to see if your state, like many, gives consumer rebates against the price of CFLs and other Energy Star products, such as refrigerators and washing machines. Over 500 utilities in 33 states offer green power options for consumers who want to buy energy from environmentally friendlier sources such as wind or hydroelectric power, rather than coal-fired power plants. To find out your green power options, check with your electric utility or visit the home page for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Green Power Network.
5. Save water in a second.
The average faucet flows about 3 gallons (11.4 liters) of water per minute, so turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. Turn off the water while soaping in the shower, and you’ll save as much as 40 gallons (151.4 liters). Install an inexpensive sink and shower aerator, and reduce water consumption by up to 50 percent. Aerators mix air into the water stream, maintaining water pressure while reducing consumption. For faucet aerators, look for models rated at 2.75 gallons a minute (10.4 liters a minute) or below; for showers, look for models rated at 2.5 gallons a minute (9.5 liters a minute).
6. Buy locally grown produce.
Fruits and vegetables travel 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) to get to the dinner table, an astonishing waste of fuel when local farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) groups are found in towns and cities nationwide. Buying local produce means better flavor and the chance to try varieties not sold elsewhere. It also helps keep small local farmers in business, which in turn preserves the countryside. To find a farmer’s market near you, check out the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Program. To join a local CSA, visit the USDA’s CSA homepage.
7. Plant heirloom seeds.
Monoculture and supermarkets have been replacing the wide variety of foods once enjoyed in the U.S. The result is that 63 percent of Native American crop varieties have disappeared since Europeans arrived on the continent. Planting heirloom seeds will help ensure that more varieties don’t die out. And home-grown produce can’t be beat for taste or freshness or abundant supply. For help in growing plants appropriate to your area, contact your local agricultural extension. For seeds, check out online retailers Seeds of Change, Natural Gardening, or Seed Savers.
8. Defeat house and garden pests without pesticides.
Household pests are not only bothersome but they can also spread disease and cause allergic reactions. Toxic sprays are no solution: If the roaches aren’t already resistant, they will learn to avoid poisoned areas. Plus, toxic sprays are just that—toxic—irritating skin and eyes, triggering asthmatic responses, and poisoning children and pets. Worse still, children of mothers exposed to chlorpyrifos, now banned, had lower birth weights and smaller head circumferences than average, and this risk may remain in other organophosphate pesticides still sold.
Your least toxic option to keep roaches and other scavenging insects at bay is with a four-pronged attack:
• Keep your kitchen clean.
• Seal off cracks and crevices around pipes and radiators and between counters and baseboards.
• Place sticky traps with pheromones (available at hardware stores or shop.com) along the walls.
• Place boric acid/sucrose baits along the walls and near food preparation areas (but keep them out of reach of children and pets).
9. Buy shade-grown coffee and chocolate.
Almost half of all coffee and an increasing amount of cocoa are grown in full sunlight, with pesticides and fertilizers, and on plantations which have up to 97 percent fewer bird species than shade-grown crops. Help preserve rain forests and wildlife, including the migratory song birds that return to the U.S. each spring.
Choose Rainforest Alliance-certified Plantations Arriba chocolate or certified-organic Green and Black’s or Cocoa Camino, all of which are shade-grown products. For your cup of coffee, pick shade-grown, organic, and fair-trade certified blends from Cafe Canopy, Cafe Mam, and Pura Vida.
10. Use safe plastics.
Take a look at the shelves of your local grocery store and you’ll notice that most of the food and water we buy comes in contact with plastic. However, not all plastics are created equal and some are safer to use than others, especially when it comes to food packaging and storage. Look for containers made from #2 plastic, which is both recyclable and won’t leach toxic chemicals when properly used. Also, #4 and #5 are safe alternatives, though not recyclable.
Avoid containers and wraps made from these plastics:
• #3 (PVC), which can leach adipates and phthalates that have been shown to cause birth defects and damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs, and reproductive systems in mice.
• #6 (polystyrene), which can leach styrene, considered a possible human carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
• #7 (polycarbonate), which is known to leach the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A.
Better choices include:
• Nalgene’s wide-mouth round 32-oz. water bottle (#2; not to be confused with Nalgene’s Lexan polycarbonate #7 water bottle).
• Rubbermaid’s Chuggables bottles (#5) 1 qt. bottle
• Glad Cling Wrap (#4) 200 sq. ft.
• Rubbermaid (#5) 2 qt. Pour N Saver Canister and 22-piece food storage set.
If you do any of these already, please tell me your story.
