Green Resolutions for 2009

Your New Year’s resolutions can be good for yourself and for the environment too.  Here are some ideas for steps we can resolve to take that can have a positive impact!

#1. Walk, cycle, bus it, and if you have to drive – take less trips and carpool if possible.  Great for your health, great for the planet, and saves money too!

2 – Buy local and organic.  Local food doesn’t have to be trucked as far to the grocery store and so has a lighter carbon footprint than exotic food.   Get to know what is in season and plan your meals around it.   Organic farming avoids the use of pesticides and herbicides.  Remember to put your reusable grocery bags in your purse or somewhere else easy to remember!

3 – Bring your own mug, thermos or bottle of water.  ‘Nuff said.

4 – Green the house.  Use cloth towels and napkins instead of paper.  Make recycling easy for everyone by having a system.  Use non-toxic cleaning products.  Unplug electronics easily by plugging them into a power bar and switch off all at once,  put your computer on a power saver setting.  Turn off the lights.  Put on a sweater!

5 – Share.  Sharing is nice and if we share our resources, more can benefit from less stuff.  A car ride shared by four people means three fewer cars on the road.  Sharing cars, jobs, tools, babysitting, etc. all can make practical and economic sense, can save time and have less impact on the environment too!

6 – Cook More. Eat out less, eat from the outside of the market (the fresh, non processed stuff).  Pack a lunch to work, and snacks!

7 – Go online.  Reduce paper and mail by changing to online banking, bill paying and direct deposit for your paycheck.

8 – Dress sustainably.  Buy quality pieces you love and take care of clothing so it will look great longer.  Wash fabrics gently, with cold water.  Lift the lid of the washer to give clothes an extra soak before rinsing.  Hang up to dry when possible.  Don’t use dryer sheets

9 – Green your beauty routine.  Choose organic.  Read labels and learn about ingredients in products you apply to your body.

10 – Be a good example.  Show others how to live happy, healthy low impact lives by doing it yourself.  Pay it forward – get help when you need it and give it to others when you can.

Maybe you are already doing all this stuff and have some other resolutions you are working on?  Share  your ideas and we can all learn from them!

Happy Healthy 2009!

Baby you can drive(fly) my hybrid

Paul McCartney had hybrid car flown to him from Japan

From Cele|bitchy, the blog of stylish celebrity escapism, this eco-news about Sir Paul, who got a gift of a Lexus LS600hl hybrid car from Lexus, but they shipped it to him by plane! Hopefully the plane carried other cargo…

Read the whole article in the Huffington post:

“…$158,000 Lexus LS 600h, a luxury sedan that offers both high performance and a reassuring “green” patina because it uses a hybrid system that relies on an electric motor at low speeds.

Best of all, it was to be a gift from the Lexus car company, which sponsored McCartney’s 2005 tour of the United States. But environmentalists quickly pointed out that the use of a cargo plane to deliver the car to England completely offset any environmental gains resulting from the car’s use. “It’s like driving the car 300 times around the world,” says Gary Rumbold, the director of the British branch of co2balance, which helps businesses and individuals gauge their carbon emissions footprint.

McCartney’s spokesman, Stuart Bell, confirmed that the musician had received the car as a gift and that it had been flown to Britain, but said he could not comment about the decision to use a plane until he had all the details. …”

Are hybrids as good (on gas, maintenence, costs of manufacturing) as they should be?

Check out the discussion on hybrids in Way to sell a hybrid, dude.

Treehugger did a mini-survey on “the hybrid hype”

Just utter the word “hybrid” in a room full of TreeHuggers and you’ll likely find yourself in the middle of a heated debate. As one commenter noted recently: “every time there’s something about a hybrid (on TH) someone chimes in that they don’t actually get the mpg that they claim, that cars are not the solution, or that small cars are better.”

Seems like there’s always a compromise, (unless you’re walking!) but I think you shouldn’t resent your lifestyle (or compromise safety – ie drive a tiny three cylinder car like a Geo) and every bit of gas we can save helps. The hybrids (in my opinion) are cool because they make you aware of consumption (their dashboard is pretty distracting!) so you can adjust your way of driving on the fly…

If you’re comparing to your bike it’s certainly not the best, but if you’re comparing to your old SUV, hybrids are a great start, and the fact that people are grumbling that they’re not good enough will be hopefully good for progress!