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Monday 25 March 2013

Did We Save The Earth?

Whew!  Saturday, at 8:30 pm, millions of people turned off their lights for Earth Hour and saved the planet.

What, it's going to take a little more than that?  Darn! ~

photo courtesy of energy.com

We're all pretty much aware that we don't really have a choice in striving for a green lifestyle, any more.  It's now or never, if we want to turn this thing around. ~


Here's a couple of easy ways to make a difference on a daily basis.  I tried the first one a few years ago after  David Suzuki, a leading Canadian scientist and environmentalist, suggested it.

Take note of how much shampoo you have in your hand when you wash your hair. ~


The next time, cut it in half and see if it still gets the job done.  The time after that, cut it in half again.  I found that I really only needed 1/4 of the amount of shampoo I had been using and it took much less time to rinse it out, as well! ~


Talk about a win win situation.  You save money on shampoo, time in rinsing and just reduced your impact on the environment!

Now, we all know it's ridiculous to be buying bottled water when we have access to clean municipal water.  Study after study shows that bottled water is just packaged municipal water 40% of the time. There are no regulations on disclosing the source or testing for contaminants.  Independent tests show it frequently has biological and/or chemical contamination.  Municipal water is tested daily and those of us on country wells can have our water tested (free in Ontario) as often as we like by the health department.  If the bottled water companies draw from an underground source, they are taking too much out of one place and seriously alter the water table in that area. 

Did you know that the petroleum used to make this bottle would fill it 1/4 full? ~


I'm just not buying it!  I don't buy the crazy pure spring, low sodium, 0 calorie, health drink in a convenient carrier story and I won't buy their land fill nightmare, potential carcinogen product!

Instead of buying a case of water, pick up some of these. ~


More win win.  You don't have to pay for water, haul it in your house, store it somewhere, fill up the recycle box with plastic and may even be saving your life!

I know I'm not living off the grid or doing anything monumental with the lifestyle changes I make.  I do, however, believe that a whole lot of people, making a whole lot of little changes adds up to good things for the earth.

I'm completely open to suggestions, so if you've found something that was easy to change, let us all know in a comment!



24 comments:

  1. thank you so much for that post! Can think of walking instead of driving, lift clubs, water-wise garden, energy saving bulbs, no plastic bags and nothing packed in plastic, recycling, sharing bigger appliances with friends xxx

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    1. Cutting back on driving is a huge one. I find just being more organized about what I need to pick up and where I need to go cuts way back on the number of times I hop in the car. Sharing big appliances is a good idea. I wonder how many of us have half full freezers?

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  2. Hmm I think my green tends to be more about me saving money, but I really try not to use plastic bags that's probably the non selfish green thing I do

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    1. That's what I mean about win win. Reusing/repurposing stuff we already have goes all the way down the chain from raw materials, industrial waste, packaging, transportation and landfills. Reuse and you save money and the planet!

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  3. I am starting to see more effort on the part of business to push people in a green direction. Our Costco no longer provides boxes, you need to bring a bag and of course our grocery stores all charge 5 cents per plastic bag. Costco explained to me that goods are now wrapped in recycled plastic sitting on a skid so they too are eliminating boxes.
    We now longer buy cleaning materials since purchasing a container of pink solution which gets mixed up on a regular basis in spray bottles. I have never been a bottled water user but mind you I have a well for our drinking water.
    Uh...a colleague at work has been experimenting with the no-poo approach to shampooing. I am going to try it but have not made the commitment yet. Her hair looks fabulous.
    All I can think of now. But, I think we need to do more, a lot more.

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    1. Let me know if you try the no poo shampoo. I've been looking at recipes but haven't found a simple one yet. I use a concentrated natural cleaner, too. That and I try to not clean very often. LOL I'm just not sure we can do enough to offset the ecological disaster of the tar sands!

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  4. I'm working on leaving a smaller footprint...one step at a time. I do use less shampoo and try to take my own bags to the store. I also try to use my car less....a lot less. It's a gas hog anyway! Bottled water? Almost never! This was a great post and you've got me thinking!

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    1. I think gas consumption is the biggest one for all of us. I try to buy local if at all possible but I admit to buying plenty of $ store stuff shipped from China! From reading your blog, I know you minimize that by reusing the craft supplies in subsequent projects and we're all learning from you.

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  5. Great message- I do funky little things. I use my paper sleeve for my coffee over and over again until it falls apart. I used my used coffee filter to give the sink a quick scrub out in the morning after I dump my grounds into a "garden ground container". I use about 1/2 the shampoo I used to use. I actually mend clothing for the kids and will cut down dresses into little skirts for them. All small potatoes in the big picture of things-xo Diana

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    1. Sounds like conservation is an all round habit with you. While we're fighting big business and governments to tackle the big issues, we have no choice but to work on the small stuff.

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  6. I use homemade cleaning products which mostly involve vinegar and baking soda (though not usually together,..except for drains). I buy my wine in a big box so I don't have to keep going to restock with bottles (lol). Laundry with cold water, use a Brita filter and tap water instead of bottled water (the dogs seem to prefer the Brita over plain unfiltered tap water). Oh, shutting off lights when you leave a room. That one drives me crazy.

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    1. As great as your other conservation practices are, I LOVE the idea of buying wine in large sizes! lol

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  7. I use reusable bags for my groceries and there are some very cute patterns out there to make some that fit in your purse, so if you forgot them at home, you can have a couple conveniently tucked away in your purse.
    I have used a Brita for many years and the only time I use bottled is if we are on a trip and the Brita stays home. But I will always recycle those bottles, they never go in the garbage. I always bring a mug for coffee or tea out so as to not use the coffee shop containers and a lot of places will give you a discount for doing so. I recycle pizza boxes and as much take-out containers as humanly possible. They are finally taking milk cartons and tetra packs in our blue bins and I can't wait until they will finally take styrofoam containers, but until then I try to limit how many products I buy that use styrofoam to package things. I have seen biodegradable "styrofoam" containers used by some restaurants, made from some sort of vegetable stuff, but those are few and far between. It's getting there, but we all need to do our part, so that giant floating garbage (as big as a football field) island out in the ocean never happens again!!

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    1. I just watched a TVO series on ocean pollution and was appalled at how much worse it was than I thought! I think we are fast approaching the point of no return and I'm willing to make sacrifices to change that. I need to follow your example and bring my only travel mug when I'm out for coffee.

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  8. This is a great post, Maureen. If we ALL do just a bit to save our planet, it will amount to a LOT.
    Great post and I appreciate the time it took to come up with the info here. Thanks so much.
    AND, thank you for always leaving me such an encouraging comment. :) xoxo

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  9. shoot I guess I missed it..undoubtedly fell asleep with my tv ON!

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    1. Well, it's pretty much a symbolic gesture and I doubt you seriously affected the outcome. At least you were sleeping and not driving around in a Hummer! lol

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  10. I totally forgot about Earth Hour, usually there is more hype but I didn't see as much this year. I found out around 9 pm which didn't help.
    This is the first time I have heard of no poo shampoo which I had to Google to find out what its all about, I have to say it was very interesting.
    Anyways great post, I believe tap water is the best water, so I guess that's my contribution.

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    1. You are absolutely right that the safest drinking water comes from your tap! Bottled water falls under Food & Drug and government inspectors only inspect the processing plants once every six months. Balance that against daily testing in municipal treatment plants and it's no contest. There is a place for bottled water and that is when there is no other reliable other source.

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  11. Great post Maureen! We all need to do our part to help.
    For me the big thing is scraps from the kitchen that end up in the garbage. I make my own compost, but can't possibly use all our scraps in it. In our area they're not picked up with recycling so we got a solar cone through our municipality a few years ago and it takes all of our extra kitchen scraps including meat and bones. It's just fabulous and all it needs is a sunny spot to do its magic. We can even dump into it in the winter time.
    I launder in cold water, clean almost everything with vinegar and water, have a stainless steel water bottle that goes everywhere with me, shop with my own bags and only on work days as it's a 20 minute drive into town. I think plastic bags are absolutely horrible. The problems they can cause to our wildlife, especially marine life.
    Sorry to go on a bit, but this subject really gets me going!

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    1. I've never heard of a solar cone and will look into one. I can throw meat and bread scraps to the chickens and I rotate two composters for vegetable scraps. Bones and dairy are a problem for me and this may be the answer. Thanks.

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  12. agree wholeheartedly -- wish someone had reminded me it was earth hour, however.

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  13. Good for you! I can definitely use half the shampoo, but not half the pizza! lol I heard about the lights out after the fact...Darn!

    Carol

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  14. Darn, I didn't even know about the lights out. I will be watching the amount of shampoo I use. Sometimes I squeeze more out than I mean to. I agree with bottled water. I have a friend that goes through it like no other. Throws half full bottles away alot. If someone gives me a bottle of water I wash it in the dishwasher and reuse it. Not getting suckered into "It's better for you"!
    hugs,
    Jann

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