One of the community initiatives my family is involved in is Narberth Greens. It is a community interest group started by young woman who had a pretty simple vision – Environmental stewardship starts at home. She moved back to her home town and started this movement because she wanted to make a positive impact in the town she grew up. My wife and I were chatting with her just the other day asking how all of her various programs were going, and she said something that was both unexpected, yet very positive. She said, “… I don’t feel like I’m as much in need anymore, because so many people are already doing so much good work on their own.”
The good work she was referring to are things like basic recycling, composting, switching to CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs in case you’ve been under a rock), turning down their water heaters, bringing canvas shopping bags to the market, or planting vegetable gardens. There are so many EASY things you can be doing that take zero to minimal effort, yet return so much. In fact, listed below are the 10 EASY things you can do, TODAY, to start making a difference.
1. Replace 5 incandescent bulbs with CFL’s: save 500 lbs of CO₂ annually
2. Unplug appliances : save 600 lbs of CO₂ annually
3. Add one (more) vegetarian dinner per week: save 1000 lbs of CO₂ annually
4. Reduce waste; compost: save 500 lbs of CO₂ annually
5. Turn thermostat down 2 degrees: save 1400 lbs of CO₂ annually
6. Cut shower to 5 minutes: save 1200 lbs of CO₂ annually
7. Check tire pressure, get car checked up: save 1500 lbs of CO₂ annually
8. Make sure water heater is efficient, set to 120 ℉: Save 1000 lbs of CO₂ annually
9. Use reusable shopping bags only: Save 1440 lbs of CO₂ annually
10. Give your car a rest: walk or bike for your close errands !
If you are interested in specific details on these, visit http://www.narberthgreens.org/ and look up their Community Challenge. There you will find a document that details just how many pounds of CO2 each action will save annually. You can also visit http://www.50waystohelp.com/ for even more actions you can take.
My family has championed these actions, and none of them were difficult … ok, limiting showers to 5 minutes can be a challenge. But otherwise, it was just a matter of changing one habit for another habit. Once you got in the swing of it, such as remembering to bring in your shopping bag to the market (it doesn’t count if you leave them in your car), it was easy.
So, contrary to Kermit’s mantra of “Its not easy being green”, it actually is. So, man-up! Its not a “red” issue or a “blue” issue. It’s a GREEN one. Start today at http://www.narberthgreens.org/.
