Here is a screen shot I took of the detailed information about my footprint. It is quite alarming and sad. You can find out your footprint at http://www.myfootprint.org/en/
I retook the test and my number went up to 4.92. Click on the photo to see the full size version.
Despite my cult like addiction to all things organic, energy saving and, reusable products, our carbon footprint is still huge. If everyone lived like I do - we would need 4.81 planets. While my carbon footprint is less than the national average - it is still huge.
So I am reevaluating some of our plans, making a list of everything we already do as well as everything that we could do.
Some of the more affordable things are walking and biking to the store more since it is so close, buying in bulk more rather than the individual sized things. We just used our last ziploc bag the other day, and I purchased some good reusable tupperware that we can use instead. I am also thinking that with as much as it rains here, we could collect a lot of water with a rain barrel.
A lot of the places where we could make a big difference are expensive, like an eco friendly remodel, like new windows and more insulation, and even paper products made of recycled paper. I don’t often buy paper products made of recycled paper because they are so expensive. As a kid, my dad always bought paper products made of recycled paper. We used to joke with him that our toilet paper was like wiping your ass with tree bark.
The guilt of not doing the downstairs more eco friendly is going to haunt me for a long time. The good news is that we did use products that are long lasting and sturdy as well as neutral and not trendy, so they should not need to be replaced for a long time.
Today I have to go to a store that is 3 miles away. I was thinking that we should try taking the bus but I don’t have any cash on me. I rarely have cash on me so I would have to drive over a mile to get to my credit union’s ATM. Also public places like buses are a breeding ground for germs and my kids like to touch everything. I think we’ll have to drive but I still have guilt.
I have probably mentioned in the past that we are remodeling our 50+ year old house. It is a suburban style home.
Background: the house was a rental home for 25 years before we acquired it. During those 25 years more than one owner attempted to fix or remodel the home in some way. The work was very poor and nearly everything that is not original to the house has to be removed.
This is our first single family home. Even though we owned a condo before living here, we did not come into this home with a lot of money. We can’t afford costly materials for this remodel. Unfortunately nothing we have purchased other than compact fluorescent light bulbs are things that one might consider eco-friendly (even those are made with mercury and I have issue that).
We are just about finished with the daylight basement and ready to start on the upstairs which includes the kitchen and 1 full bath. I am trying to redeem us and (purge some guilt) by looking for some kind of eco friendly cabinet option.
So far I haven’t found anything that is not expensive. Even reclaimed wood some how fetches a fantastic price. Don’t even get me started on those eco friendly counter tops that look like resin but have like recycled glass embedded. They to are far too expensive for our very modest budget. We certainly do not have the time to try and build cabinets ourselves out of reclaimed wood. We are remodeling our entire home and yard so think like Ikea cheap for the kitchen.
What is a green gal who is stretched for time and money, to do?
Well if we are lucky enough to be able to keep our house as long as we would like to then we will go with the cheap kitchen option for now to make living here less dreadful and hopefully be able to upgrade to a really awesome kitchen one day in the future. If nothing else, potential future buyers hopefully won’t throw up when they walk in.
When I was 7 years old my Grandmother bought me a book called How Green Are You? by David Bellamy. Ever since then I have been concerned about the environment and interested in being Green. My passion has only grown with me since then and today is probably the best Earth Day I’ve ever had.
It is sad that it had to get this far but I have shed many happy tears today because finally our country is taking a look around and trying to change. You can’t ignore the Green movement anymore and I am so thrilled that so many people care.
Being Green can be about taking small steps in your daily life and it all adds up. Sure big things like switching to solar power or to one of those micro Smart Cars are fantastic but not realistic for most people yet. I believe the little things that we all do to be more conscious of our actions, our impact, and our consumption are going to make a huge difference. One change, one habit at a time.
Happy Earth Day, thank you for caring.
Recycling can be a difficult thing for some families to get used to if you don’t live in a community that is big on recycling. I found this great site with ideas about how to recycle and reuse just about anything. http://www.recyclethis.co.uk/
Also I have a started a web based spreadsheet to help me keep track of how to recycle all the different stuff that passes through our house. I just have an Item column and an Action column so that using and adding to the spreadsheet isn’t time consuming.
