Health News Blog
Are You Making Your Life Greener?
Email Page
I know that there are plenty of ways to have a “greener” life, but are we really taking the time to think of other ways to reuse, renew and recycle?I thought I did, but realized I was wrong when I moved to the country and went to a landfill for the first time. In 2006, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) calculated the US generated 251 million tons of waste…And it shows!! So, I want to share some of the things I do to have a better, more responsible, and greener life.
How much plastic do you really recycle?
Water and juice bottles are most obvious ones, but what about the plastic container your antibiotics were dispensed in, the plastic bottle for your deodorant, or the ketchup, dressing and peanut butter plastic jars? Almost every single thing that we use has a plastic component, but we just toss them out. Remember the plastic lids for the coffee can, the jar of mayonnaise, the shampoo bottle, the tube for your lip gloss. Recycle them too. Check with your local agencies to determine which can be recycled.
How many napkins do you use?It's amazing to see how much paper is used at home. I noticed one day that my husband uses 2-3 napkins at each meal. He uses one, and the other two just stay crumpled on the table. So, I began using cloth napkins. I didn’t get fancy ones; just bought a couple of packages of 12 cloth napkins (about $10 each) and use them every two days. It's no biggie on the laundry load either. Since they're small, they don't increase my water usage significantly.
So, instead of using 1460 napkins and 26 rolls of paper towels per year, I now use and reuse 24 napkins for the year. Sorry, I still don’t have any ideas for the toilet paper!
Now it's your turn! Let's hear about your greener way of living. I'm sure we can all benefit!
Ivelisse, BS, LD/N
Nutrition Specialist
Take Care, Take Control and Enjoy!
Labels: Environment
RSS/XML
