What you can do to reduce
your environmental footprint
Ecology
* Plant trees and native plants in your garden
* Eliminate or reduce the size of your lawn and plant ecograss or low-maintenance flower beds with drought-resistant indigenous plants
* Reduce the amount of impermeable surfaces around your house: instead of an asphalt or concrete driveway and footpath, consider flagstones, gravel, or permeable pavers that will allow water to filter into the groundwater
* Get a rain barrel
Transportation
* Take public transit, walk, cycle or carpool
* If you own a car, keep it tuned up, don’t idle, and consider a more fuel efficient vehicle
* Fly less - business travelers can use videoconferencing and web-casting. Consider vacationing closer to home.
Waste
* Eat more local food (to save the fuel used in transport), eat organic when possible, eat less meat (start with once per week for any of these choices)
* Reduce your personal waste: shop with reusable cloth bags; avoid Styrofoam packaging and over-packaged goods; avoid disposable coffee cups (use china or a travel mug)
* Reduce your waste at home: compost and use your green bin as much as you can; recycle cans, bottles, glass, paper, and recyclable plastics; donate clothing, furniture and other small items to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Value Village, or Freecycle, and reusable building materials to Freecycle or Habitat for Humanities
* Before buying something new, stop and consider:Iis this made locally or shipped a long distance? Will it require more energy? Do I really need a.... bigger TV/wine cooler/new couch....?
Water Consumption
* Install low-flow tap attachments on your showerhead, and taps in your bathroom(s) and kitchen
* Install a low-flush toilet.
* In the summer, collect rainwater in a barrel and use it to water your garden plants. You can have your eavestrough downspouts re-connected so they attach directly to the barrel
* Use a sprinkler or soaker hose to water your lawn; set it for early morning and avoid watering your grass during the heat of the day, otherwise you lose most of the water through evaporation and could burn the grass. Don’t over-water your lawn - encourage the grass to grow deep roots, which helps it better survive drought conditions. That means watering no more than 1 inch (2.5cm) per week
* Do not hose down your driveway to clean it - use a broom to sweep it instead
Energy Consumption
* Unplug electronic devices when not in use. You can borrow ETCAG’s energy-meter to see which of your appliances are drawing electricity even when they are not in use.
* At home or at the laundromat, wash clothes in cold water
* Use a clothesline to hang clothes for drying instead of using a dryer, when possible
* Make your home more energy efficient: buy EnergyStar appliances; get an energy audit and caulk and insulate; replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents in your most used lights
* In winter turn your thermostat down 2 or more degrees; in summer turn your air conditioner off as much as possible - and then turn it up 2 or more degrees
* Purchase your electricity from renewable sources (such as Bullfrog Power) or consider solar
* Replace your gas lawnmower with an electric lawnmower, or even better a push-mower if you have as small lawn
* Check the size of your environmental footprint at www.ecofoot.org
Source: East Toronto Climate Action Group (www.etcag.org)
Video: William McDonough (TED TALKS)
Architect and designer William McDonough asks what our buildings and products would look like if designers took into account "All children, all species, for all time." A tireless proponent of absolute sustainability (with a deadpan sense of humor), he explains his philosophy of "cradle to cradle" design, which bridge the needs of ecology and economics. He also shares some of his most inspiring work, including the world's largest green roof (at the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan), and the entire sustainable cities he's designing in China.
Majora Carter: Greening The Ghetto (TED VIDEO)
"Little green fairies do not come out of the sky and install solar panels. Someone has to do the work."
- Majora Carter, Sustainable South Bronx
The following video played during our Greening Duluth Spring Social to great response. Check it out:
