You’ve probably noticed that “going green” is all over the media. Al Gore is fairly responsible for that, with his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, which won an Oscar this year.

The hype aside, it is really easy to go greener, and saves money – if you’re not into saving the world, or don’t believe the world needs to be saved as far as the environment goes, no problem – just save yourself some money and time.

I have recycled forever, been a member of a food co-op, and had a dad who always turned off lights to save money, so I’ve been at this a long time. But, here’s what I’ve done over the past few years and even just the past month to really make a green lifestyle more permanent and far-reaching:

  1. Use cloth napkins instead of paper. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I do. It feels right – less garbage, not a big deal to wash them, and they last a long time. It’s nice to throw less stuff out in the garbage, and to spend less time in the grocery store buying paper goods. Same goes for paper towels. Just use cloth dishrags. Same concept. Lots less waste. (We have a very small amount on hand if there is ever something really nasty we don’t want to put in the wash, but as yet, it hasn’t happened.)
  2. Use cloth or other sturdy non-disposable grocery bags, or at least reuse the hell out of the paper and plastic ones. The cashiers are confused of course, because it goes outside their mechanized scanning and bagging routine – but I get to bag my own groceries and so I don’t end up with crushed stuff. Ditto #1 with less garbage and it feeling right.
  3. Have lights on only in the room you’re in. My only exception to this is one small/low light in the kitchen, the room we pass through a lot at night. Lower electric bills are nice. [My neighbor leaves all her lights on all the time. For what? Her cats don't care, and it's just a waste of her money and resources.] We keep our porch light on all night for security, but switching to a compact fluorescent bulb saves on electricity.
  4. Reuse glass food containers. I hate the smell and taste of plastic on my food. Former pasta sauce jars make great holders of staples like dried beans, quinoa, rice, oatmeal, nuts, and leftovers. And plastic starts breaking down, so the bad stuff will leach into your food the longer you use them.
  5. Plan your errands with your car so that you’re not just going one place and back home, and make it a game and find the most efficient route - to save time and gas. I just read that UPS was in the process of redoing all their drivers’ routes so that they turned right more, never turned left if possible and thus reduced their idling time sitting in traffic. Nice! (Idling wastes the most gas.) So, that has inspired me to do the same.
  6. Charge your cell phone at home, not the car, but don’t leave it plugged in all the time at home, either! Charge it in the car only if you’re on a long trip or it absolutely is dead – it wastes more energy charging it in the car than it does at home, believe it or not. But, don’t leave your cell phone plugged in at home all the time – it’s a waste of energy, even if it’s small compared to a refrigerator, and it doesn’t give you any extra benefit (i.e. it won’t hold the charge for that much longer)
  7. Eat more vegan food. This was just in one of the major U.S. news weeklies: (In sum,) a steak is like a Hummer on a plate. The cost in resources to produce a pound of beef vs. a pound of beans is stunning, and then when compared to the damage done by producing and owning SUVs, it is further astounding and makes one pause to really contemplate that reality. There are countless reasons to eat vegan, but the impact on our natural resources is probably the most compelling. And while I’ve tasted some really really bad vegan food, I have tasted the most awesome food ever that turned out to be vegan. If you live in the Lehigh Valley, run, don’t walk, to Vegan Treats in Bethlehem (not far from Liberty High School). It is beyond delicious and decadent. There are many great resources about veganism out there.

I have found making the switch to green and veganism a nice challenge, and again, it feels very right for me and for the planet. And I’m still in transition, learning more all the time, enjoying the process. It is amazing to realize just how many ways we waste resources in our daily life – and I, for one, really like saving money for things more important to me. It is even more satisfying to realize I am leaving a smaller energy footprint on the planet by doing so.

I have always been a noncomformist of some type, and find it far more satisfying than just being asleep, and a lemming just blindly following where the marketers or people in power want me to go. (Of course, the marketers are seeing green because it is now a big and growing new market.) If you consider yourself on the fringe and/or like making others uncomfortable with what you do and believe – go really green and really vegan, and love your life.

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