Green is the new pink! Everyone is going green, switching to environmentally friendly vehicles and becoming more conscious of their carbon footprint. For a young L.A. mom, some of these things are far out of reach. As much as I would love to trade in my Jetta for a hybrid, I just can’t. Nor can I cover my rooftop with solar panels. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t lifestyle changes you can make that are too impossible to put together.
Stores everywhere are getting involved to make going green easier for you. Here is a list to help you get involved, make some great cheap and simple changes in your routine, and be a part of the process so that not just our children, but our children’s children have somewhere left to live on this place called Earth.
1. COFFEE
Whether you make coffee at home or you are one of the millions who wait in line at 9am during the Starbucks rush, here are a few tips to make things better for the Earth.
If you like to save money and make coffee at home there are two ways to go. First, Starbucks VIA is a delicious blend of micro ground coffee, 100% natural Arabica beans (unlike Folgers), and roasted in regions all over the world. Columbia roast is rich and smooth with a walnut-like taste for all of the medium coffee drinkers. For something bolder try the roasty-sweet Italian or Decaf Italian roast or the light bodied, low acidic, darkest and boldest one of all, the intense and smoky French Roast. These small packets require 8oz. Of hot water, and mix in completely, without an energy using coffee machine. Try these other flavors: Vanilla, Cinnamon Spice, Mocha, and Caramel.
Now I know someone people are strung out about instant coffee, and still can’t accept the fact that Howard Schultz’s people finally figured out how to do it naturally. So for you, I have something else for the home bodies. Try a Crema Coffee Press made from 30% post-consumer plastic. This nifty little guy, take ground coffee, and through a metal filter, strains the grinds from the water, leaving a beautiful cup of coffee, with no energy and none of that burnt metal taste that machines give off. Pick one up at any home goods store, and your local Starbucks store.
Now, for my line zombies, at 9am, standing inside Coffee Bean or Starbucks, here’s a quick tip for you! Bring your own cup. It’s simple isn’t it? You save a cup, a lid, and a sleeve! All of those three products would just be thrown away once your triple grande no foam extra hot three pump mocha was in your belly. And to thank you for bringing in your own mug or tumbler, Starbucks will take 10 cents of your drink. Not a big deal, but if you’re in there enough, it adds up. If you don’t have a travel tumbler, guess who has them? You guessed right: Starbucks, and there are always some on sale!
WATER:
A daily vital source we need to survive. Plastic throw away bottles are one of the biggest pollutants of our beaches. Before there was plastic bottles, there was still water, so why is it that i seems to be the only way to transport or buy water. Well good news! It’s not. You can pretty much pick up a reusable water bottle anywhere and everywhere. Use a Britta filter to fill up water in your sink, store it in your fridge, and use that to fill up one or more reusable water bottles. Have them pre-ready, so when you’re running late to school, work, the gym, or an outing with the family, they are always cold, full, and clean.
Another amazing thing I discovered this year is the Bobble. I know what you’re thinking: sounds like a toddler toy, but it’s far from it. The Bobble is a bottle that filters water as you drink it. Did you get that? Let me say it again…It filters water as you drink it! Wow! The filter (your choice of any color) removes chlorine and contaminants from tap water, giving you a clean, crisp, and fresh taste. One filter is equivalent to 300 water bottles. So by using a great tasting and great looking Bobble, you are saving about six trash bags of plastic. This fantastic invention is only $9.99 and comes with one filter, replacement filters are 2 for $9.99. Get them at Old Navy, Target, The Container Store, or online.
SHOPPING:
Appoximately 1,200 plastic bags are used per US resident each year, making a whopping 500 billion petroleum-based plastic bags that threaten wildlife, pollute oceans, and cloglanfills each year. Of this, only 1-2% of the bags in the US make it to the recycling center. Thousands of aquatic animals, and over a million birds die each ear due to the over population of plastic liter. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of the ocean. Paper bags are not the other alternative. Their production costs the lives of 14 million trees a year. You can stop this now!
As moms, we are always trucking around a size XL purse, diaper bag, or tote. We can think of anything to fill it’s interior, but leaving a little extra space in it when we run to the drug store, or happen to pick up a small souveniour on a family vaca. Carrying things by hand or stuffing your already stuffed purse just a tad more can make all the difference. Reduce your 1,200 bags to 0.
Almost every shopping store now carries reusable bags. I started to collect them at the register’s of Banes and Noble, Trader Joes, Ralphs, Walgreens, Target, and Old Navy. Now when I know I’m going to have a larger shopping trip at the market to get groceries for the house. I pull out the bags from my trunk, which are all neatly folded into one bag, and participate in the fight to end plastic pollution.
P.S. You can even keep a smaller sized reusable bag tucked at the bottom of your purse for when you are out and about.
If you do happen to have some plastic bags lying around at home, or you forgot to bring your reusables, and couldn’t carry your purchase, have no fear, you’re not going to hell! Most recycling centers and some stores, including Pavilions, collect and recycle these bags. As long as they are put in the blue bin and not the black, we can all breathe a little easier.
Taking these little steps to making our lives greener will benefit not only the lives of our children now, but the lives of our children when they are older. Educating them now about the effects we have on our Earth and what we can do about it is important. Get them involved with these home changes. Let them carry the bags, or buy them a fun reusable water bottle to match their personality and style. Let them know they are a part of the change and make them feel good about their choices. Get them involved with the recycling. Assign each child, or person in the household an item: glass, aluminum, paper, plastic. Let them take charge of that product’s recycling storage so that they feel important. Who knew going green could be fun, easy and affordable.
