Read 'n' Seed 4: First Half of "It's Easy Being Green"

This is the second of two books that I have read for my reed 'n' seeds. The first book that I read was "How to Shit in the Woods," I will incorporate that book into my last post (the review post) with the current book that I am reading. I will be covering the first three chapters of "It's Easy Being Green," in this post. This book was written by Crissy Trask. The chapters covered in this post are as follows: Chapter 1 - Green Living Myths, Chapter 2 - Making a Difference, and Chapter 3 - Eco-Tips for Living Greener. This post will take us through page 92 of the text.

Chapter 1, Green Living Myths, is filled with different myths that are assumed about "green living." Many people choose to believe these myths and it prevents them from making the changes necessary to live a more earth friendly life. I will address some of the myths that were discussed in chapter 1 below:

• Earth-Friendly products are expensive and hard to find
• there are approximately 13,000 retailers devoted to selling enviornmentally prefered products
• many companies are now "going green" in order to keep there costumers and compete with other retailers, therefore products are easier than ever to find
• as far as price, many prodcuts are more affordable than products that are not considered "green"
• Deferred savings are also something that should be considered (reduce energy costs in the long run)
• Nothing I do will make a difference if no one else is doing anything
• every act when multiplied over many days and many people  will produce positive results
• even if changes can't always be seen, they are still always occuring
• by making changes you can encourage the people around you to do the same

Chapter 2 talks about how you can "Make a Difference." It is important that we understand the relationship of what we do in our everyday life and the results it has on the environment. In our daily living we have the opportunity to make many decisions which impact the environment. For instance, driving alone to work, choosing to make one sided copies, picking plastic or ignoring a leaky faucet all impact the environment negatively. However, we can make better choices by choosing paper bags or better yet bringing our own bags to the grocery store. We also have the opportunity to decrease the amount of water we use everyday. The average American uses 183 gallons of water a day! By choosing to be more efficient with watering, bathing, cooking and washing you can reduce this number by 57 gallons. Also, by making better choices when it comes to transportation (biking, ride share, public transportation) it will reduce the negative effects on the environment.

The last chapter I covered for this weeks post was Chapter 3 - Eco-Tips for Living Greener. Everyday we make about 100 choices that can affect the environment!!!! So knowing what choice to make and why is very important. Below I will share with you many of the tips I found interesting that I plan on implementing into my own life.

• AT WORK
• Make two sided copies
• Distribute handout via email
• Use suppliers that will take back their hazardous waste
• BATHROOM
• Replace old toilets with new ultra-low flusher toilets
• Take shorter showers
• Don't use the toilet as a wastebasket, instead throw away trash in the trash!
• Use a strainer on the drains to prevent hair from getting clogged in the drain
• BUILDING AND HOME IMPROVEMENT
• use salvage yards and antique shops when building
• Only wash full loads of laundry
• Use a drying rack instead of the dryer sometimes
• ENERGY
• Keep your refrigerator set at 37 degrees
• Turn off oven 10-15 minutes before cook time is done, your food will continue cooking
• Set thermostat no higher then 68 degrees in the winter
• Apply door sweeps on the bottom of doors to avoid heat or air escaping
• KITCHEN?MEALS
• Eat less meat (helps water pollution problems)
• Buy in bulk whenever possible
• cut back or stop using single serve (one time use) meals

I hope some of these tips will help you make better choices, making our environment a better place. I look forward to my next post, in which I will cover the last 4 chapters in "It's Easy Being Green."

Have a great weekend everyone!