50 Cheap Ways to Go Green
Posted
Friday, May 23, 2008 5:21 PM
There is so much media attention on being eco-conscious these days, which is fantastic, but sometimes it makes me feel a little overwhelmed and bummed out that I can’t take more drastic actions. I’d love to swap my car for a hybrid, switch to all Energy Star appliances, etc., etc., but simply can’t afford to do it all right away (especially since I recently read that college is going to cost $500k by the time our kids get there—which makes saving for that a top priority, since if my offspring are at all like me then athletic and musical scholarships will not be forthcoming!). Anyway, I just came upon this list of 50 simple, mostly affordable daily actions you can take to help the planet. Many of them are things that you already probably do, but it’s great to be reminded of the impact of little acts like using cloth napkins, and to get a few new ideas too.
One bit of data from the list that I found especially shocking: It takes 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, and can take 55 square feet of rain forest land to make a hamburger! Although I don’t eat beef I do eat lots of dairy, and lately I’m trying to cut back on that. Cows (both the dairy and destined-to-be-burgers kinds) are responsible for tons of greenhouse gas emissions, so one of the biggest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to help the planet is to eat non-cattle protein sources instead— think poultry, eggs, nuts, and beans. Oprah is trying a vegan diet for a few weeks, and writing about it on her website. I’m not really an Oprah acolyte, but am hoping that reading about her meat/dairy-free meals will inspire me a little to cut back on my cheese habit. What easy, inexpensive things have you done lately to help the planet?