Little Green Things

For a while, I've been compiling a list of easy habits that can decrease one's environmental impact, and here's the list I have so far:

1. Change your lightbulbs. It costs more initially, but you'll save loads on you power bill.
2. Eliminate plastic bags by using resusable ones at the grocery store.
3. Reuse plastic bags creatively. I've starting crocheting with them, so you can always give your old ones to me.
4. Use your dryer sparingly and air dry your clothes. Use drying racks and laundry lines outside.
5. If you have a backyard, start a compost pile and vegetable garden. You'd be surprised how fun it is.
6. Rinse and reuse plastic baggies and plastic food containers. It's a little more work than just throwing them away, but it saves you money, too!
7. Conserve water by taking shorter showers and turning off the water when you shampoo your hair and shave your legs.
8. Unplug all appliances when you're not using them or plug them into a power strip you can switch on and off.
9. Carpool.
10. Bike (I'm not at this point yet myself, but I hope to soon.)
11. Use pubic transit.
12. Educate yourself on your municipality's recycling program and find other recycling centers that take items your municipality doesn't pick up.
13. Eating less meat, especially red meat.
14. Start using a resuable water bottle rather than drinking bottled water.
15. Stop buying new clothes. Buy second-hand and hold clothing swaps.
16. Stop buying new books. Use the library more often and borrow and loan from personal libraries.
17. Don't buy any new furniture. Buy second-hand locally.
18. Make your own natural cleaning products.
19. Shopping more locally in general.

A related topic, I have not eaten meat in 12 days. Even though I've thought of myself as a flexatarian for about three years and have expanded my vegetarian pallet since moving to Austin, this is my first intentional full vegetarian stint. Dave, my vegetarian roommate, told me if I made it a month, he'd buy me dinner at Mother's, a pricey vegetarian place that has renowned spinach lasagna. So far, so good. Now I have just have to decide what to eat for lunch...