Here are reasons number 94-126.
94. Use The microwave. It uses just a third as much energy as a conventional oven.
95. Electric shaver means less water down the drain.
96. vacuum cleaners. Cleaning appliances and heating vents regularly is a simple way of making them more energy efficient. Dirt and dust on a refrigerator’s coils, for example, can reduce its efficiency by 30 percent.
97. Regular soap. Antibacterial cleansers can kill good germs, may add to the problem of antibiotic resistance.
98. Mercury-free fillings. Dental waste is a major source of water pollution.
99 & 100. Environmentally speaking, no food is as sinful as beef (The next worst eco-offender: poultry, followed by pigs.) Beef cattle account for 20 percent of water pollution in the U.S (It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef.!)Think about the immense cost of energy used to raise cattle and to transport meat to your supermarket shelf before buying beef. Besides all this, cows consume enormous amounts of antibiotics and are a prodigious source of methane, which is the number-two greenhouse gas. If you simply cannot give up the goods, eat grass fed beef. It’s more earth-friendly and certainly better for you.
101. Don’t assume that just because it’s plastic, it’s recyclable. A lot of places recycle plastic only in the form of bottles. Instead of dumping those deli containers out with the cans and newspaper, wash them and use them for storage.
102. Charcoal smoke is more than just annoying. It contributes to air pollution and lung disease. Using a gas, rather than charcoal grill, is the most environmentally friendly way to barbecue
103 & 104. If you must use charcoal, make sure it comes from a sustainable source. Enormous areas of tropical rainforest are destroyed every year to produce the 900,000 tons of charcoal burned annually in America. CHIMNEY STARTERS are the most environmentally friendly solution to lighting charcoal. They use only a couple of pieces of newspaper, meaning you can avoid the gas-flavored meat that accompanies barbecues started with lighter fluid or fire starters.
105 & 106. Don’t feel guilty about buying the occasional pack of paper plates or napkins. Just look for brands made of recycled materials. Using plastic utensils isn’t exactly up there with drilling in Alaska, either, but would it hurt you to take them home and wash them for the next party?
107. Attention, bottled water addicts: It’s no better for you than tap water and the packaging is wasteful, plus recycling it is nearly as polluting as making plastic from scratch.
108. You know pesticide-free foods are better for your health as well as Gaia’s. Did you know that many wooden picnic tables, benches, decks and chairs also contain pesticides — a form of arsenic that causes cancer? Cover that table with a cloth. Don’t eat food that’s touched wood and wash hands often.
109. Look for wild salmon at the fish market even if it’s been frozen. Farmed (aka Atlantic) salmon is raised under conditions that are terrible for the environment.
110-112. Look for ways to reduce food packaging. Buy from the bulk bin (110). Get boxed and canned foods in the largest containers you can (111). Skip plastic bags (112) and so what if the checkout clerk glares at you when you plunk down six apples or a bunch of grapes? Dump the berries in a brown bag after you pay for that basket of strawberries and hand the basket back to the clerk. You will feel incredibly self-righteous as you walk out the door.
113. Drought alert: Some foods require vast amounts of water to produce. A single avocado tree needs up to 300 gallons of water per week in the hottest weather. Those super-size fast-food fries are longer than they used to be and they need more water to get that way.
114. Support local farmers. Your food has traveled 1200 miles (maybe more with the new Global Economy) just to get to your plate. Shopping at farmers’ markets, co-ops and CSAs allows you to buy directly from the people who grow the food.
115. Sea life around the globe is being threatened by everything from pollution to over-fishing. We are quickly running out of seafood in general and in the process, destroying the ecosystem in which they live. Choose your seafood responsibly. Excellent choices: Mahi Mahi, Pacific Cod.
116. Paper or plastic? Turns out which bag you choose doesn’t really matter to Mama Earth. Plastic creates less pollution during manufacturing and takes up less landfill space, but paper biodegrades faster and is more likely to be recycled. Bottom line: Pick whichever bag you’re likelier to reuse or take cloth bags when you shop.
117. Disposable or cloth diapers? According to the most thorough study, disposables produce twice as much waste (excluding baby poop) as cloth diapers do. However, cloth requires up to 27 percent more energy and up to 2.5 times more water to clean. Bottom line: In areas where landfill is scarce (check by going to www.ciwmb.ca.gov/profiles/facility), cloth’s a tad better; where water and energy are in short supply, disposables may have the edge.
118. Synthetic or cotton? True, polyester and other synthetics are made from petroleum, whose extraction and refinement leads to oh so much warring and environmental harm. Cotton farming is no eco-picnic and it uses many more agricultural chemicals than food production. Bottom line: Buy fewer clothes, use ‘em longer, pass ‘em along.
119. SPRAY CANS? Starting in the 1970s, manufacturers began moving away from using ozone-depleting substances as propellants for aerosol products. Now, most hair sprays, deodorants and other aerosols rely on low-toxicity hydrocarbons that have relatively little impact on global warming.
120. Styrofoam cups? Polystyrene foam also has been reformulated so that it no longer damages the ozone layer. On the downside, foam still doesn’t biodegrade. Bottom line: A mug is a better choice, but an occasional half-caff latte in a foam cup doesn’t mean you and Dick Cheney will end up sharing the same strip-mined circle of eco-hell.
121. Diminishing qualified landfill space, due to increasing standards required by the government to protect the public’s air and water quality standards.
122. GROWING PUBLIC CONCERN regarding mining of ore and clear cutting of the world’s forests has encouraged the reuse of consumer packaging as raw materials for new products. We need to begin conserving where possible and that includes manufacturing with post consumer waste (recycled commodities) as opposed to more expensive virgin material.
123. BECAUSE IT’S EASY Right now, the City of Ocala sponsors nine Recycling Drop-Off Centers. They are color standardized and all centers are the same, accepting newspaper (colored and glossy prints may be included), magazines, aluminum, steel cans, #1 & #2 plastic (rinsed, without caps) and clear, brown and green glass. Surely, there’s one close to you:
124. Quantum Fuel Systems (QTWW) products include high-capacity hydrogen storage tanks that can be used in cars powered by fuel cells. These tanks can store enough hydrogen to power a fuel-cell car for about 300 miles. What’s more, the military is “very aggressively deploying hydrogen technology” to combat the expense and logistical difficulties involved in transporting liquid fuel in battle. That’s not bad.
125. Corning (GLW). The venerable glass and ceramics company has developed a new glass composite that doesn’t include heavy metals in the manufacturing process, reducing environmental hazards associated with the glass, commonly used on liquid crystal display televisions. 126. Winchester (Va.)-based Trex (TWP) sells a composite of reclaimed wood and plastics that can be used to build decks, fences, and other outdoor structures. It recycles materials that would otherwise go to waste. Sure, Trex’s material costs more than normal wood, but it’s more durable and requires less maintenance. That means no staining. That means no paint fumes, easing another environmental concern as well as no splinters. PLUS: Do some checking up before you give another dime to a big enviro group. The Better Business Bureau’s http://www.give.org/ website analyzes the finances of many large charities, including salaries, administrative spending, and fund-raising costs. Chronicle of Philanthropy (http://www.philanthropy.com/) ranks the 400 richest nonprofits.
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