PLANTAR UNA NOCIÓN “Going green” no tiene que ser una tarea ardua que signifique grandes cambios en nuestro estilo de vida. Cosas siempre pueden hacer una gran diferencia.
El contenido de esta lista puede no ser nuevo, pero a veces hace faltan que se nos repitan las cosas para realmente concientizarlas.
1. CAMBIA TU LUZ Si cada hogar de Estados Unidos cambiara uno de los focos regulares por uno de esos nuevos focos fluorescentes, la reducción de la contaminación serÃa equivalente a remover un millón de autos de las rutas.
No te gusta el color de la luz? Usa estos focos para closets, lavaderos y otros lugares en los que no te irritarÃan tanto.
2. APAGA TU COMPUTADORA A LA NOCHEApagando la computadora a la noche, en vez de dejarla en modo Sleep, se pueden ahorrar 40 horas-watt por dÃa. Si no querés esperar a que tu computadora se prenda, programala para que se prenda automáticamente un par de minutos antes de que llegues al trabajo, o usá ese tiempo para servirte tu taza de café matutina.
3. NO ENJUAGUESEviter enjuagar los platos antes de ponerlos en el lavaplatos, y ahorre 20 galones de agua por cada lavado. Además estás ahorrando tiempo y energÃa usado para calentar el agua adicional.
4. NO PRECALIENTES EL HORNOA no ser que estés haciendo una torta o pan casero, no hace falta que precalientes el horno. Solo prendelo cuando pongas el plao en el horno. Además cuando estés controlando tu comida, mirá a través de la ventana en vez de abrir la puerta del horno.
5. RECICLAR VIDRIOReciclar vidrio reduce la contaminación del aire en un 20% y la contaminación del agua en un 50%. Si no es reciclado le puede llevar un millón de años en descomponerse.
6. PAÑALES CON COSCIENCIAPara el momento en el que un niño aprende a usar el inodoro, un padre habrá cambiado entre 5000 y 8000 pañales, sumando aproximadamente 3.5 millones de toneladas de desperdicios por año. Ya sea que elijas pañales de tela o un dispositivo mas eco-friendly, estarás tomando una desición que es mucho más amable con nuestro planeta.
7. SECAR AL AIRE LIBRENo seques con secadores, colgá la ropa al aire libre. Tu guardaropa mantendrá color y tamaño, y ahorrarás dinero.
Tu remera favorita durará más también.
8. VEGETARIANO UNA VEZ POR SEMANAUna comida menos a la semana basada en carne ayuda al planeta y a tu dieta. Por ejemplo: hacen falta 2500 galones de agua para producir una libra de carne. Además salvarás algunos árboles.
One less meat-based meal a week helps the planet and your diet. For example: It requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. You will also also save some trees .Por cada hamburguesa que proceden de animales criados en la selva tropical, aproximadamente 55 pies cuadrados de bosques han sido destruidos.
One less meat-based meal a week helps the planet and your diet. For example: It requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. You will also also save some trees .Por cada hamburguesa que proceden de animales criados en la selva tropical, aproximadamente 55 pies cuadrados de bosques han sido destruidos.
9. LAVAR EN FRIO O CALIENTESi en los hogares de EEUU cambiaran de lavados caliente-caliente a caliente-frÃo, podrÃamos ahorrar energÃa comparable a 100.00 barriles de petróleo por dÃa.
Solo lavemos cuando tenemos carga completa.
10. USAR UNA SERVILLETA DE PAPEL MENOSDurante un año promedio, un americano usa alrededor de 2200 servilletas- más o menos seis por dÃa. SI todos en America usaran una servilleta menos por dÃa, más de un billón de libras de servilletas podrÃan ser rescatadas de los basureros cada año.
11. USAR AMBOS LADOS DEL PAPELLos negocios americanos arrojan 21 toneladas de papel cada año, equivalente a 175 libras por cada trabajador de oficina.
Para una manera rápida de resolver esto, seteá tu impresora para que imprima de los dos lados. Y una vez que termines de usar esos documentos no olvides de llevarlos a un centro de reciclaje.
12. RECICLAR LOS DIARIOSSe imprimen 63 millones de diarios por dÃa en los EEUU. 44 millones de estos, o más o menos el 69%, serán arrojados a la basura. Reciclando solo el diario del domingo se salvarÃan más de un millón de árboles por semana.
13. ENVUELVE CREATIVAMENTESe pueden reusar las bolsas para regalo, los moños y hasta el papel, pero además poder hacer algo único usando viejos mapas, telas, y hasta diarios. Da vuelta una bolsa de papel y dale a los chicos estampillas y marcadores para crear su propio papel de regalo que es amigo del ambiente y extra especial para quien lo recibe.
14. RE-PIENSA EL USO DE AGUA EMBOTELLADACerca del 90% de las botellas de plástico no son recicladas, y hacen faltan miles de años para su descomposición. Comprá un recipiente reusable y llenalo de agua de la canilla, es una gran elección para el ambiente, tu billetera y posiblemente tu salud. Los standards de la EPA (Agengina de protección ambiental) para agua de la canilla son mucho más exigentes que los de la FDA (Administación de comida y drogas) para el agua embotellada.
15. PROHIBIR LOS BAÑOS DE INMERSIÓN!Tomá duchas. Los baños de inmersión requieren el doble de cantidad de agua. No solo reducirás lo que consumes de agua, sino los costos de la energÃa que se usa para calentarla.
16. BRUSH WITHOUT RUNNINGYou’ve heard this one before, but maybe you still do it. You’ll conserve up to five gallons per day if you stop. Daily savings in the U.S. alone could add up to 1.5 billion gallons–more water than folks use in the Big Apple.
17. SHOWER WITH YOUR PARTNERSneak in a shower with your loved one to start the day with some zest that doesn’t come in a bar. Not only have you made a wise choice for the environment, but you may notice some other added…um…benefits.
18. TAKE A SHORTER SHOWEREvery two minutes you save on your shower can conserve more than ten gallons of water. If everyone in the country saved just one gallon from their daily shower, over the course of the year it would equal twice the amount of freshwater withdrawn from the Great Lakes every day.
19. PLANT A TREEIt’s good for the air, the land, can shade your house and save on cooling (plant on the west side of your home), and they can also improve the value of your property.
Make it meaningful for the whole family and plant a tree every year for each member.
20. USE YOUR CRUISE CONTROLYou paid for those extra buttons in your car, so put them to work! When using cruise control your vehicle could get up to 15% better mileage. Considering today’s gasoline prices, this is a boon not only for the environment but your budget as well.
21. SECOND-HAND DOESN’T MEAN SECOND-BESTConsider buying items from a second-hand store. Toys, bicycles, roller blades, and other age and size-specific items are quickly outgrown. Second hand stores often sell these items in excellent condition since they are used for such a short period of time, and will generally buy them back when you no longer need them.
22. BUY LOCALConsider the amount of pollution created to get your food from the farm to your table. Whenever possible, buy from local farmers or farmers’ markets, supporting your local economy and reducing the amount of greenhouse gas created when products are flown or trucked in.
23. ADJUST YOUR THERMOSTATAdjust your thermostat one degree higher in the summer and one degree cooler in the winter. Each degree celsius less will save about 10% on your energy use! In addition, invest in a programmable thermostat which allows you to regulate temperature based on the times you are at home or away.
24. INVEST IN YOUR OWN COFFEE CUPIf you start every morning with a steamy cup, a quick tabulation can show you that the waste is piling up. Invest in a reusable cup, which not only cuts down on waste, but keeps your beverage hot for a much longer time. Most coffee shops will happily fill your own cup, and many even offer you a discount in exchange!
25. BATCH ERRANDSFeel like you spend your whole week trying to catch up with the errands? Take a few moments once a week to make a list of all the errands that need to get done, and see if you can batch them into one trip. Not only will you be saving gasoline, but you might find yourself with much better time-management skills.
26. TURN OFF LIGHTSAlways turn off incandescent bulbs when you leave a room. Fluorescent bulbs are more affected by the number of times it is switched on and off, so turn them off when you leave a room for 15 minutes or more. You’ll save energy on the bulb itself, but also on cooling costs, as lights contribute heat to a room.
27. GREENER LAWN CAREIf you must water your lawn, do it early in the morning before any moisture is lost to evaporation. Have a few weeds? Spot treat them with vinegar. Not sure if you should rake? Normal clippings act as a natural fertilizer, let them be. If you’ve waited too long, rake by hand — it’s excellent exercise.
28. PICNIC WITH A MARKER Some time in between the artichoke dip and the coleslaw, you lost track of your cup, and now there are a sea of matching cups on the table, one of which might be yours. The next time you picnic, set out permanent marker next to disposable dinnerware so guests can mark their cup and everyone will only use one.
29. RECYCLE OLD CELL PHONESThe average cell phone lasts around 18 months, which means 130 million phones will be retired each year. If they go into landfills, the phones and their batteries introduce toxic substances into our environment. There are plenty of reputable programs where you can recycle your phone, many which benefit noble causes.
30. MAINTAIN YOUR VEHICLENot only are you extending the life of your vehicle, but you are creating less pollution and saving gas. A properly maintained vehicle, clean air filters, and inflated tires can greatly improve your vehicle’s performance. And it might not hurt to clean out the trunk—all that extra weight could be costing you at the pump.
31. RECYCLE UNWANTED WIRE HANGERSWire hangers are generally made of steel, which is often not accepted by some recycling programs. So what do you do with them? Most dry cleaners will accept them back to reuse or recycle. (Cue Joan Crawford.)
32. RECYCLE ALUMINUM AND GLASSTwenty recycled aluminium cans can be made with the energy it takes to manufacture one brand new one.
Every ton of glass recycled saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil needed to make glass from virgin materials.
33. TELECOMMUTESee if you can work out an arrangement with your employer that you work from home for some portion of the week. Not only will you save money and gasoline, and you get to work in your pajamas!
34. KEEP YOUR FIREPLACE DAMPER CLOSED Keeping the damper open (when you’re not using your fireplace) is like keeping a 48-inch window wide open during the winter; it allows warm air to go right up the chimney. This can add up to hundreds of dollars each winter in energy loss.
35. CUT DOWN ON JUNK MAIL Feel like you need to lose a few pounds? It might be your junk mail that’s weighing you down. The average American receives 40 pounds of junk mail each year, destroying 100 millions trees. There are many services that can help reduce the clutter in your mailbox, saving trees and the precious space on your countertops.
36. CHOOSE MATCHES OVER LIGHTERS Most lighters are made out of plastic and filled with butane fuel, both petroleum products. Since most lighters are considered “disposable,” over 1.5 billion end up in landfills each year. When choosing matches, pick cardboard over wood. Wood matches come from trees, whereas most cardboard matches are made from recycled paper.
37. LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WALKING—ONLINE Consider if you really need a paper phone book. If not, call to stop phone book delivery and use an online directory instead. Some estimate that telephone books make up almost ten percent of waste at dump sites. And if you still receive the book, don’t forget to recycle your old volumes.
38. GIVE IT AWAYBefore you throw something away, think about if someone else might need it. Either donate to a charitable organization or post it on a web site designed to connect people and things, such as Freecycle.org.
39. GO TO A CAR WASHProfessional car washes are often more efficient with water consumption. If everyone in the U.S. who washes their car themselves took just one visit to the car wash we could save nearly 8.7 billion gallons of water.
40. PLASTIC BAGS SUCKEach year the U.S. uses 84 billion plastic bags, a significant portion of the 500 billion used worldwide. They are not biodegradable, and are making their way into our oceans, and subsequently, the food chain. Stronger, reusable bags are an inexpensive and readily available option.
41. FLY WITH AN E-TICKETThe cost of processing a paper ticket is approximately $10, while processing an e-ticket costs only $1. In the near future, e-tickets will be the only option, saving the airline industry $3 billion a year. In addition to financial savings, the sheer amount of paper eliminated by this process is commendable.
42. DOWNLOAD YOUR SOFTWAREMost software comes on a compact disc, and more than thirty billion compact discs of all types are sold annually. That’s a huge amount of waste, not to mention the associated packaging. Another bonus to downloading your software is that it’s often available for download at a later date when you upgrade to a new computer or are attempting to recover from a crash.
43. STOP YOUR ANSWERING MACHINEAnswering machines use energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And when they break, they’re just one more thing that goes into the landfill. If all answering machines in U.S. homes were eventually replaced by voice mail services, the annual energy savings would total nearly two billion kilowatt-hours.
44. SKIP THE COFFEE STIRREREach year, Americans throw away 138 billion straws and stirrers. But skipping the stirrer doesn’t mean drinking your coffee black. Simply put your sugar and cream in first, and then pour in the coffee, and it should be well mixed.
Determined to stir? Break off a piece of pasta from the cupboard. You can nibble after using it, compost, or throw away with less guilt.
45. FIND A BETTER WAY TO BREAK THE ICE When a big winter storm heads our way, most of us use some sort of ice melter to treat steps and sidewalks. While this makes the sidewalks safer for people, it may pose a hazard for pets who might ingest these products. Rock salt and salt-based ice-melting products can cause health problems as well as contaminate wells and drinking water. Look for a pet-safe deicer, readily available in many stores.
46. USE COTTON SWABS WITH A PAPERBOARD SPINDLESome brands of cotton swabs have a paperboard spindle while others are made of plastic. If 10% of U.S. households switched to a paperboard spindle, the petroleum energy saved per year would be equivalent to over 150,000 gallons of gasoline.
47. PAY BILLS ONLINEBy some estimates, if all households in the U.S. paid their bills online and received electronic statements instead of paper, we’d save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.
48. STOP PAPER BANK STATEMENTSSome banks will pay you a dollar or donate money on your behalf when you cancel the monthly paper statements you get in the mail. If every household took advantage of online bank statements, the money saved could send more than seventeen thousand recent high school graduates to a public university for a year.
49. USE RECHARGABLE BATTERIESEach year 15 billion batteries produced and sold and most of them are disposable alkaline batteries. Only a fraction of those are recycled. Buy a charger and a few sets of rechargeable batteries. Although it requires an upfront investment, it is one that should pay off in no time. And on Christmas morning when all the stores are closed? You’ll be fully stocked.
