Update on my "green earth" quest

I haven't yet given you an update on what I'm doing in my efforts to be more environmentally-friendly, so I thought I'd take a moment now to tell you what I've been doing so far. I mentioned in my first entry in the "environment" category (see links to categories of entries on the right-hand side of this page) that I'm reading a book that's giving me some tips. Well, I'm only reading a short section at a time and I'm not reading it every day, but here's what my reflections have been so far:

• The (six-page...nice to have a short intro for a change) introduction focused on a brief coverage of different ways Christians sometimes approach caring for the environment, from the extreme that says, "Well, the world's just going to hell in a handbasket anyway, so we don't need to care for the earth," to the other extreme that tries to re-create Eden. The book briefly presented a more balanced viewpoint that I agree with; I won't go into it here, but if you want to know more we can talk about it.
• The first section focuses on recycling. Recycle paper at home, it says: newspapers, cardboard, magazines, brown paper grocery bags, paper towels, message pads, junk mail, class notes, and envelopes (if envelopes are allowed in your area). Okay, I said, I already do all of that. Oh, except for the brown paper bags...we don't generally get brown paper bags here for groceries...we tend to get plastic bags...oh, but I use any of those that we get to line garbage pails or to carry lunches to work, only throwing them out if they have holes in their bottoms that mean I can't use them for those purposes, so that's reusing...oh, and we use canvas bags and backpacks or a "bundle buggy" when we go to the store now, so that's reducing...though sometimes we get cardboard boxes at the Price Chopper to put groceries in instead, but they get recycled, so s'all good. I was struck when I saw "paper towels," though. I don't think we can recycle paper towels here (I could be wrong). I don't use a lot of paper towels, but I do use a lot of Kleenex, and I have always felt guilty looking at the garbage can when I've been sick. Dirty Kleenex definitely can't be recycled...ah, but they can go in the Green Bin, as can paper towels. Hmm, but I didn't want to have to go to our "rot bin" every time I used a Kleenex to wipe my glasses or blow my nose (for one thing, I hate the sight and smell of the stuff in the "rot bin"). Okay, I can find a way around this...what I have done now is taken a paper bag that I got McDonald's in one day (I actually got fast food for the express purpose of getting a paper bag I could save, believe it or not), since it is a standing container (unlike a flimsy plastic bag) that I can put my Kleenex into as I use them. (I could have set aside a special garbage can for this instead, I suppose, but this works for me.) I keep this out-of-sight-but-handy beside my computer desk. My rule is Kleenex and paper towels used with "natural" substances can go in there or in the "rot bin," so if I wipe my glasses, blow my nose, or clean up foodstuff in the kitchen with them, they're ok, but if I use Windex or coloured markers with them (I use some checklists in sheet protectors with overhead pens), they go in the garbage, just because I don't know how good or bad it is to introduce Windex or other chemicals into a compost pile. When garbage day comes, I can empty this paper bag into the Green Bin and continue to use it. If it somehow gets soggy or whatever, the soiled paper bag can go in the Green Bin, too, and I will either get another one or find another container to use.
• Recycle plastic and metal and glass, it says. Okay, well, I already do that at home. Hmm, but it also says to try and reuse containers more. Well, we did save margarine tubs and so on for a while, but they build up so quickly, and we already have more than enough Tupperware. Maybe I should be looking at how to reduce our waste in these areas instead...I'm sure there will be tips on that further along in the book.
  
• Recycle paper and other recycleables at work, it says. Hmm, this is harder; as far as I know, the Ice Gardens does not recycle, so I have to take the initiative. What I do now is take any paper that we would normally throw out at Guest Services that doesn't contain sensitive information and take it home to recycle. Likewise, if I have a Pepsi at work, I bring the bottle home. I am only there for the summer so I don't really feel right going the next step and organizing looking after the recycling of paper waste and so on produced in the office upstairs (maybe they already do recycle up there, but I don't know), though. I guess I'm a wimp that way. I was struck by the book's mentioning the metal recycleables you don't usually think of, though--filing cabinets, metal desks, and so on. Something to keep in mind if I ever get rid of something like that, or if I see them in the disposal pile in my workplace (when I eventually get to my goal of becoming a teacher, especially); recyclilng things like that takes effort, but it's worth it...and like the book says, if you can sell them to a scrap-metal dealer or whatever, there could be some $ in it.
  
• Make sure the oil in your car is changed when it needs to be, it says. Ouch. Our car is used infrequently, so maintenance on it has been neglected. It could use an oil change. I'll look after that shortly after I get my G2...hopefully, that will be soon. Also, take your old oil to a place that will recycle it, it says. Hmm. We have always taken our oil to Canadian Tire or some place that we trust to dispose of it properly--we never dump it down the storm drain like people used to do--but do they recycle it? I'll have to remember to inquire when it's time for that oil change.
• Something else we're doing that I haven't read in the book yet is changing our lightbulbs for those fluorescent ones that use less energy as the old ones burn out. I think it works out that for 25 watts you can have the brightness of a 100-watt incandescent bulb if you make the switch to fluorescent. This will also save my DMIL ("dear mother-in-law," for those of you who don't know that type of 'net lingo; we rent her basement apartment) some $ on the energy bill...and with today's energy prices, every little bit helps. I'm also getting better at only having lights on when needed and only in the area I'm in at the moment, too, I think (no leaving the light on in the bathroom just because I have a feeling I'll have to visit it later, no leaving the bedroom light on because I'll have to put clothes away there from the dryer in 45 mintues, etc.).
  
• The last load of laundry I did, I hung it to dry rather than sticking it in the dryer. This is new for me and I felt like an old washerwoman doing it, but really it does make a lot of sense. I still can't bring myself to hang our underwear out on the line, but I can adjust to hanging out our jeans and shirts and socks and so on. This will also save on energy, which is good for the planet and good for DMIL's bank account. DMIL did bring in our laundry when she needed to hang her own stuff, though, so we might need more clothespins and to see if there is room for both our stuff at the same time (but maybe she just brought it in because it was dry)--I wondered about that when I hung our stuff--though we were able to share the dryer okay before (like in the winter when hanging stuff didn't get done because noone wanted to trek out there to do it, I think) so we should be able to share a clothesline tree now.

That's it for now, but I haven't read the book for a while and will be going back to it. I'll let you know what else I do in the future.