Feed the Birds

My family has always been big on feeding the birds. The feeders attract all kinds of birds with all kinds of personalities, so it's always entertaining to look out the window and watch. I remember once my friend came over and couldn't believe how many birds there were. It made me realize how effective the little feeders were in attracting the animals. This is important because part of a healthy environment is a large amount of biodiversity. Deforestation and settlement significantly lower the forest area and therefore lower the food supply for the birds, and possibly puts them in danger. We don't want to make these species extinct, we want them to continue to thrive. Now, obviously there are other factors that I am not considering, but I would say that food is pretty important. A couple feeders in one yard won't do a whole lot, but one feeder in every yard might. So head down to your local hardware store or garden store and pick up a bird feeder. If you don't want to stick a pole in your ground get a window feeder, or put one on a hanging plant hook. There's plenty of options. My mom buys her birdseed right at the grocery store so she can shop for them and the family all in one trip. Enjoy!

Got the sniffles?

Look for facial tissues made with recycled paper. Tissues are something that we wipe icky stuff on once, crumple, then throw away. And when we have bad allergies or colds the pile of tissues can certainly add up. So why do we need fresh, good quality paper for that? We don't really. These tissues save trees, which leaves more on the Earth to absorb green house gases and produce oxygen. What's not to love about trees? At first I thought I had to search far and wide for these recycled paper tissues, but I found them at my local Whole Foods Market. I haven't seen them in other local stores yet, but I hope to soon. If you cannot find them in stores but are dying for a box they are sold online as well. Good luck!

Just Use the Dishwasher

For those of you who hate doing the dishes, I have good news for you. You now have an excuse to stop hand-washing the dishes. Don't even bother to thoroughly rinse the dishes. Obviously, the dishes cannot be absolutely covered in food, but they certainly don't need to be pristine. Washing dishes by hand actually uses twice as much energy, six times more water, and more soap than dishwashers do. Even better, if you are looking into getting a new dishwasher, aim to get an Energy Star one. Their numbers are even better. Older dishwashers will be less efficient. However, make sure to only run your dishwasher when it is full, or else these awesome numbers will be meaningless!

The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers

Americans are the largest consumers of red meat in the world. While this may not have any significance to you, there are actually a lot of negative environmental side effects that come from America's huge beef industry, threatening our climate, land, and water. Cows are a huge source of greenhouse gases. I am not trying to pick a fight with cows, but I am picking a fight with how many cows America's beef industry raises. According to this video, Americans eat (on average) 3 hamburgers per week, and 3x more red meat than any other country. So, try to cut down on your weekly meat consumption. You don't need to give up red meat entirely, but try to eat one less burger per week, or one less steak. Choose a meat like chicken instead, and maybe even try some tofu. Watch this must see video for more information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3URdEzlKQ&feature=youtu.be

Know Your Food

I frequently eat Stonyfield yogurt (Chocolate Underground is the best) and so I've looked at the labels a lot. I ignored this one for a while, but eventually decided that I couldn't keep eating the yogurt without looking up what this "know your food" thing was all about. I thought that the superhero theme was a little cheesey, but that's beside the point because the core message is a really good one. Do you know exactly what you're eating? Because you should. Not just for your health, but for the health of the environment. Not only are the ingredients listed on the label important, but so are how they got there. How the food is packaged is important too. Do you know anything about the companies that you trust to feed you? Because you probably should get to know them. The more that I learned about Stonyfield, the more I got to love them.

Check out the Stonyfield website for further explanation: https://iwillknowmyfood.com/#meet

I found these videos extremely helpful and interesting, and they're representative of the larger picture. Be SURE to watch: http://www.stonyfield.com/yotube

Green Cleaning, Sponges

Some major, household brands have started creating green product lines. Scotch-Brite is one company that I have seen in my local grocery store. The sponges caught my eye because I had seen "green" sponges before that looked like they had the world's most unpleasant texture to them. They were probably very environmentally friendly, but maybe not so user friendly. These Scotch-Brite sponges looked much more pleasant. They have come out with a whole line of products made with things like bamboo (a fast growing renewable resource) and recycled plastic bottles. Many of the products are biodegradable, 100% natural, and decently durable. Since I do not buy most of the stuff for my house, my family has not tried these. We are happy with our (very) long lasting Dobie pads. However, I read reviews from some happy moms on the internet about Scotch-Brite's new additions. If I was starting a home or living in a dorm I would probably stock up on something like this.

My Computer Hibernates, and it's Not Even Winter

It can take a lot of energy and money to run a computer 24/7. Therefore, try to not leave it open and running when you leave for an extended period of time. Remember to put it into sleep mode or hibernate mode so that it will suck up a lot less energy while you are not using it. I know I don't fully shut my computer down a lot, but if you don't have anything open and are going to be gone for a significant amount of time, try it! It won't kill you, I promise.

Fun fact: laptop computers tend to use a significantly smaller amount of energy on average than desktop computers.

Don't Forget Me

Don't forget to turn off your bathroom fan. By all means, use it when you need to, but these fans always seem to be forgotten and left on all day. Don't waste the energy to run it. Make a mental note (or a physical one) to turn off the bathroom fan.

T Tickets

If you live in the Boston area you are familiar with the T, the subway. I ride maybe a dozen times a year, and each time I ride I get a new paper ticket. I know that they sell plastic reusable Charlie Cards, but I've never looked into them enough to know whether or not I should purchase one. So, despite what I should do, I continue to use the paper tickets. However, did you know that you can save and reload those paper tickets? I didn't until this past week! It doesn't prevent a lot of waste, but saving these guys a few times to reuse will save a little bit of paper. It also seems to be a faster and easier transaction. So next time you take the T, (or whatever subway that may be near you), buy the reusable card or hang onto your ticket and reload it.

P.S. and a bravo for taking public transportation!

Edit: I realized that the ticket machines probably don't give you back the same ticket when you add value to them. I am not sure what happens to them. So basically: just get a Charlie Card. You get a discounted fare and go totally paperless. Woohoo!

More Composting

So food waste and specially labeled packaging is compostable. Paper products are too! As long as you didn't use the paper product for cleaning (so that it has chemicals on it from products like windex, lysol etc.) you can compost napkins, paper towels, paper shreds, cardboard...whatever! Even if it isn't completely clean (food smudges are fine!).