AttemptGreen.com

Do you put quotes in your email signatures?  I’ve never really been one to put anything other than my contact information in my signature, but I realize that it is only because there hasn’t been anything screams “you should send this to everyone you would ever send an email to”.  I’ve finally seen something that I truly want everyone to see when they receive an email from me.

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Now I’m not sure if the person that originally sent the email (a friend of a friend), added this line herself or if it is part of a corporate signature.  Regardless, I’m stealing the idea and adding it to my signature. 

So much about making changes is more about education and being aware and not much at all to do with making huge sacrifices.  This definitely fits in with trying to help people be more aware about what they are doing.

Take a look at emails you receive from me in the future, it’ll be there!

So I thought it would be appropriate to write about doing something green on St. Patrick’s Day.  I struggled a little bit with coming up with an idea, but I think this one is pretty good.  Here in Cleveland, St. Patrick’s Day is kinda big, or at least that is my impression.   Many people took off work today to start drinking at 6 or 7 AM!  The pubs were all coloring their beer green.  So I thought what if you were greener with your beer, instead of just coloring it green.

In the Cleveland area, we have some fantastic microbreweries.  Now, I’m not much of a beer drinker, but everyone tells me how great Great Lakes Brewing Company is (especially their Christmas Ale).  For this time of year they have Conway’s Irish Ale.  When I used to travel more, everywhere I went, the locals would rave about the local beers.  So my theory is that there are great local beers pretty much everywhere.  The best part is that local brews don’t have as far to go in distribution, so the environmental impact is much less.

On this fine St. Patty’s Day, raise a pint of the local beer.  If you are more of a wine person, see my post on Wines.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

I was talking with my mom the other day about my parents flying back to Ohio soon.  With everything my parents have been through in the last few months, this is quite monumental.  So I got to thinking, with my new green choices, what would I do differently on my next trip that would make it more green and came up with this top 10.

1. Bring your own food on the plane.  Carrots, energy bars, celery, bananas, trail mix.  This way the food can be more natural, healthier, and with so many airlines now charging for food, it can save you some money too.
2. Bring your own empty water bottle.  Once you get through security, fill it up at a drinking fountain.  This way you won’t be tempted to buy a bottle of water and have to deal with that cheap plastic to dispose of and save some money while you’re at it.
3. Pack a canvas bag for shopping to avoid getting all those plastic bags while on your trip.
4. Use refillable toiletry bottles filled from larger packages you already have.  You don’t need to buy travel size products if you just fill travel size containers with what you already use.
5. Bring books with you from the library instead of buying a new one at the airport that you are likely to dispose of.  Or consider bringing a favorite book that already exists on your bookshelf.
6. Bring your own headphones to watch the movie on the plane.  You won’t be stuck with headphones that only work on the airline and reduces packaging waste from the headphones.
7. E-Ticket to eliminate the paper.
8. Use recycled or scrap paper to print out your boarding pass or check out the new paperless boarding passes!
9. Pack light. The heavier your bags are the more energy it takes to transport them.
10. Use rechargeable batteries for any of the electronic devices you’ve brought onboard to keep you occupied.  Just remember to pack the charger so you can have charged batteries for the return flight.

Next time you take a trip, what are you going to do to reduce your environmental impact?

If there is only one thing you do to attempt green, this should be it.  This is a new trend that I’m very excited about.  Many of my friends have emailed me (thank you) with various articles related to using your own shopping bag at grocery stores.  Many countries, including Ireland and China, now have laws that either prohibit the use of plastic bags or require that plastic bags are charged for.  And it isn’t just countries that are making better strides than the U.S., it is even happening in the U.S. (San Francisco).  On top of that, stores like IKEA and WholeFoods charge for plastic bags (note to self for next IKEA trip). 

The consumption of plastic bags is unbelievable (think about how many you use every time you go to the grocery store).  The environmental impact is just scary.  The plastic is not biodegradable.  That means that the plastic doesn’t break down, it becomes smaller and smaller bits of toxic waste.  With this process animals, mostly marine life, eat these bits of plastic.  To make this more personal, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see an abandoned bag blowing down the street.

I mentioned that this is a new trend.  Most grocery stores now carry fabric grocery bags that you can buy (usually about $1/bag).  I’ve read that Target is also selling fabric shopping bags that are red with a white tree that has the Target logo all over it.  I personally like the new bags that Walmart is going to be selling, with the design “Paper or Plastic? Neither.” (pictured above).  I’ve heard, but have not been able to confirm that Home Depot will also be carrying fabric shopping bags, if orange happens to be your favorite color.  Before you know it, everyone will be bringing their own shopping bag with them.

Many grocery stores are offering discounts when you bring your own bag.  While I haven’t found any official statement from any grocery store chain, I have found many people commenting on blogs that they are saving typically $0.05 for every bag they use.  This includes the Kroger chain of grocery stores (including Ralphs, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith’s, Fry’s, QFC Quality Food Centers, Baker’s, Owen’s, JayC Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Pay Less) and Supervalu chain (including ACME, Albertsons, Bigg’s, Bristol Farms, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacker’s, Jewel-Osco, Shaws/Star, Shop’n'Save, Shoppers, sunflower Market).  I did a couple of random checks and Pathmark, Safeway, and Shoprite also give discounts. Sadly, Giant Eagle (the chain here in Cleveland, OH) does not offer a discount. So now the bags are even cost justifiable.

I’ve purchased 4 bags from Giant Eagle and that actually is enough for most of my shopping trips.  I think maybe two more should even handle my really big shopping trips.  Now, I’ve been doing this for the past few weeks and I have found one minor difficult part to all this. Several times I get halfway from my car to the store and realize I forgot to bring the bags with me and need to go out to my car to get them (I always leave them in my car, so that partially helps).  One of my friends was telling me about Chico Bags, which fold up neatly into a pocket so they are small enough to fit into your purse or even clip on to a D-ring which can snap on to your purse strap (assuming you carry a purse).  So I’m planning to get a couple so that when I make that urgent RiteAid run, I always have my bag.

Dave sent me a great link with information about solutions to some of the current environmental issues.  I was looking at the tire recycling solution available, which is genius.  Then I got to thinking what other things are going on that I can contribute to involving recycled tire rubber.

I stumbled into this company called Simple Shoes, making shoes out of materials like recycled tires, recycled plastic, organic cotton and hemp. As I read about the materials they used, business practices, and their factory charter, I realized I could feel good about the materials and the labor put into these shoes. All around, I was inspired by this company.

While this company is amazing in the simple concepts, their shoes still look pretty cool. What about price?  Yes, they are just a little bit more expensive than I would normally pay at local (chain) store, but honestly I can’t say it is that much more. Not only that, but shipping is free. So once I get the new shoes in a few weeks, if you see me around check out the soles.