Friday, September 24, 2010

Do your part!

A quote from Chrissy Hynde to motivate you:


“One person can make all the difference in the world. For the first time in recorded human history, we have the fate of the whole planet in our hands.” 


We all must do our part to save this planet!


Please partake in at least four different, new activities that are eco-friendly and post how they have changed your lifestyle for the better and how they have helped out the planet!

20 comments:

Mayanne Atanacio said...

Please post entries here!

Unknown said...

It took me a little while to think what new things I could do, in order to be more Eco-friendly. I already use reusable water bottles, I recycle cans, bottles, etc. I also refrain from plastic and paper bags at the grocery store and use reusable bags. Did you know that some grocery stores give you points per reusable grocery bag that you use for your purchases? After you rack up a certain amount of points they reward you with money credited to the store! Isn't that awesome. See it pays to be Eco-friendly....in numerous ways!
So I have decided that my first project will be switching from usual house hold tissue paper and paper towels, to recycled paper items. I have notice that this may cost me a dollar or so more, but I think it is more than worth the price! One group of people that I am also going to inform and persuade to make changes, is the office I work in. So I will also carry this into the office, and switch to more eco-friendly paper products!

Amanda said...

While recently moving out to live on my own with a few roommates, I viewed this as a golden opportunity to pick up a variety of eco-friendly habits that will contribute to the overall wellness of our planet. Not only do I believe that these habits will reduce my carbon footprint on this earth but also contribute to my overall health and help me financially as well. Win- win situation all around. For example, I recently began using a Brita water filter. Through this acquisition, I was able to save money eliminating my expenses on water bottles and also reduce the demand on plastic bottles as a whole. I have also stopped driving and walk a lot more mostly in part to the fact that I live on my school campus. My friends and I have agreed carpool to the grocery store, trips to the city, and to run various errands.

vanessa said...

hi. i live in santa cruz and everyone here is very eco friendly. you could say we're hippies. i have done my part this week by using a reusable grocery bag every time i went shopping. this is a plus at whole foods supermarket, because if you use one of these bags, then you can either donate or discount five whole cents from your total. so remember peoples, use a reusable bag and save money! i will try to keep this up and help mother earth. peace

Ali said...

To do my part in saving "mother earth" I have began turning off the water while I shave my legs. Usually I would let the water run during this process but I have now taken a more eco friendly approach and am now motivated to conserve water. I have also switched to using a Brita water filter along with a reusable water bottle instead of buying water bottles from the store. It's easy on the environment AND easy on the pocket ;)

Anonymous said...

Eco-friendly tips :D
-I grew up with a penny pincher father and he would recycle cans, glass/plastic bottles, paper, carboard, etc. I retained that quality so I do that as well. He would also pick up any recyclable item off them ground and take it home with him as do I now. We don't need a messy earth!
-I've been using brita for years now. I admit the water doesn't taste great but mix the water with some kool-aid, or juice mix and it'll taste great. It also saves you money from buying already made juice or other drinks[maybe less calories as well]. ;)
-They have eco-friendly sponges that you can reuse. I've had mine for MONTHS now and they're still in tip-top condition. All you need to do is sanitize them in the dishwasher with a load of dishes and they'll be as good as new[make sure you put a full load in the dishwasher so you don't waste water].
-If you're not the type of person who saves their leftovers from restaurants for later, don't throw it away! There are hungry people everywhere. I used to live in Berkeley and I used to give my food to people in need all the time. I promise the response from them it all worth it. We don't need wasted, rotting food around. Make somebody's day :).

Starbucks Tips
If you need Starbucks in your everyday life like a lot of people, here's some tips that will save you money and are eco-friendly...
-Bring your own cup! They'll be more than happy to prepare your beverage right in your cup. You'll get a cup discount of 10 cents[and if you bring a big cup and only order a tall beverage, most of the time the baristas will put more than what you paid for ;) ].
-If you don't have a cup, save the cup that they give you! You can get 50 cent refills on black coffee or iced teas.
-Please, don't use sleeves for iced beverages. They are meant for hot drinks. Promise me, it irritates the workers at Starbucks. It's very wasteful.

Goodluck Maybear <3
-Amber

Mayanne Atanacio said...

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts! I'm truly moved by how you are all changing your lifestyles. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or comments, feel free to share them. I don't want you to feel like you're just doing an assignment. I want this to be a place to share thoughts and new findings. You're all doing great, keep it up! Spread the word :-)

Cyril said...

Sorry for the delay, The only thing I did this weekend actually is planted some of my potted trees and bushes around the house to keep the house cooler during hot days. It will take a little longer to feel the effect but I'm pretty sure that it will help to make shade from the sun and filter some dust from the surroundings. Some of the plants are drought resistance and will save my watering. Keeping my lawn green will also help cool down our surroundings.

Amanda said...

While reading through "Interesting, eye-opening facts about the environment" here on Project Green, it was alarming to find out that "The amount of paper we throw away is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years." I also learned that every ton of recycled paper saves 380 gallons of oil and 17 trees. At this realization, I was inspired to begin recycling paper. In the past, I've recycled aluminum cans, plastic bottles, batteries and almost anything else you can think of but have yet to recycle paper. So this week, I have refrained from tossing my used and unwanted paper. I don't own a paper recycling bin, so my strategy is to store all my unwanted paper in a box in my room, and at the end of each week, I will take the paper to my school's newspaper headquarters and have them recycle it for me. In general, I have/will seek to use less paper.

I am also happy to report that this week, I attended a volleyball game at my school where they were giving away free reusable water bottles! I definitely plan to use mine and am very satisfied at the amount of students that went home with reusable water bottles as well :-)

vanessa said...

geez. these past few weeks have been the hottest days of my life. its hotter than a steam room with 20 sweaty people in there. gross; I know. but you know this as true if you've been to a crowded gym. during these past weeks of massive heat waves.. i tried different methods of keeping my teeny tiny apartment cooler. instead of turning on my air conditioner and wasting precious electricity, i would put a towel under the crack of my door so no heat would creep through. i would keep all my windows and blinds closed during the day, so no light or hot air could get in. when the cool breeze of night arrived, i would open my windows and doors and let the breeze flow through my place. i keep the windows open all night, this way i can lock in as much cool air as possible. right when i wake up, i repeat the process of closing all my windows and blinds. the cool air of the night, keeps my apartment at a cooler temperature during the day. voila, a great solution for me and my boyfriend. try it peoples.

Mayanne Atanacio said...

Very nice, Amanda!

Vanessa: that's a good idea! It was pretty hot last week but it definitely cooled down a lot this week! What city do you live in? Because different places are experiencing different weather. Your post makes me think of eco-friendly ways to stay warm (since it's getting colder), instead of using a portable heater and such or a fireplace. What do you think?

Anastasia said...

To keep our beautiful place we call home, home.. I've been since about half way through the last year have been using a reusable water bottle while also using a brita water filter! Also, when we had a huge bbq for our house warming we bought tones of bottled water, soda, and alcoholic beverages (glass), and we saved it all to recycle. Not one glass,can, or bottle went into the trash. WOO! Sorry about not posting sooner.. took me a minute to figure it all out. haha

vanessa said...

i am originally from santa cruz but now i live in union city. it is in the east bay area. in the winter months i do a very similar regime. in the morning and afternoons, i keep my blinds open but my windows closed. this way the breeze will stay out but the sunlight shines in will warm up my house. when i am showering at night, i keep my bathroom door open so the warm steam from my shower spreads to the other rooms. but i think this will only work for people who live in small houses and apartments like i do

Ali said...

My roommies and I were looking through your Walk The Walk posting. Good stuff! We love Souplantation! I currenty live in the San Francisco Bay area and I'm bummed we don't have any up here. I also saw how you bring your own coffee mug to coffee shops! I found out about this a while back and have been doing so ever since. Definitely buying the green books now instead of the blue books :) Anyway, I mentioned in my last entry that I am now conserving more water and recently, I have expanded my conservation by conserving more electricity. To quickly sum it up, I have began turning off all lights in my appartment when I'm not using them. I was never really good at doing this but have made it more of a point to remember to do so. I also disconnect my phone, and computer chargers from the outlets along with items in the kitchen when they are not in use. Leaving them connected uses a lot of electricity. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress.

Anastasia said...

So today at school we had Al Fresco, and let me tell you they were giving out prices which included a eco-friendly reusable water bottle it is recyclable, biodegradable in 1 to 5 years in a managed landfill, made with up to 15% recycled material, BPA Free, and made in our own USA. WOO! so excited. I already use a reusable water bottle, but having two won't hurt. I'm not sure how many water bottles equals to one reusable water bottle, but I'm sure it is worth it. I was trying to do some research for it, but I can't seem to find any information.. hmm. :/ anyways.. I've also noted something sad. During this Al Fresco, they didn't have a special recycling can for the brown paper bags they used to give out the free lunches :[.. all of them were thrown away.. & I'm pretty sure they could of easily recycled all of it. Maybe we can all try our best to pay attention to even the littlest things of recycling.

Life said...

It's great to see how committed some of you are to "greening" your habits. My wife and I are pretty religious about not wasting water when rinsing dishes, recycling, etc. but I need to get her to buy some more recycled cleaning products like Amanda or someone said.
Are you also educating others about all this and challenging family members and friends to help preserve our resources? I will be more diligent about this, myself.

Amanda said...

This week, my friend and I (who works with our school athletic advertising) came up with an idea to spread eco-friendly habits to the rest of our university. We came up with an idea to have a "Go Green" basketball game. This after we attending a "Breast Cancer Awareness" volleyball game which was a huge success. We will pick a game sometime during our schools basketball season to promote eco-friendly habits. With the help of our school's advertising department and East Bay athletics, we will be distributing free reusable water bottles and green East Bay Shirts. We will also set up prize giveaways for attendees that bring us their recyclables.
More ideas of giveaways and activities for this game are currently being thought out so any input from you guys is greatly appreciated.

I know I'm kinda stretching it by blogging about something I have not done yet but I feel it's a great event in the making and something I am very motivated to do.

vanessa said...

do you want fresh breath? who doesn't
now when you are looking a minty breathe picker upper, chose one that is made out of recycle-able material. such as the tic tacs i bought earlier this week. it was in small print but it was there. good job tic tac company :)

Ali said...

(Sorry for the delay)
I recently found out about a pretty interesting website called www.commonvision.org. This website buys back your textbooks and by selling your textbooks back, you help donate to efforts that help plant trees across the country and across the world. You all should check out this website! My suite-mate also recently told me about her paper recycling efforts (which she blogged about on here). I have since been recycling paper as well! I think it's pretty neat because I, like her, never recycled paper in the past. This a certainly a great habit to pick up and we have since tried to get our other suite-mates to do the same :)

Mayanne Atanacio said...

All of your ideas and efforts are truly awe-inspiring.

Amanda- the eco-friendly basketball game is a great idea! I hope it comes into fruition!

Ali-I will definitely check out that website! Thanks for sharing!

*For future reference, you can all post your comments on the most recent blog entry so you don't have to keep going back to this entry. It'll make it more convenient for you and me! :-)

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