Make a Difference Now:
Steps to Increase Family and Home Sustainability
by Susan W. Clark
For Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT)
We can all do more to contribute to positive change, and this list gives lots ways we can all live well while reducing our carbon footprint. We are creating the future with every choice we make.
Food
Eat foods that are in season (ask a produce clerk or a grower).
Paper or plastic? Neither! Take your reusable shopping sacks.
Reduce packaging by buying in bulk.
Use refillable bottles for water, shampoo, etc.
Shop for local produce at the grocery store or at a farmers market.
Join a CSA (community supported agriculture) or shop at a farmers market.
Grow as much of your own food as you can.
Reduce meat consumption or buy local, free range or organic meats.
Transportation
Limit air travel.
Get to work without a car one day a week – or every day.
Use the car sparingly, cluster errands, and walk or bike when you can.
Carpool, ride the bus or bike, join with neighbors to share trips.
Become a one-car or no-car household.
Think small and consider petroleum alternatives when buying a car.
Ask yourself if you really need the ATV, jet ski, RV, boat, etc.
Clothing
Be an informed consumer. Support locally owned businesses, not third world sweatshops.
Bring your reusable shopping bags on every trip.
Shop at garage sales, second hand stores, and thrift shops. Donate your unneeded items.
Buy items that are certified Fair Trade.
Buy clothing made with organic cotton, locally produced wool and/or make your own clothes.
Reduce the size of your wardrobe. When considering a purchase, ask yourself if it is really necessary.
Home
Recycle and reuse as if the earth depended on it.
Buy paper products (TP, copier/printer paper, etc.) with 100% post-consumer recycled content.
Air-dry laundry when possible.
Use non-toxic earth friendly products for all your cleaning.
Make your yard a chemical-free zone (enjoy the influx of birds and bugs that will follow).
Stop watering your lawn. Better yet, replace grass with plants that will feed you and/or the birds.
Take shorter showers or use less water in your baths.
Read labels and purchase make up, shampoos, and other personal care products not tested on animals.
Replace paper napkins and paper towels with cloth ones.
Fill a rag bin with old t-shirts and re-use them for all your clean-up needs – or take up quilting.
Use a washable travel mug in the car and at work. Stainless or ceramic are better than plastic.
Avoid plastic utensils by carrying a metal fork and spoon in your car.
Heating/Cooling
Install insulation, caulking, weather stripping and double pane/storm windows as needed.
Consider adding solar water heating or a photovoltaic system to your home.
Cool with windows and fans rather than air conditioning.
When heating, set temperature lower and wear layers of clothing.
Waste Management
Return bottles and cans for the deposit.
Recycle everything you can.
Make sure your unneeded items go to an organization that will see that they are re-used.
Set a goal for waste reduction this year. Could you cut your garbage in half by recycling more?
Set up a composting bin or worm bin for household food waste.
Economics
Join a credit union. They are like a co-op for money: member owned.
Use credit cards sparingly and pay off the balance in full every month.
Live on less than you bring home. Save, give to charity, and make earth friendly changes.
Use your shopping and investment dollars to support businesses that uphold earth friendly values.
Refuse to be defined as a consumer.
Read labels, read product reviews online, buy smart, buy clean, buy as little as you can.
Learn a practical hand skill, or if you have such a skill, offer to teach or demonstrate it.
Citizenship
Get to know your neighbors.
Invite friend and neighbors to take a Northwest Earth Institute* course together.
Volunteer your time and resources to protect the Earth.
Get involved in your community’s environmental issues.
Express yourself to political representatives on environmental issues.
Your Personal Lower Carbon, Environmentally Friendly Plan
Try using this list to study your life for opportunities to do more.
Where do you over-consume?
Where are you already conserving?
Highlight the areas where you can take steps now to lessen your impact on our environment.
Share this list with friends, family, co-workers, and strangers driving SUVs.
*NWEI: 317 SW Alder, Suite 1050, Portland, OR 97204; 503.227.2807; contact@nwei.org
Inspired by “What You Can Do” in NWEI’s Visions of Sustainability.
Copyright 2008 Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT)
Permission is hereby given to re-use with attribution.
