October 16, 2008

Going Green

Posted by Miss Kristia at 9:24AM

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(This post originally appeared on Doorknockers and was reprinted on FobbDeep)

Many people I meet consider me “environmentally-conscious.” I thought I was doin pretty good, then I did this activity called the Ecological Footprint (PDF). It’s a survey where you are asked about everyday things you do - how long your showers are, whether or not you compost, how much you recycle, what kind of foods you eat - and it tells you at the end how much of the earth’s resources you’re using up.

The activity tells us that there are 2 hectares available to each human being in the world. Yo so tell me why my co-workers and I completed it we all found out that we were using 6-8 hectares each. What you find is that when people who live in the West (North American and Western Europe) take the test, we’re usually using far more of the world’s resources than other folks.

I seriously encourage you to take the activity. Even for the treehuggers, it’s enlightening to be reminded of how much of an impact your everyday actions have. When you go shopping for those new stillettos or kicks, you’re not just contributing to fucked up labor standards, meanie corporations, you’re also using up natural resources. Water is needed to make practically everything from plastics to dyed fabrics.

So here I am, I use cloth napkins (99cent bandannas to be exact) in my house, I recycle like other folks, but I’m still wasting so much. I mean 7.72 hectares?! So that’s it, I decided. We goin green yo. All or nothin. I live in the U.S. for now but still, what things can I do in the meantime? Well here’s a small list of shit I’ve changed this week since doing the Ecological Footprint…

1. We flush our toilet less.

I confirmed it with roomates, I made a sign for guests, done. This means that we wait for 4-5 people to pee before we flush to conserve water. You can also put a jar of rocks in the back of toilet which takes up space, thus it uses less water to flush. Dude, your toilet is using 5 gallons average each time you flush. That’s hella!

2. Re-use water when possible.

For example, water that I use to wash vegetables and fruits, I save for my plants.

3. I’ve started a small herb and vegetable garden.

I just think it’s healthy to know even just a tiny bit about producing food, about being comfortable with dirt again. It saves you money, it makes me happy because it’s relaxing, and it’s a beautiful addition to your home. Even if you live in a studio apartment you can have something very small. Seriously this ain’t gotta be big. I just have little pots around the house.

4. I take shorter showers and turn the water off while soaping myself.

If you’ve never lived outside of America, this is prolly a hard one for you. But really this is about keepin it real! That's a lot of water going down the drain merely for your comfort. You can also eventually get to filling a bucket with water and then using that instead of the shower. Y’all Filipinos know what I’m sayin: use that tabo!

5. Hang dry laundry when possible.

Saves you money, saves us all energy. Yes, please.

6. Bring your own utensils and containers to eat out of when you go to work/school.

If you’ve known me since college you also know that I frequently carry about a water container and a jar for tea. My boys used to clown me on this. “Oh you look like a fuckin hippie with that jar? What are you some granola-eating White boy?!” For your information, we drink out jars all the time in the Philippines and in the rest of the world.

7. I finally got the compost bin from the backyard and moved it out front.

Recycling is great, but composting is a bigger deal than you think. Do that shit dude, it takes far less energy than you think, man. All you gotta do is have another damn bin or a paper bag you just throw out when you leave the house.

8. I unplug appliances when I leave the house.

This saves energy. The easiest way to do this is to use a power strip, then all you gotta do is turn the power strip off when you're not using stuff.

Ey listen if I can do it, you can do it. And You will still be fly!