"It’s depressing—there’s so much to be done and so little time!"
"Where do I start?"
Luckily, in the midst of this green revolution there is a sense of clarity and vision, and it comes in the form of starting small. You need only to take a first or small step, and you are headed in the right direction.
At Greenfox Schools, we offer a holistic approach to going green, based on the Greenfox5: Energy, Waste Disposal, Food, Products, and Greenspace. While we promote whole-change sustainability, we recognize that different people have different budgets, resources, and space for change, necessitating unique approaches for each situation.
A person with a smaller budget, for example, may want to start in the Greenfox5 category of Waste Disposal, where he or she can start by setting up a composter at home.
The green revolution is about sustainability, which means meeting the needs of the planet without compromising the ability of future generations. It is, first and foremost, about relationships: understanding our own needs as individuals, the needs of other people, and the realization that all of our life-sustaining gifts come from the natural environment.
Once you are aligned with this philosophy, positive change flows from there.
Going Green at Home: How to Do It
Greenfox5
I. Energy:
Small Steps
- Unplug electronics when not in use
- Turn down the thermostat and turn lights off when not at home
- Insulate your water heater with water heater blanket ($10-$25)
- Insulate windows, walls, and doors with sealers ($6-$23)
- Replace standard light bulbs with CFLs ($2.50+)
- Walk, bike, carpool, or use public transportation instead of driving (used bikes $15+, bus and subway tickets $0.50-$2.50)
- Use people-powered machines like push-reel mowers, instead of gas-fueled ones ($135+)
Bigger Steps
- Install solar panels
- Buy wind or clean energy credits
- Build a greenroof—insulates and cools your home naturally
- Install a grey-water system to recycle and purify domestic water
- Install an integrated system where one device controls heating, lighting, security, etc.
- Install timed light sensors
- Re-design additions to create more natural light
- Invest in a hybrid car or bicycle
II. Waste Disposal:
Small Steps
- Start to compost ($25+)
- Recycle cans, bottles, paper, newspapers, magazines, cardboard and plastics
- Recycle electronics and batteries
- Dispose of hazardous or toxic materials safely with your town’s waste management
- Call unwanted catalogs to stop receiving junk mail
- Switch to online billing
- Up cycle: reuse materials for art, school, or business projects
- Donate old clothes to goodwill
- Use cloth bags for transporting food/groceries
- Use a re-usable thermos/bottle/cup for drinking water and coffee ($10-$25)
Bigger Steps
- Install composting toilets
- Implement a school or town-wide composting or recycling program
- Write to state government officials to request large-scale composting and recycling programs
III. Food:
Small Steps
- Learn about the health, environmental, and taste benefits of organic food
- Choose to buy and eat organic food
- Choose to buy and eat locally grown food
- Grow your own organic food
Bigger Steps
- Join an organic CSA farm (Community Supported Agriculture) to receive or grow organic produce
IV. Products:
Small Step
- Purchase only non-toxic, biodegradable, all-natural cleaners ($4.99+)
- Use only recycled paper products in your office, kitchen, and bathroom
- Use re-usable storage containers and kitchenware
- Use compostable/biodegradable kitchenware
- Use people-powered machines like push-reel mowers, instead of gas-fueled ones ($135+)
- Use all natural, non-toxic, VOC-free paints ($9.95+)
- Purchase organic cotton or second-hand clothing and furnishings
- Support products companies that are truly "green—" read the fine print
Bigger Steps
- Convert all of your home products to those above
V. Greenspace:
Smaller Steps
- Plant a tree ($1+)
- Grow an organic garden
Bigger Steps
- Hire a landscape architect
- Build a greenroof—insulates and cools your home naturally
- Transform an unused or paved area into a green oasis
- Join a land conservation group
- Fundraise for rainforest and laBy doing even a small step, you are contributing to a healthier environment. Here are some quick facts for each category of the Greenfox5:
Energy:
*Phantom energy costs consumers more than $5.8 billion annually, and sends more than 87 billion pounds of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.
*CFLs use about 75% less energy than standard light bulbs.
*Lighting consumes up to 34 percent of electricity in the United States.
Waste Disposal:
*If 100,000 people stopped their junk mail, we would save up to 150,000 trees annually.
*If every American household recycled just one out of every ten HDPE plastic bottles they used, we’d keep 200 million pounds of plastic out of landfills every year.
*Recycling paper versus making it from new material uses 50% less water and generates 74% less air pollution.
Food:
*Organic food contains higher nutritional content than conventional food, contains more vitamins and antioxidants, and is grown without pesticides or genetically modified organisms.
*Organic farming improves soil quality and builds topsoil, uses composting, reduces energy, saves water, and supports wildlife habitats.
*Conventional farming causes pollution of waterways when storm-water runoff carries chemical pesticides and fertilizers into bodies of water, destroying ecosystems.
Products:
*Nationwide, 29% of discarded textiles were recycled in 2000.
*Recycling clothes reduces the need for landfill space. Textiles present particular problems since fibers will not decompose.
*Many common cleaners contain neurotoxins, depress the nervous system, and threaten the healthy function of the liver and kidney.
Greenspace:
*Planting trees improves water quality, resulting in less runoff and erosion. Wooded areas help prevent the transport of chemicals into streams.
*Landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values as much as 20 percent.
*One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen. This is enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people.
