1.
Your housing choices may represent the greatest environmental
impacts--by weight--that you will have during your lifetime. Don't
build: buy used. If you must build, or remodel, go green, and keep it
small. For solid green building ideas, the Green Building Solutions website is a good place to start.
2.
Design your yard or garden so that it absorbs all your stormwater
runoff. (Feeling frisky? Let your lawn die!) Plant a garden or a variety of native plants
that need minimal care and water instead. Try growing food or native
wildflowers.
3. Choose
ecosystem-friendly sources of electrical power, like solar, wind or
geothermal. Hydropower operations, the burning of fossil fuels, and
nuclear power plants all disrupt ecosystems. Conserve energy wherever possible. Offset the energy you do use.
4. Walk, run, bicycle, use public
transportation, or carpool. Cars and trucks emit particulates and gases
which harm life, and contribute to global warming. Motor vehicles also release toxics
like hazardous wastes, and heavy metals, which run off into rivers,
creeks, and streams.
5.
Choose organic food and beverages. Conventional food production
releases toxic herbicides and pesticides into local waterways which
harm humans and wildlife.
6. Wear out your clothes. Buy vintage
or borrow clothes whenever you can. If you must buy new clothes, buy
from local companies with fair labor and manufacturing practices.
7.
Use totally chlorine-free, or tree-free, paper products with high
post-consumer waste content. Paper mills discharge dioxins and furans
to waterways, which cause immune and organ system dysfunction in both
humans and fish.
8. Take shorter showers, and turn off the tap
while you lather up. Conserving water helps to protect the health of
local aquifers reservoirs. Use soaps and creams made without synthetic
chemicals. These chemicals wash down the drain, and contaminate local
groundwater, rivers, lakes, and oceans.
9. Dispose of animal wastes properly. Everything that falls
on the ground, or runs down a storm drain, ends up in a local waterway. One dogpile can close down a beach for a whole day. Tell your friends to clean up after their pets.
10. Recycle your used electronics ETHICALLY. Mobile/cell phones, wireless devices, MP3 players, printers, scanners, computers, and TVs all contain toxic materials like lead, mercury, and brominated fire retardants that can make people and animals sick. Make sure your used electronics don't get thrown in a landfill, incinerated, or dumped in a foreign country with weak environmental laws. Need help? Contact Christopher Swain's TOXTOUR.
10. Get wet! We all know water can be fun, so surf, paddle, hike, swim, fish, camp, hunt,
birdwatch, and beachcomb 'til you drop. The more you enjoy your water planet, the harder you will work to protect it!
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