That’s Swell

I recently got an interesting email from my sister-in-law asking if there’s anything a teen can do to go green. So, I thought I’d answer the subject on here.

What can a teenager to to “go green” or live a more environmentally-friendly life? I am going to take the assumption that the “teens’” parents don’t have the same views, which can make it more difficult. Nevertheless, here are some ideas of what a teenager can do to leave a lighter footprint on the earth, if you have any other ideas, please feel free to comment!

• Eat out Less – I know a lot of teenagers time with friends is centered around food, but one simple thing to do would be to eat out less. A lot of energy has gone into creating your food, and for the most part, restaurant-food isn’t made in a sustainable way (ie even if they can get tomatoes locally they stick to their “supplier” and may get them from 1,000’s of miles away).

• Eat Less Meat – Especially if you’re going to eat out, reduce the meat intake. Now this isn’t to say you should refuse your mother’s meatloaf – it defeats the purpose if she already bought and cooked it – you could maybe mention to her you’d like to eat meat (some meals are easy to do meatless, such as spaghetti with marinara sauce that doesn’t have meat in it).

• Take Your Own Shopping Bag – Yes an oldie but a goodie – start by going to your local thrift store and picking up some cheap bags. If you drive keep them in your car for easy access, if you don’t have your own car (and can’t leave them in your parent’s) maybe get one that folds up to fit in your purse. Or just reduce the bags you take – do self-checkout and try to reduce to one bag instead of 3 (many clerks put one thing in a bag and even double-bag), or if you’re buying one item just don’t take a bag.

• Turn off your computer – Start saving energy by shutting off your computer when not in use. If you have a laptop, even better, they conserve less energy – don’t use it plugged in if it has enough battery.

• Hit the Lights – My father used to tell me he’d charge me a quarter every time I left the light on in my room – now I realize the significance on it and do turn off my lights! So your parents probably wouldn’t mind if you helped reduce the electric bill – basic rule of thumb is it’s never worth your while to leave the light on – anything longer than 20 seconds or so and you’re wasting a lot of energy. So even if you’re running to the bathroom or getting a snack “real quick” hit the lights.

• Don’t Idle – If you drive, don’t ever idle your car. I even go so far now to turn it off when I hit a train crossing. I used to hear it was better to leave it on then to shut it off – but that’s not true – it’s not better for the air or your wallet to leave it on for longer than 30 seconds if unnecessary (when it is so bitterly cold out we do warm the engine for a bit – but not til the car is totally thawed, just enough to help the engine out).

• Time Your Shower - Put a radio in the bathroom and limit yourself to one song. You will be saving lots of water (also turn off the water while brushing your teeth).

• Let There Be (energy-efficient) Light! – If you have your own room, and your parent’s don’t mind – try swapping out the bulbs for CFL bulbs (or convince your parents to buy them). Also, if you have windows in your room, use natural light whenever possible.

• Unplugged - Start looking around your room for items to “unplug.” For example, in high school I always left my blow dryer plugged in by the mirror, now I don’t do that because I realize it is hogging energy. Even if items are turned “off” they’re still drawing energy. You could put several items on a power strip for easy access to turning them off. Some examples: stereo, cell phone charger (big one!), fan, blow dryer, laptop charger (I still have a bag habit of leaving mine plugged in too much), etc.

• Create Less Waste - Start paying attention to what you’re throwing away – you’ll easily become more aware and find ways to reduce in your own life by doing this. One example, when you’re done washing your hands in a public restroom and they have a choice between using a paper towel or a hand dryer, go for the hand dryer.

• Greener Lunch – If you pack your own lunch for work/school, start using Tupperware (or is it Gladware now?) instead of disposable plastic baggies. Also look for a lunchbox instead of paper bags (or reuse the paper bag over and over, we’ve gotten 2-3 weeks out of em this way!).

• Water – Start drinking water, a natural renewable resource, instead of soda. But don’t drink it from disposable bottles. Buy a reusable water bottle (my last one was 25 cents at a thrift store and worked great) – you don’t have to get an expensive kind, get what you can afford.

• Reduce Packaging - Pay attention when you’re shopping to how much packaging (ie trash) is on an item. Buy your next album online, such as through iTunes, you will have less packaging and no gas to drive to the store, and no shipping packaging/energy wasted. Besides, we all just transfer it to our iPods anyway, why not streamline the process.

• Ride Your Bike or Just Walk! - I know bikes are seen as for the “uncool” kids who don’t have cars- but start a revolution and get your friends all riding their bikes again (just as we did before we could drive!). Start riding your bike or walking to your friends house instead of driving.

• Carpool - To school, parties, church, etc. start carpooling with friends (if you live close, it’s pointless if they live across town, they’d just be mooching a ride!). Also, if you live in a big enough city, try taking the bus to the mall one day – it’s really not that bad!

• No Disposables - When you’re grabbing something to eat at home, even if you have the option of a paper plate, go for the real one. You may not be able to convince your family to switch – but you’re leading by example.

• Wear Em Out – Wear your clothes more than once. Start evaluating if something is really dirty. This will save on water and energy from doing laundry. If you do your own laundry, look here for more tips.

• Thrift Shop – Start buying your clothes at thrift stores. Really, it’s not that bad. If you go regularly to get the best deals, you can dress really well! I’ve gotten many great deals on name brand clothes. Even prom dresses can be found second-hand.

• No More Magazines - I pretty much was a magazine whore in high school, easily buying 10 magazines a month, then they’d just get thrown out. Either choose one magazine and only buy it (or get a subscription to save money), go to the library to read it (or Barnes & Noble!), organize a swap with friends (you each buy 1 different kind and swap at the end of the month) and if nothing else recycle them after – many people don’t realize magazines are recyclable!

• Educate Yourself – Don’t try to kill yourself over night making these changes, it is a gradual process. If you start slow it will just become habit, a lifestyle – you won’t even realize you’re doing it anymore. Check-out books from the library (or just browse them at Barnes & Noble!), read other blogs like this, and just start paying attention to your life and what you do – “greener” things will become apparent the more aware you are – but be warned – “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. – Aldo Leopold.”