Walking is the New Driving

By guest contributer Stacey Harman

Since greenisthenewpink.org hit the scene over a year ago, I have tried my best to incorporate “green” ways of living into my lifestyle…

I changed out all my BAD light bulbs for Eco-friendly bulbs. I started recycling, or at least reusing everything and anything I could. I unplug my cell phone chargers during the day like a good little girl. I shut down my computer when I’m not using it. I get my books from the library instead of buying new every time. I never had air conditioning to begin with so that was a non-issue. I do laundry at odd hours of the night. I drink tap water (God help me if my unborn children arrive with an extra arm or one lonely ear). And I cut back to four squares of Charmin when wiping. I figured this was the least I could do.

However…if all that sounds too difficult, yet you still want to reduce your carbon footprint (I still have no idea what that means, but it’s fun to say), if you really want to make a difference, there is one more thing you can do. It’s so simple and yet it will make a huge impact. Are you ready…?

WALK!

That’s right. You heard me…start walking. You learned the ancient art of walking when you were just one year old. You’ve been doing it for as long as you can remember, but right around 16 you learned to DRIVE (ooh - bad word, bad word) and if you’re anything like me, driving became the norm.

School was a hop, skip and a jump away but I insisted on driving my little ‘94 Hyundai back and forth everyday. Plus, if I took the long way to school, I could pass by my crush, Brian’s house, pretending I just happened to be in the neighborhood (something stalkers do). I had no idea driving two blocks here and three blocks there was actually releasing harmful toxins into the air.

If only I knew then what I know now…

DRIVING 3 miles produces roughly 1.0 KG of CO2.

Walking still sound like a drag? Maybe saving the Earth isn’t enough incentive to drive less and start walking. Here’s a little bonus incentive…

You’re getting fat. That’s right. I said it…FAT.

WALKING 3 miles burns roughly 300 calories.

• Walking the mile to the nearest Whole Foods can and WILL help you to lose those 20 aggravating pounds you’ve put on since college
  

• Walking to your favorite bar (which is undoubtedly in your own neighborhood anyway) will not only reduce your carbon footprint (heehee – I said it again), but also, stop you from “one-eyeing” it on the way home which is not only dangerous, but illegal.
  

• And here’s another brilliant idea…WALK to the gym, Fatty. I was driving to my gym everyday when finally it dawned on me…My gym is only 1.3 miles from my house. That’s 130 calories each way if I walk. My 30 minutes of cardio combined with walking the 2.6 mile round trip may just be the perfect combination for reducing my thunder thighs and saving the Earth all at once

Do your part…Save the Earth…WALK.

-Stacey is a writer who lives in Los Angeles

5 Easy Tips to Green Your Laundry

News flash: “Laundry Detergent kills baby seals, caused war in Iraq”.
Okay…we admit, that may be a little bit of a leap…but did you know laundry detergent is full of bad things for the environment, including petroleum (that precious resource which occasionally gets spilled into the ocean killing baby seals….and which some people say is the reason we are freedom fighting in the middle east)….the point is clean laundry may come at a price to your health and your family's health. Detergents often use petroleum-based cleansers, chlorine or artificial dyes for brightening, and perfumes for fragrance. These leave residues on your clothing that may cause skin and respiratory reactions, according to the EPA. Here are 5 easy tips for eco-friendly (seal and peace) laundry.

1. Wash your clothes in cold water
Your washer and dryer accounts for 21.7% of the average households energy use so save water and energy by using the cold cycle on your washer.

2. Wash full loads
Operate the washer with full loads only – even if the machine has an adjustable load setting. A full load is the most efficient way to wash clothes. Why conserve water? Read more.

3. Drying
Don't be like my roommate and dry one towel and 2 socks everyday. Save your laundry and wash and dry it at the same time, or if you had a 1/2 load of lights and a 1/2 load of colors, then dry them together. And don't over dry your clothes, check on them throughout the cycle to see if they are dry.
or
Hang your cloths dry--saving energy, extends the life of your cloths and allows you to hearken back to the olden days when people spent hours and hours frolicking between the sheets hanging out to dry.

4. Only use your machine during non peak hours (5pm-9am) and clean your lint filter
Enough said.

5. Laundry Detergent
A. Buy environmentally friendly laundry detergent. All that bleach, fabric softener and detergent has to go somewhere (it goes into our rivers and oceans and soil). And most laundry detergents are made from petroleum-based cleaners which use oil, a precious, limited natural resources that will someday be depleted. Vegetable-based cleaners are made from a renewable resources and therefore save petroleum. They do make nice scents if that's what has you so attached to your Jasmine Vanilla Orange Blossom fabric softener that actually makes your cloths smell like a hamster cage.
Try Seventh Generation, Mrs Meyers or Method.

B. Use the correct amount of laundry soap for you machine and the size of your load of laundry (yes this means you have to read the box and measure.) Or try these premeasured eco-friendly Dropps! They are like those dishwasher gel packets for clothes.

C. Buy the concentrated version of laundry detergent, it saves millions of pounds of cardboard, plastic and water. Even Wal-Mart has pledged to sell only concentrated detergent by May of 2008.

Extra Credit
Buy an ENERGY STAR clothes washer, which uses 50% less energy and 40% less water per load than a conventional machine. Save as much as $113 annually.

If you don't do your own laundry then print out these tips and hang them up for your cleaning person (or your mom) and remember when you dry clean to go to an eco-friendly dry cleaner.