Smells Like Green Spirit

I began Smells Like Green Spirit as part of an internship with Sarah Lewis from Blogging Expertise, but I had selfish reasons too. I wanted to have motivation to educate myself about living conscientiously. When I started this blog I didn’t even know what a carbon footprint was. I was hoping that along the way, some people might stumble upon this and learn something themselves, or teach me something, because heaven knows I have a long way to go! Here I’ve compiled a list of “green goals” I’m slowly working towards. The only one I’d been doing before starting this blog was breaking my dependency on cars by moving to Chicago, and using public transit, bikes and my two feet….here goes…

Stop driving gasoline powered cars, or drive infrequently and conscienciously.

Stop eating meat, or eat only meat from humanely, locally raised animals.

Stop eating any animal products, or eat only humanely, conscientiously derived animal products.

Ride bicycles whenever possible!

Help to make your community more bike friendly.

Walk somewhere whenever possible.

Buy locally made, locally grown products whenever possible.

Support companies with conscientious business practices.

Use as much green power as possible.

Work to spread awareness of green power.

Live your life to create as little a carbon footprint as possible.

Support public transit programs.

Register your address to stop receiving wasteful junk mail.

Purchase cleaning products that aren’t harmful to the environment.

Reuse products instead of recycling.

Take part in or help implement local recycling programs.

Purchase personal care products that aren’t harmful to the environment.

Stop buying bottled water.

Don’t be preachy!

Turn off lights and appliances when you leave the room.

Take shorter showers.

Use native plants in your landscaping and gardening, as they need less water to live.

Plant some trees!

Donate some money to a charity or non profit that is working towards these same goals (be sure they’re responsible, honest, and well-managed.)

Volunteer your time at a charity or non profit that is working towards these same goals.

Build a rooftop garden.

Start composting.

Use Energy Star Appliances.

Get a low-flush toilet.

Use natural or compact fluorescent lighting whenever possible.

Make sure your home is well insulated.

Buy products made from recycled materials.

Take care not to over-water plants.

Collect rain water to water your plants.

Recycle the water from your laundry for your yard.

Go to a green dry cleaner.

Buy clothes from thrift stores and vintage resale shops.

Use recycled materials when building or remodeling.

Request to be taken off catalog lists.

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One of the most wasteful things about giving presents this time of year is all of the wrapping paper that gets thrown right into the garbage after the unwrapping.

Here are some alternatives you can use to cut down the unnecessary waste:

*Newspapers - My relatives this year are getting many of their presents wrapped in the newspaper my mother subscribes to! All except for the things that might get dirty from the newsprint like the white purse I’m giving my sister in law. (I hope she’s not reading this.) The comics are a fun thing especially for wrapping the kids’ presents in.

*Old drawings or posters - The presents I mailed to my dad and step mom I wrapped in old drawing paper I had lying around that I was never going to use, and once my friend Joe wrapped a present he gave me with a Beastmaster 2 poster, something I still enjoy to this day.

*A gift inside a gift - What about putting a gift inside a bag that your recipient can reuse as an alternative to plastic bags, something like a canvas totebag? ( PS If you need any inspiration to stop using plastic bags visit this No Plastic Bags Blog.) You could even wrap the gift in a t-shirt or a pillow case. (I can always use new pillowcases if anyone is wondering.)

*Hide a gift - This is especially fun for kids, but if someone did this for me in my adulthood, I’d be delighted. Instead of wrapping the gift, hide the gift so that your recipient will either stumble upon it of their own accord, or you can play the “Hot and Cold” game to help them find it. My mom used to hide our Christmas stockings when I was little, and I convinced her to keep doing it until I left home at age 17 because it was really fun!

There are an infinite number of other alternatives, use your creativity to reduce the wrapping paper waste that goes straight to our already overflowing landfills!

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I’ve never done a single political thing in my life, save working at a call center in the 1996 elections to get extra credit for a government class. (I now know what telemarketers feel like, ug.)

As you probably already know, but what I was ignorant of, is that Chicago is divided up into 50 wards, which are run by an alderman, so if you want to contact someone about making a change, the alderman is your dude. (Or lady.)

The city of Chicago website has ward maps you can download, with the name of the alderman for your ward at:

www.cityofchicago.org (the link is on the bottom right of the page)

Once you figure out your ward, clicking the link on the City of Chicago website gives you their phone number, email and address for contacting your alderman about any issue!

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