Green Living

It’s Easy Being Green

Everyone’s talking about going green these days, but amid all the hype it’s easy to forget the real point. Green living isn’t about being trendy; it’s about adopting a lifestyle that treads as lightly on the planet as possible — to help stop global warming and conserve our limited natural resources.

There’s no need to bury your house in bushes, like the Icelandic turf house shown here. Living a greener lifestyle can simply involve using less energy, consuming less stuff, and making more eco-friendly choices about everything from food to transportation to fashion. Anyone can implement simple changes that really make a difference to the sustainability of our planet.

» 1896
The first recycling center in the United States is established in New York City

» 52
Percentage of all paper and paperboard used in the United States that is recycled

> If Americans used one less package of nonrecycled paper napkins for every home in the country, it would save 1 million trees.

> Ninety percent of the energy used by your washing machine goes to heat the water. Try the cold cycle instead.

> Producing and disposing of all the junk mail distributed in the United States each year releases as much CO₂ as 2.8 million cars. A service like GreenDimes (greendimes.com) can help you cut off junk mail almost completely.

Living green doesn’t mean you have to stop traveling and stay home. But traveling can be an energy-intensive pursuit, so when you do hit the road:

> Walk, bike, or use public transportation instead of renting a car when you get there. If you need a car, rent a hybrid.

> Choose a green hotel. Endless loads of laundry, thousands of lights, and tiny plastic disposables add up to a huge carbon footprint for many hotels. Look for lodgings with environmentally conscious initiatives like recycling programs, energy-saving systems, and water conservation efforts.

> Pack light for the plane. A reduction of 10 pounds of luggage weight per passenger would mean 3.5 million fewer tons of CO₂ emissions per year. (Bringing five more pairs of shoes than you need burns fuel.)

Term to Learn

Carbon footprint

A measure of a person’s (or family’s, or corporation’s) impact on the environment, quantified in terms of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), the gas that’s the biggest contributor to global warming.

Grist.org offers an irreverent and entertaining look at environmental news and issues.

NRDC.org, the Web site of the Natural Resources Defense Council, offers intriguing reading about some of the most beautiful places in the world, plus tips for living greener every day.

Sierraclub.org provides information about the planet we all want to save, and ideas on how to do it.

3 Easy Ways to Live Green Every Day

1

When you’re not traveling, get your morning coffee in a reusable cup. Americans throw away about 40 billion disposable coffee cups each year.

2

Unplug all chargers (cell phone, iPod) when they’re not charging their intended device. This reduces carbon emissions by about 100 pounds per year, per charger.

3

Speed up your shower. Spending just two minutes less in the shower each day could prevent about 400 pounds of CO₂ (in the form of energy used to heat and treat the water) from entering the atmosphere each year.

Leave the smallest carbon footprint possible by taking part in Continental’s Carbon Offset Program, in partnership with Sustainable Travel International (STI). Customers can view the carbon footprint of their itinerary and make a contribution to STI to help fund carbon offsets. For more information, visit continental.com or sti.com.