Environment: Checklists
- Collect rainwater for your garden and crops to conserve water.
- Turn lights off when you don’t need them. Electric lighting produces one-fourth of all energy consumption.
- Open a window instead of using a fan or air conditioner. The average American household waste 16% of its energy on air conditioning.
- Reuse all discarded paper as scrap paper. Paper use is predicted to double by the year 2020. The average person uses about 700 pounds of paper every year.
- Plant trees. Trees are key to the Earth’s cycle. Over 4 billion trees are cut down a year. They store carbon dioxide and produce most of the Earth’s (caps when referring to the planet Earth) earth’s oxygen while helping to maintain temperatures and stabilizing climates.
- Find ways to reuse plastic containers and other plastic products. Plastic can take over 2,000 years to disintegrate.
- Save water. Don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth or washing your face, and try to take shorter showers.
- Over a billion people don’t have proper access to fresh water. Fill up the sink when washing your dishes instead of letting the water run.
- Donate old or rarely worn clothes to charities to help the needy and avoid sending their old clothes to a landfill.
- When you leave a room, turn the light off behind you, even if you’re only leaving for a short time.
- When cooking, open the oven door as little as possible. Each time it is opened, it lowers the temperature 25 degrees, and you waste energy having to warm up the oven again.
- Open a window instead of using a fan or air conditioner.
- Re-use all discarded paper for scrap paper.
- Use cold water instead of hot water whenever possible. You’ll save energy that would have been used to heat the water.
- Look for ways to repurpose items you might have otherwise thrown away. For example, old glass jars could be used instead of plastic storage containers in your kitchen. Get creative.
- Use as little pesticides on food as possible. The chemicals in many pesticides are bad for humans, wildlife, and the environment.
- Borrow items that you wouldn’t use very often. Offer to lend to things you have to prevent someone else from having to buy them.
- Walk or ride a bike instead of driving when you can.
- Use vinegar, baking soda, and other natural substances instead of harmful chemicals to clean your house. Many of these chemicals can wash into our water sources.
- Use recycled products whenever possible. Look for a green symbol with three arrows to see if an item is made from recycled materials.
- In order to save energy, hang clothes to dry instead of using a clothing dryer.
- Consider a laptop instead of a desktop computer. Laptops use about five times less energy than desktops.
- Buy used or vintage goods. You’ll prevent another item from being manufactured and shipped, which saves energy.
- Use fabric bags instead of plastic. Plastic bags that end up in a landfill can take hundreds of years to disintegrate.
- Unplug appliances in your home that are not often used. Though they may be turned off, they’re still consuming energy. You’ll even save money on your electric bills by doing so.
Find ways to reuse objects you’d ordinarily throw away. Credit: photomequickbooth
Hang your clothes out to dry. It saves energy. Credit: skenmy
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