We sold our car and rely on public transportation. When we need a vehicle, say to pick up a chair Rachel so generously gave us when she moved, we use ZipCar. It's fast, easy and inexpensive — renting a parking spot on top of higher insurance, gas and maintenance costs is a lot of money. And we never have to worry about scraping windshields, finding a parking spot, navigating the angry traffic... Doing the environment a favor really did us a favor too.
We signed up for the green option with NStar, our electric company. For less than $7 a month, our electricity is now 100% from wind energy, significantly reducing our carbon emissions.
More of our trash is recyclable! We've always had to throw away those butter tubs, but no longer. Sasaki recycles all plastic #1-7.
There are a couple organic dry cleaners with competitive prices. We picked A-List Cleaners because we want to support local businesses, but there's also a chain of eco-friendly cleaners in the area. I've read mixed reports about how green alternative dry cleaning solvents really are, but it sounds like they are better than perc, which is most common.
We could eventually join a community garden or local farm co op. At the very least we can visit our local farmers market or the highly-praised Copley Square Farmers Market.
The only downside to our new urban life is no more composting. I was really excited to watch our food bits turn into dirt (yes Ian, I said dirt), but we don't have a yard or even a patio. If we end up joining a community garden, perhaps we can eventually add this back in.
Thanks to EarthLab I know all these changes have reduced our carbon footprint. It's a satisfying feeling to see that number go down! The site also provides simple suggestions that add up to a big impact. First and foremost is their tag line, "consume less. live more."
What do you do to live green?