Top 50 Eco-Friendly Tips
for a Safe and Thrifty 2009
By Linda Mason Hunter

First published in the Des Moines Register Jan. 10, 2009


Top Ten Pollution Solutions

1. Choose organic for at least 18 fruits and vegetables. The 18 fruits and vegetables most likely to absorb pesticides are peaches, apples, peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes, pears, spinach, potatoes, carrots, green beans, cucumbers, raspberries, plums, and oranges.

2. Avoid non-stick cookware. Most are made from synthetic chemicals that can leach toxins into the food we eat and the air we breathe, especially at high temperatures and with long-term use. Instead use cast iron, stainless steel, ceramic, or thick glass cookware, instead.

3. Avoid chemicals leaching into food. Go easy on processed, canned, or fast foods and never microwave in plastic or use plastic cling wrap in the microwave. Most kinds of plastic contain trace amounts of Bisphenol A (BPA), associated with health risks, that can migrate into food. Steer clear of plastic when it comes to food, and stick to fresh fruits and vegetables and homemade dishes.

4. Purchase a stainless steel personal water bottle, without a plastic liner. They cost about $20 at green boutiques and grocery stores. Fill it with filtered water from your kitchen tap and keep it refrigerated, ready to grab when you go out. Be mindful not to lose it.

5. Leave outdoor shoes at the door. Keep a pair of indoor shoes and wear them indoors only. This cuts down on dragging pesticides, insecticides, and soil into the house. And it keeps the house much cleaner.

6. Avoid perfume, cologne, and products with added fragrance. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has found that one-third of the substances used in the fragrance industry are toxic. When a label says “contains fragrance,” chances are it’s made in a lab, not found in nature.

7. Control pest outbreaks without synthetic pesticides. Pesticides are poison by design. Many are carcinogenic, neurotoxic, or disrupt hormones. The first approach is to improve sanitation, make structural repairs (fix leaky pipes, caulk cracks, etc.), and use physical or mechanical controls such as screens and traps. Next, try Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which attempts to control unwanted insects by least toxic means.

8. Avoid contact with decaying or crumbling foam. Couches, stuffed chairs, automobile seats, foam mattress pads, carpet padding, and other foam products likely contain PBDEs, hazardous chemicals found in fire retardants. If you can’t afford replacements, cover them with a sturdy cloth and vacuum around them frequently. Pregnant women should definitely avoid them.

9. Avoid antibacterial products. Most antibacterial consumer products are unnecessary, and may even contribute to antibiotic-resistant super germs. Best avoid them, and save antibiotics for when they’re really needed. You don’t need antibacterial soaps to stay safe and clean in the home. Instead, wash your hands in hot soapy water for 20 to 30 seconds, and scrub surfaces regularly.

10. Install a carbon filter on your kitchen tap. While carbon doesn’t remove all contaminants from drinking water, it removes radon and many common organic compounds, as well as lead, asbestos, some forms of bacteria, and particles.

Save Money

11. Take lunch to work and stop tossing disposable takeout waste. Use washable metal and glass food containers, instead of Styrofoam™.

12. Sell your gas-guzzler and invest in a fuel efficient car. With the advent of hybrids and more fuel efficient cars, it’s now better to replace a fuel-guzzling car with a fuel-efficient one. If you buy and drive wisely, you save money in the long run.

13. Make your own non-toxic cleaners. Buy a big bottle of distilled white vinegar, a big box of baking soda, a bottle of vegetable-based soap (like Castile soap), and the book Green Clean ($17.95, Melcher Media). Annual cost savings: $300, according to The Daily Green.

14. Don’t waste food. We Americans send 14% of our food to garbage dumps, where it doesn’t biodegrade, largely because we don’t eat it in time and it spoils. Mindfully storing your food prolongs its life span, meaning less waste and lower grocery bills. Store fruits and veggies separately (some fruits let off the gas ethylene, which speeds ripening in veggies). Pack meat in reusable vacuum-sealed bags to protect it from freezer burn.

15. Tighten up your home. Total energy escaping from the average American house through leaks each year adds up to the same as leaving a window open all year around. Check for air leaks around ceilings, walls, and floors; ducts; fireplace, plumbing penetrations; doors and windows; chimneys; fans and vents, and electrical outlets. Plug air leaks with caulk and weatherstripping. Insulate exterior walls, ground-level floors, and attic ceilings.

16. Install a smart power strip and really turn off energy-draining electronics, like your computer, TV, and their suites of devices. Available at Home Depot and local hardware stores for about $30, smart strips pay for themselves in six weeks. From then on they save you money.

17. Adjust your water heater. Lowering the temperature from 140 to 120 degrees F. can reduce water heating costs by 6% to 10%. You may find it’s comfortable to reduce the temperature even further to 115 degrees F. or lower.

18. Swap out old incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescents (CFLs). Lighting eats up about 10% of a typical electric bill. CFLs use a fraction of the energy, and are now available in nearly every bulb type. Start with the five fixtures you use most, then swap out bulbs as they burn out, saving $5 to $10 per bulb in annual energy costs, or about $3,690 per year, according to The Daily Green.

19. Setback your thermostat. Reducing or turning off your heat when you’re sleeping or not at home is more efficient (and comfortable) than keeping your home at a single low temperature all winter long. According to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy eight degree, eight-hour setbacks twice daily can save 16% to 32% of heating energy.

Practice Zero Waste

20. Reduce consumption. Begin with little things, like using both sides of the paper; carrying your own thermal mug and water bottle; getting printer cartridges refilled instead of replaced; avoiding bottled water and other over-packaged products; upgrading computers rather than buying new ones. Repair and mend rather than replace.

21. Be creative with gift wrap. Old maps, sheet music, posters, and the Sunday funnies make fun and festive wrapping paper. Try using old clothes cut into strips for ribbon and wrapped in bands around a package. Recycle used wrapping paper by cutting the good parts into strips and curling them into paper bows. Set aside a special room or corner and organize your wrapping supplies so you can find them quickly and easily.

22. Recycle, don’t just throw away. Keep a bin handy for glass, plastic, and paper trash you can recycle rather than toss. Think about how you can put to use what you’re tempted to throw away. Can someone else still get use out of it? Used clothing and furniture can be donated to Goodwill, Disabled Veterans, or similar organizations. Or they can be sold at a local flea market.

23. Compost it! Food scraps and yard trimmings make up 23% of the U.S. waste stream. Reduce the amount you send to the landfill—and create rich, nutrient-filled fertilizer for your yard--by composting. It’s easy. Add fruit and vegetable scraps to your compost pile, as well as leaves. Meat, bones, and dairy products need to be thrown into landfill trash.

24. Take your own cotton, canvas, or hemp bags to the grocery store, including cotton string produce sacks for fruits and vegetables. Remember to put them back into the car after unloading groceries, or hang them on a hook by the door, where you’ll remember them when you go shopping.

25. Switch to cloth napkins and minimize use of paper towels. The paper industry contributes to forest clear-cutting, paper mills release dioxins and mercury into waterways, and 40% of landfill trash is paper. At two cents per paper napkin, a family of four can save $1.68 a week by switching to cloth. Use cotton rags, dish towels, and natural sponges instead of paper towels.

26. Handle hazardous waste with care. The average home accumulates as much as 100 pounds of hazardous waste in basements, garages, under the sink, and in storage closets. Check labels for signal words like “corrosive,” “toxic,” and “radioactive.” Take fertilizers, oil-based paint, batteries, antifreeze, and other hazardous household waste to a hazardous waste collection center for disposal.

27. Reduce the amount of catalogs you receive. All you need is a computer with web access. Go to catalogchoice.org, sign up for a free account, and press the “Get Started” button.
     

28. Store foods in reusable containers. Ditch those plastic baggies, aluminum foil, and plastic containers and opt for glass containers that come in endless shapes and sizes you can use over and over again.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

29. Schedule an energy audit to get a list of suggestions for reducing your home’s energy use. Either get a free audit from your local utility (the best choice if you rent), or hire an energy assessment professional (such as Cynergy in Ankeny). A professional assessment costs around $600 but will likely pay for itself in energy savings if you end up making major improvements

30. Buy local food. Keep your food dollars in the local economy. Ask where your food comes from. Tell your grocer and your favorite restaurants you want food grown within a 100-mile radius and not distributed from a regional center.

31. Don’t blow it—rake! In one year’s time, that little leaf blower engine pumps out as much smog-forming pollution as 80 cars, each driven 12,500 miles, according to a California air quality agency. Leaf blowers are extremely polluting, and much less green than simply raking fallen leaves the old-fashioned way.

32. Use a push mower. What’s better than the smell of fresh mown grass? Fresh mown grass without the smell of gasoline! Today’s reel mowers are much improved over the kind used 20 years ago. Electric mowers are increasingly earth-friendly, too.

33. Install a ceiling fan. Today’s fans are made with a switch that changes blade rotation. Counterclockwise produces breezes that can reduce summer electric bills by as much as 40. Clockwise makes an updraft that sends the warmer air pooled near the ceiling back into the living space, cutting heat loss by as much as 10% in winter, according to Green Guide magazine.

34. Recipe for low-carbon laundry: Use a concentrated liquid detergent, not powder; wash in cold water, and hang clothes on the line to dry.

35. Drive less. Each year your car emits more CO2 than your appliances, air conditioning, and trash output combined. Carpool to work. Start walking more, bicycle, and take public transportation. Telecommute when possible. Skip one driving trip each week and save about $225 annually, according to The Daily Green.

36. Drive smart. Driving smart to improve fuel economy saves about $600 a year, according to The Daily Green. Walk up, don’t drive through. Drive 55 mph on the highway. Pump up your tires. Check your car’s alignment and air filter. Make sure the gas cap is tight. Get regular tune-ups. Drive smoothly. Ease up on the brake. Lighten your load. Don’t warm up your car. Organize errands efficiently.

37. Turn off your computer. Just leaving your computer monitor on all the time can cost $18 a month—that’s approximately 60 cents a day! Small things like this add up, representing an $8 billion energy drain on the country each year.
     

38. Switch to a corded phone. Cordless phones are energy vampires. Sitting in a recharging cradle they suck up power around the clock. Old-fashioned corded phones use only a trickle of energy, and that comes through the phone line.

Little Things Mean A lot

39. Green your trash bags. Go for recycled non-petroleum materials in a design that seals tightly and will not break open. Biodegradable, compostable bags aren’t much good because garbage in landfills is packed too tightly and doesn’t get enough light, water, or air to readily decompose. Best advice: Empty trash directly into the garbage bin.

40. Save the cell phone for emergencies. There is growing concern among scientists that non-ionizing radiation from cell phones could increase the risk of a rare brain cancer called glioma. Children and teens are particularly vulnerable. Use a land line or text whenever possible.

41. Avoid plastic toys for kids. Toxic chemicals called phthalates make plastic toys and teethers soft and flexible, and have been linked to birth defects, and breast and testicular cancer. They have no place in children’s toys. Select natural, earth-based alternatives, instead.

42. Green your shower curtain. Vinyl shower curtains release over 100 toxic chemicals into bathroom air, including carcinogens and reproductive toxins. Buy an organic cotton, canvas, or hemp shower curtain and keep it clean and mold-free.

43. Don’t dry clean, green clean. Instead of taking your “dry clean only” clothes to a traditional dry cleaner (which uses toxic chemicals) try washing them by hand. Or take them to (from most to least green) (1) a “wet cleaner,” (2) a dry cleaner using liquid carbon dioxide, or (3) one using a silicone-based cleaning method. Make certain the cleaner doesn’t use a hazardous hydrocarbon called DF-2000 as a solvent.

44. Ditch that electric blanket. Electric blankets produce electric and magnetic fields that are potential health hazards and raise your electric bill. Instead, cozy up with a buddy. Or snuggle alone under an organic or recycled blanket.

45. Skip dryer sheets and fabric softeners. Add baking soda, instead, to the rinse cycle to soften fabrics and eliminate static cling.

Shop Mindfully

46. Choose cotton carefully. Twenty-five percent of all pesticides and insecticides in the U.S. are used to grow cotton. “Natural” cotton is a good choice—it’s unbleached and not dyed, but still sprayed with pesticides. The best choice is certified organic cotton, but it’s pricey. If you want color, choose cotton dyed with organic vegetable dyes.

47. Choose natural fabrics for clothing and furnishings—wool, cotton, silk, hemp, linen, bamboo—that are naturally fire resistant. Make sure they aren’t treated with stain-resisters, pesticides, fire retardants, or other synthetic chemicals. Organic fabrics and natural dyes are best.

48. Choose nontoxic body care products. Avoid the “dirty dozen” chemicals shown to have serious health impacts: antibacterials, coal tar colors FD&C Blue 1 and Green 3, diethanolamine (DEA), 1,4-Dioxane (present in sodium laureth sulfate and other ingredients ending in “–eth”), formaldehyde, fragrance, hydroquinone, mercury and lead, nanoparticles, parabens, petroleum distillates, and phenylenediamine (PPD).

49. Buy Energy Star appliances. The average life span for most equipment is 15 to 17 years. After that, maintenance costs start going up and efficiency goes down. When buying new, always buy Energy Star for the most energy efficiency you can afford.

50. Learn how to read a label. When it comes to household products, words like natural, eco-friendly, and toxin-free have no legal meaning so they don’t mean a thing. Look for phrases like “plant-based,” “readily biodegradable,” “no synthetic dyes or fragrance,” “no phosphates,” and “no chlorine.” A long list of ingredients often indicates the presence of questionable synthetic chemicals. Buying less is always the greenest option.

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