Live a greener life and save money too

Handle on Health

By Judith Allender

(Updated: Friday, April 18, 2008, 9:00 PM)

Gasoline prices are out of sight, our homes aren't valued at what they were two years ago or two months ago, and food prices continue to climb. What can we do to help our personal situations and help the planet at the same time? Think green.

We can save trees in many ways. Starting with our holiday Christmas trees -- buy an artificial tree to use year after year. Each year we cut down 50 million trees for this holiday. If you can't celebrate without a real tree, recycle it -- chip it into mulch for your garden.

Another way to save trees is to cut down on the amount of paper products you consume. Half the paper we consume each year is used to wrap gifts. Use recycled paper, recycle paper wrappings you received, use a cloth bag for the gift, buy gift certificates that don't require a lot of wrapping.

Cards for holidays would fill several football fields 10 stories high. Christmas cards alone fill one.

Then there are New Years, Easter, Mother's and Father's Day, and even Thanksgiving cards, not to mention birthday cards you send all year long.

Send e-cards, text-message birthday greetings, telephone someone with a birthday or holiday greeting and a friendly chat. Be creative and save paper.

Twenty-eight billion pounds of edible food are wasted each year from just one holiday season. If every American throws away just one uneaten tablespoon of mashed potatoes it adds 16 million pounds of waste to our landfills (Cygnus Group). Think how much food you waste each week.

Slim down your portions.

Put just the amount of food your child will eat on his plate. Use the leftovers in your refrigerator. Have one meal each week of leftovers. Remember "waste not want not."

And then there are the paper and plastic products we consume. Paper and plastic bags, plates, tableware, cups, napkins, and paper towels. Use washable and reusable sturdy plastic, use cloth tablecloths and napkins, have a "hand towel" by the kitchen sink to use instead of paper towels over and over. Reuse a paper towel. Sometimes I grab one to wipe up a tablespoon of water on the counter. The same paper towel can wipe another small spill and wipe out the sink. I don't need too use three.

Take reusable canvas bags to the grocery store for your purchases. Keep six to seven inside one bag in your trunk for shopping trips. We have all acquired them and they sit in a closet not being used.

Reduce your driving by 20 miles each week if possible. We'd reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one million tons each week if every family did this.

Stay home, car-pool, consolidate errands, ride a bike, walk.

This list just scratches the surface. I'll write about more ways to save again soon. It's a time to think about our impact on the earth and ways to save it for future generations while we "hunker down" and get through tough financial times.

Maybe we'll develop some new habits that will help the world get well and stay well.