Here's a short video clip of me on Virginia This Morning, showing a few ways to make your daily life a little greener. (Sorry, the video is no longer available)

 


and here's the actual content I wanted to cover:

Ten Ways to Reduce Your Family’s Carbon Footprint in 2010

Sometimes (especially at the start of a New Year) it’s easy to make a broad, sweeping resolution that you may not keep. Just like anything else, you want to make sure that what you’re trying to do is attainable, and sustainable, or else it’s not going to work. These are all easy ideas that you can do, keep doing, and

1 Buy organic when you can- yes, it’s more expensive, but so much better for the environment. Check out the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” for the things that are really important if you can only buy some organics. Some are definitely more important than others.

2 Avoid buying things that are overpackaged. Stop buying individual snacks for your or your kids’ lunches. Buy larger packages of items and pack them in reusable containers.

3 Pack lunch instead of buying. You’ll not only save money, but you’ll reduce waste and probably eat healthier to boot.

4 Don’t just recycle your paper. I’m a realtor and we use an inordinate amount of paper, no matter how hard we try. We have a basket with the crayons, etc., where we put the paper to use the reverse side for drawing or taking notes.

5 Remember to buy things that are made from recycled items- we can recycle almost anything, but if we’re not buying the products that are made, the circle will be broken.

6 Do you have a resolution to exercise? Make sure you’re using a reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water.

7 Start eating less meat. According to the 2006 United Nations report, Livestock's Long Shadow, the livestock industry is responsible for 80 percent of all agriculture-related greenhouse gas emissions. Eating a vegetarian meal a few times a week can really help to lower your carbon footprint.

8 Take your reusable bags not only to the grocery store, but also to other stores, etc. If they’re always with you, you will always have them.

9 Switch your monthly bills to e-billing. Even if you print them out at home, you'll eliminate the postage carbon footprint and reduce paper use (no envelopes and annoying "special offer" inserts).

10 Be mindful of what you buy- as far as both food and chemicals. I tell my 6 year old that we will NOT buy anything at the store that he cannot read the entire label and spell the words. If you eat “whole foods,” you won’t find that there is much to read, because there are usually no labels.



Here are the resources I mentioned:

www.ewg.org Great place to find info on chemicals/ pesticides in foods- most important things to go organic on, etc. Loads of information!



www.nrdc.org Good info on general environmental information, as well as which fish to buy/ eat or ask your restaurant about.



www.biggreenpurse.com Fabulous repository of information on how we vote with our purses and where you want to make that "vote".



www.cvwma.com Central Virginia Waste Management Authority- Lots and lots of information about the curbside recycling programs in the Metro Richmond Area, as well as e-recycling events coming up.



www.earth911.com Info on all sorts of environmental info, recycling, etc.



www.localharvest.org Info on finding a CSA, co op, local pick your own farms, etc.