Sustainability Starts in the Home

A while back, I ran a news story focusing on everyday sustainability issues, and it appears to have struck a chord. Reading the story, several people were surprised to realize there are things they do every day that could significantly improve our sustainability efforts.

For instance, one of the items dealt with lunches many of us pack for ourselves or our children every day. Invariably, the lunch is packed in a paper bag and a napkin or two tossed in. What we may not realize is that for every ton of paper bags and napkins manufactured, approximately seventeen trees must be cut down. Americans use about seven hundred pounds of paper per person, from packing lunches to buying books.

Another item that seemed to have caught everyone's eye was plastic forks. U.S. citizens discard about 2.5 million plastic forks and related food utensils every hour. Plastic can take decades to degrade, so much of this ends up as stored waste in landfills. 

But there is a bright spot.

If you pack a can of pop with your lunch, there is now a 50/50 chance the can is made from recycled materials. This is a big jump in recycling from just a decade ago when fewer than 1 in 3 aluminum cans were made from recycled materials. 

And the recycling of aluminum cans for beverages has managed to eliminate about two billion pounds of waste that would have ended up in landfills. Further, because they are recycled and not made from scratch, they save enough energy each year to power a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years.

So What Can We Do?

All this is quite interesting; however, my point is that every one of us has the opportunity to do many things every day to help promote sustainability. Sustainability is not just a corporate or government issue; it is also a personal issue. You might say that sustainability begins at home. And the more sustainable practices we incorporate at home, at work, and that we teach our children, the better we are protecting their future and that of generations to come.

I suggest we start this journey by writing a family or personal green and sustainability mission statement. For instance, a sustainability mission statement our family finds valuable reads:

"I will seek to reduce my use of energy and natural resources every day and in every way without inconvenience to my family, my company, my school, or my community.”

This mission statement gets right to the point, presenting this family's sustainability goals and objectives in clear and concise terms.

Where Do We Go from Here?

So how can we begin to become more sustainable in our own day-to-day lives? Fortunately, there are so many ways. For example, remember our packed lunch described earlier? Use a lunch carrier (lunch box) instead of a paper bag to make it a more sustainable lunch. Several manufacturers now make eco-friendly lunch boxes and boxes made from recycled materials. If a paper bag is still preferred, select recycled paper bags. 

Additionally, selecting reusable, sealable containers and avoiding all use of plastic wrap, foils, and Styrofoam is good for the environment and promotes sustainability. And remember those napkins and plastic forks? Try adding a touch of class to your lunch by packing a cloth napkin and a stainless-steel fork. 

This is just the beginning. Below are some more sustainability steps we can incorporate into our daily lives. Some of these may seem small, but we must never forget what the anthropologist and writer Margret Mead once said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." 

By category, here is how you can change the world:

Your car 

Telecommute. Working at home as much as you can saves significant amounts of fuel; some telecommuters now spend most of their time working out of their home, and it is working well for both employers and employees.

Keep your car in proper working order. Change motor oil regularly, keep tire pressure at recommended levels, avoid unnecessary trips, and try to group trips together. 

Avoid using the car air conditioner as much as possible, and if you have a rear window defroster, always remember to turn it off. Those systems can use lots of energy.

Your Home

Switch to compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs. Each incandescent bulb switched to a CF bulb reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 50-125 kg annually, depending on how heavily it is used. Further, incandescent bulbs typically only last up to 1,000 hours. CF bulbs last between 6,000 and 15,000 hours. LED bulbs can promote sustainability even more.

Lower the temperature of your water heater. Most water heaters are set at 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Rarely is this high of heat necessary. Adjusting to 120 degrees F saves about 225 kg CO2 and $30 per year for you.

Look for new ways to heat and cool your home. Possibilities include radiant heat systems or propane logs in the fireplace. Additionally, the cost of photoelectric solar panels is coming down significantly. Although it may not make economic sense right now, it appears in time; that these systems will be cost-effective enough to be installed in homes.

Turn electronics off and then off once again. Most electronics in our homes, like televisions, DVD players, and coffee makers, continue to consume electricity even after they have been turned "off." Unplug these devices or connect them to power strips and turn off the entire strip when the appliances are not in use. 

Your Food

A study by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization reports that the typical American diet adds significantly to pollution, water scarcity, land degradation, and climate change. One of the "major players" negatively affecting climate change through greenhouse gas production is ranching and the slaughter of cows and other animals. According to the report, this generates an estimated 18 percent of total human-induced greenhouse gas emissions globally. We can promote sustainability and protect the environment is to eat less meat. 

Other ways to eat more sustainably include selecting products with minimal packaging; selecting locally grown fruits and vegetables when possible, to reduce the amount of fuel used for transporting these items; and avoiding purchasing bottled water.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes when we think about all of the problems and difficulties in our world, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless. And without denying we have some major issues confronting us, I still believe if we begin now to incorporate more and more measures that promote sustainability and protect our planet, we can and will make a difference. 

Stephen P. Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specializing in greening the cleaning industry, and CEO of Sustainability Dashboard Tools LLC, a web-based dashboard that allows organizations to measure and report on their sustainability efforts.  He is also coauthor of both The Business of Green Cleaning and Green Cleaning for Dummies.