I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. I am really having fun this month being eco-friendly. I knew my first big test of the month would be this past weekend when I was spending time with friends and family. Here are a few things I faced. Because I was with a lot of people, we mostly ate on paper plates and drank out of plastic cups. I kindly asked if I could use a regular plate and a glass cup, to reduce waste that cannot be recycled. I understand the reasoning behind having paper or plastic plates and cups, but I would rather wash a few more dishes than create as much waste. One quick common sense tip if you are completely without options. Reuse your plastic cup and utensils as much as possible. Paper plates might be hard to reuse, but plastic is easily rinsed off and ready to go for another meal! I also thought my vegan diet would cause me trouble this weekend, but I was able to find enough to eat and not offend anyone in asking for help when fixing meals.

So, what else have I been doing this month to reduce my environmental impact?
1. Laundry - I wash all my clothes in cold water and only wash full loads of clothes. I have been using environmentally friendly/biodegradable laundry detergent from Seventh Generation. So far I have not noticed any problems in getting my clothes clean. As for drying, I keep an eye out that I do not over-dry and waste electricity. Sometimes, I will even take out my clothes a few minutes early and let them finish air drying. I have a few sets of "over-the-door hooks" that I can use.

2. I talk about driving fairly often, but it seems like I do a lot of driving and putting gas in my car. So far this month I have been trying drive slower everywhere I go. This includes not slamming down the gas pedal when accelerating after stopping at a red light. Also, I have been trying to run all of my errands one trip and plan my driving route to eliminate a lot of waiting at stoplights. I try to never wait in my car with it running when going to a store with someone.

3. Turning off lights. If you are not in a room, then turn off the lights. Unless you are going to come right back to, say, the kitchen, then turn off the lights to conserve electricity. I have noticed some places posting little signs or stickers next to light switches to encourage energy conservation. One place I most recently noticed this is at the Hendrix Campus. Even in the restroom, there was a sticker next to the light switch asking people to turn off the lights when leaving. (Unless someone else is in there!) One major change (I think) is turning the air conditioner up to 80 degrees. Even during the day, my apartment is comfortable. I turn my fan on at night and sleep without being too hot.

I next plan on tackling some water conservation issues and several other topics.