So I reached the end of the month. I am probably going to make my "end of the month" post two separate entries. I am waiting on my statement from the utility company and I want that to compare to last month. Some general thoughts about the month: I enjoyed July more than the previous month because I was able to lower my environmental impact. My dad told me a while ago that I should not feel guilty for not recycling, but I still did. This month, though, I thoroughly enjoyed not putting each and every piece of recycling in the trash. My roommate and I probably emptied our recycling bin three times. Even with both of us being sick, we only had two kitchen-size trash bags. Another reason why we didn't have much trash is that we kept all of our food scraps in a plastic container in the freezer. My roommate's mom takes our scraps for her compost bin. So pretty much, the only thing in our trash can was anything that was not plastic, aluminum, (clean) paper, (clean)cardboard, glass, hazardous materials (batteries), and compost/raw food waste. This was a noticeable difference compared to June when everything was trash.
Another quick thought about this month. I cut the number of miles I drove almost in half this month. In June I drove about 1600 miles. In July I only drove around 900 miles. This also means I only had to put gas in my car 4 times. I saved about $40 in fuel costs. Again, I consistently practiced fuel saving driving habits. I drove between 60 to 65 miles per hour on the interstate and slowly accelerated after stoplights and stop sign. I also tended to coast when possible. Turning my car off when waiting for someone in a store also helped save gas. It was more difficult for me to conserve fuel than to recycle, which came very naturally for me. It became very apparent to me how fast-paced our culture is in the US. I felt like I was driving so slow when driving 65mpg, but only because people were passing me going 75-80mph. Does anyone remember when the speed limit was 55? Maybe that wasn't a bad idea.
Ok, up next I need to talk about electricity, water, and veganism!
It is very interesting what you are doing! I can't believe you and your roommate only had 2 trash bags this month! That's really something. Is it only in your area that all of those things are recycled? My family recycles plastic 1 and 2, news papers, and cans, and my sister probably would have known if we could recycle anything else. But, is there a way to find out what a specific area offers in terms of recycling?
ReplyDeleteAlso, how did you cut back your mileage? Just carpooling or something? I don't drive that much, or try to wait until I have a list of errands just to do them all at once, but it would seem difficult to cut that back.
I hear ya on the driving slow part! I realized what better gas mileage I got when actually driving the speed limit, and when I was bored while driving one day, I figured that driving five over only saved me about five to ten minutes for an hour and a half drive, or close to it...I decided that a speeding ticket wasn't worth ten minutes. When people get caught behind me, I quell my bad feelings with the thoughts, "I'm saving you gas and a speeding ticket!" haha.
Thanks for your comments. Some cities are able to recycle more than others. For example, Conway, AR does not accept glass for recycling, but North Little Rock does. I am not really certain what causes these differences. I think some of it has to do with available facilities. If you are curious about what you can recycle in your area, there are a few websites out there to help. Regionalrecycling.org is a great source for cities in Pulaski County. This also includes info for people living in Pulaski county, but not a city. Though I haven't had a chance to play with the site too much, earth911.org looks to be a great website.
ReplyDeleteAs for the mileage, I live in one city and work in another city. I have the ability to also compress my work week (and work from home online some) so that I don't have to commute every day. Going green is all about doing what you can to save - I realize that not everyone has the ability to be flexible with their job/commuting. I try to lower mileage by planning my driving to get all of my errands done in one trip. And some people are very serious about planning their trips to find the shortest route. Though I don't get the map out and count miles (maybe I should), I do consider what seems to be the shortest route and the route with the fewest stoplights and stop signs.
I appreciate your thoughts!