STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Grace · Dooney & Bourke

What do you do for the environment?

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/108/open_lightbulbs.html

Very interesting article on the new lightbulbs and how they could literally transform the world.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

I recycle everything I can, and buy things that are made from recycled material to start with. I have a programmable house thermostat so the furnace or ac only run when we're home. I have energy efficient light bulbs and try to conserve water. I donate items I can not use that have life left in them instead of throwing it away. I do try to buy organic when I can and avoid single use items.

-gd

erin · Chanel

i have to admit, when i was thinking about this, my list was mostly about cheapness rather than the environment, but is helping by proxy.

-walking instead of driving when i can
-using cloth diapers instead of disposables
-buying used clothing instead of new (though i obviously do buy new occasionally)

relrel · Marc Jacobs

erin wrote:

-using cloth diapers instead of disposables

Just as a sidebar (sorry!)...Erin, I have no clue where I heard this originally but depending on how you look at it, cloth diapers are just as bad if not worse for the environment! I would still totally go with the cloth if I was gonna be having babies but it's an odd piece of information. Overall, I think the engery waste in laundry water/chemicals is not as harmful as all that crap (pun intended) sitting in landfills. Just curious, do you wash them all or do you send them out? Here's a website that breaks it down:

http://www.ilea.org/lcas/franklin1992.html

-- Edited by relrel at 22:04, 2006-11-06

erin · Chanel

relrel - i wash them myself.

i can see what they are saying about the energy/water uses. but i don't think they are also factoring in that babies who are cloth diapered generally are potty trained earlier. (which skews their numbers)

cc · Marc Jacobs

I...
-walk or take public transportation everywhere.
-use energy efficient light bulbs.
-try to not be wasteful about electricity.
-handwash almost all my clothes and try not to get a lot of stuff dry cleaned. (Grace, here is an article on dry cleaning chemical alternatives)
-recycle everything I can.
-donate old clothing and household goods.
-buy organic most of the time (though I know there is evidence that sometimes in the end this can cause more damage - I just keep waffling on this).
-am a vegetarian (not really for environmental reasons but I know a lot of people say that it is better for the environment than supporting the meat industries).

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. The only thing I'm bad about is using air conditioning. I just really feel sick and cranky when it's hot and unfortunately I don't have central air so sometimes in the summer I have both my air conditioners going

-- Edited by cc at 09:14, 2006-11-08

ico · Dooney & Bourke

nice topic!

I keep heat off when not at home, 54F during the night and 62F when I am home. I just wear wool sweathers.

I recycle everything I can

turn off lights when not in the room to save energy

turn off the water when I am not using it (like, while I brush my teeth, I turn it off)

use car as less as possible - walk everywhere ar take the bus to go to Ithaca

use fabric napkins instead of paper

mmmhh... I am sure I can think of more...

kittenheels · Coach

This is a great post!

I handwash a lot of clothing.

I live in LA - so I have to drive to work, but I make a point of trying not to use my car during the weekend.

I don't have air-conditioning, and we rarely turn on the heat - I don't think we did it at all this year!

I use discloths in the kitchen and minimize paper towels.

We buy organic whenever possible.

I also recycle and try to reuse a lot of things.

I need to find an alternative dry cleaner...I feel that's a big waste of good environmental karma!

blink · Coach

The main thing I do everyday is recycle, luckily my community has a good recycle program and accepts lots of plastics and papers. I also make a habit of recylcing paper at home, reusing the plain back of printed-on paper in my printer, using the backs of notes and such for grocery lists, that sort of thing.

Elle · Hermes

We recycle A LOT. We put our food and yard waste into our compost pile (which also virtually eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers or weed killers too!). We only have one car. We keep our heat turned very low all the time and wear sweaters, and use our ceiling fans. We just bought very energy efficient appliances - W/D, water heater, and refrigerator. We use engery saving lightbulbs. We put many electrical things on power strips and turn off the power strips when we're done, say, watching TV - it eliminates the electricity things use just by being plugged in. We turned down our water heater by 10 degrees. I buy alot of second hand clothes, and donate my used clothes. I try to use natural cleaning products 99% of the time, and only break out the big bad chemicals when all else has failed....

That's all I can think of for now!

sephorablue · Marc Jacobs

I actually read somewhere that the two single biggest things you can do to help the environment are to avoid using cars and never to live in new-construction housing; or, if you do live in a brand new house or build your own, keep it no bigger than you genuinely need. This made me happy because, purely by default, that means living in a city like NY actually keeps my impact very small--I never use cars and I live in a small apartment in a building that's about 100 years old. I would like to be better about energy savings, though... Elle's point about the power strips is very smart.

Also, everything about the construction industry is a GIGANTIC contributor to waste. Absolutely staggering. Demo, new construction, renovation ... carpet especially... I don't know any figures but I do know that the amount of discarded carpeting sitting in landfills is absolutely obscene. So on the offchance anyone is one day considering replacing carpeting in their home, if you want to be eco-friendly, consider installing something like wood (bamboo especially!) or tile, that won't get stained and worn the way carpet does, therefore eliminating the need ever to be replaced. Or check out carpet tiles, where you can replace a small section if it gets stained.

ETA: re: construction, there's a bazillion green products out there. Some are legit, some are not; some may, like the cloth diapers example, require manufacturing or maintenance whose environmental impact offsets their lack of waste or recycled content or whatever. But green design is a huge, huge field and well worth research if anyone is interested in applying it to their homes. Alternative energy techniques are astonishing--they usually have a more expensive initial cost but pay for themselves many times over with energy savings down the line. But some of my favorite things are the simplest, like siting a building so the layout of the rooms follows the sun's motion throughout the day to minimize the need for electric light. I love the simplicity of that.

-- Edited by sephorablue at 18:33, 2006-11-09

littlebean · Kate Spade

In addition to some of the things that have already been listed above:

-I try to keep my tires inflated properly by checking their pressure -- it saves you a fortune on gas in addition to helping the environment!

-I only run the dishwasher when it's full.

-I joined the Virtual March to Stop Global Warming at www.stopglobalwarming.org. It's very cool and has over half a million "marchers"! Somewhere on the website there's also a good list of easy steps that you can take in your daily life to help the environment.

Grace · Dooney & Bourke

Check the website of your local electric utility company and find out if they have a renewable energy program. You should be able to sign up to have a certain percentage of your energy come from renewable resources (mine is wind). Even if you choose the lowest amount (because it is a bit more expensive...I chose the plan for only $4 extra a month to start out with) you are still increasing the demand for renewable energy. It's very worth looking into!!

Farrah · Marc Jacobs

We use the energy efficient light bulbs, bought all energy efficient appliances including a front loading washer and dryer which saves an insane amount of water and energy, never leave anything other then major appliances and lamps plugged in when not in use, only keep lights on in the room we are in and when watching television only keep one light on in a room with several lights (unless we are reading of course). Unfortunately we have to leave the heat or air on when we are not at home because of Vinny, but I only run the AC in my car if it is over 90 degrees or I have to drive on the highway. In addition I really only drive my car 10 miles a week.

We have also decided to start recycling. That is one thing that I hate about IL, no bottle deposit. That is great and I loved in when I lived in MI. Even though you are just getting the money back that you already shelled out it puts everyone in a position that makes them want to recycle whether they realize they are doing it or not.

Kitty · Hermes

- Don't commute
- Drive an energy efficient card
- Buy organic
- Buy recycled products (toilet paper, etc.)
- Use an environmentally-friendly dry cleaner
- Use cloth bags at the grocery store
- Opt for not having a bag at all when the contents I'm purchasing are small
- Go paperless for all my bills

bex · Chanel

the biggest thing we do is recycle. its amazing to us b/c NONE of our friends do.

cahabo · Kate Spade

My family recycles and we also use a heat pump instead of a regular heater. We use the "emergency heat" when it is too cold for the pump to work efficiently.

And we're not litterbugs!

alagirl · Kenneth Cole

I am a farmer here in Alabama. We grow 4000 acres of cotton, wheat, and soybeans using no-till methods (i.e. no plowing so as to minimize the runoff of soil into surface water)

At home, my husband and I are converting to flourescent light bulbs, and we have a programmable thermostat. We recycle what we can and only run the dishwasher and washing machine when they are full. We are also looking into the idea of installing some higher rated energy efficient windows (hello, tax credit )

TheLovelyLady71 · Hermes

Don't litter (Joe LOVES to chuck beer bottles out the window, I told him if I worked for the EPA, I'd get his a**! LOL)

Try to recycle

Conserve energy