It was in 1990 that I was first introduced to environmental preservation issues. I was disappointed by the news and so certain I had learned something that my parents knew nothing about; otherwise, why else wouldn't they have discussed these important, pressing problems with me? Weren't they concerned? I can still remember the dinner conversation that ensued.
This life lesson occurred around the same time that our county began recycling. Although it seemed strange that the milk cartons went with newspapers, I soon got the hang of it. Twenty years later, recycling is now routine to me, but as I examine the way I manage my home, I know there are things I could do much better.
Not to pat ourselves on the back; rather, in an effort to personally evaluate what we, as individuals, can do better:
(Image: Resource Action Programs)
Ashley & Kyle's Personality Packed Home 
Aftermarket Resources for Customizing IKEA Furniture 
Like us on Facebook
RSS Feed (Atom)
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Elfa Decor Shelving
12 Recipes to Know By Heart
How To Make Cake Pops
Comments (11)
When I was somewhere between 10-12, back in the very early 90s, I read how harmful the dyes used on paper towels and napkins are. So I enlisted my brother and we convinced my mom (through very forceful whining) to stop buying colored/designed paper towels.
Not as good as getting her stop buying paper towels altogether, but a step toward a green lifestyle, long before it was cool to be green.
Honestly I don't remember if we recycled that much - but I adopted a vegetarian diet at age 14 and stuck to it for 20 years.
Eating homegrown produce. Yup yup! My mom gardened for years before I was born and still does today. I was the one who started recycling program at our house though.
Turning off lights when leaving the room... taught by my third grade teacher!
I have always recycled & never really thought of it as "green" it has kind of always just been what you do. The first conciously green act I began was turning appliances off at the wall & making sure no other lights are on other than the room I am in.
Back in college (nearly 20 years ago now), I started carrying a re-useable cup around. Next after that was using a bike or walking for most of my transportation.
I guess now that I think about it, I got into the habit of turning off lights not in use when in grade school, but we did that to save money. My dad promised me we could get cable if we knocked X dollars off the electricity bill. I made it happen. But I didn't think about the environmental aspects of it at all. I just wanted MTV.
probably recycling.... it's been so long it's hard to remember: which feels really good to say, actually. Right now I am working on giving up plastics (or at least reducing): http://butthesqueal.blogspot.com/2010/08/kaizen-plastics.html
The first habit was to adopt a minimalistic attitude towards all materialistic things - Buying only what is absolutely necessary. Recycling is great but is a very high energy consuming process. The lesser we use the better it is for the environment...
I've always recycled, we did it growing up.
As an adult, the first "green" habit I adopted was ditching plastic water bottles. Although I still love the taste of spring water, not the yucky filtered bottled water. I bought a brita filter and a couple of reusable bottles to tote around outside the home. At first I hated it but it's not so bad anymore.
When I was a kid in southern California, drought was always a problem. Saving water was a family practice - bucket in the shower to catch water to flush the toilet, low-flow toilets, etc.
Growing up in Vancouver, being green was just an innate part of our culture. Everybody I knew recycled and conserved water, shunned dyed paper and Styrofoam. It all came second nature to us- I guess since we had the great outdoors right in our backyard (literally!). I think I first became conscious of being "green" when I started reusing carrier bags ten years ago.