The $100 Question: Dwana From Healthier Happier You Wants To Know What You Do To Protect The Environment

I always recycle, eat a lot of organic, don't eat much animal products

I try to walk to work whenever the weather permits (and when I'm not late! :) ), I recycle, buy locally, changed my light bulbs and bring my own cloth bags to the grocery store. I've been doing this for several years now, so the recent oil catastrophe hasn't really changed how I approach helping the environment. Thanks!

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I am not employed presently so I am saving by neccessity but also I have habits that help to protect the environment. Very little driving. Few chemical cleaners. I carry my own bags to the store and my own water bottles. I try to buy only needed items and we use energy efficient appliances. We have a simple lifestyle and a small home. We recyle and reuse.

I have really tried to recycle more.

We're doing a lot of little things. We recycle, we try to minimize our use of disposable items, I try to group my errands together to cut down of driving around, etc.

i pray for it

Absolutely, and I find my kids are very environmentally aware, and are always suggesting ways I could do a better job.

to be better about recycling and conserving energy. We recycle aluminum and plastic regularly. I purchase recycled paper for printer and notepads. We also turn off lights and reduce our use of electricity. There are more things I can do and I am open to trying different things.

This catastrophe reminds me that we could all always do better than we are.

I went through my cleaning products last night and pulled some forward that just have a little left. Once they are used up, I plan to replace them with greener products that aren't as harsh.

I've always been open to save our eco system. Besides recycling, saving energy, etc. I compost which is the best organic fertilizer you can get for growing the best and healthiest veggies.

Over the last 5 years or so I have come to realize the importance of helping protect the enviroment. Some of the things I am doinging include:

recycling
freecycling
using reusable shopping bags
cleaning my floors with steam
unplugging unused appliances
keeping lights and tvs off when not in the room.

I was quite eco-conscious before the spill, but now I am profoundly moved to change further. One area that my husband and I are talking about is air travel for our vacations. It is not the best thing for the environment, so we're rethinking plans, seeing what's fun that's closer to home and accessible by train.

Bring my own totes to the grocery store.

Use mainly green products.

Line dry clothes

Recycle

yes I try to use less energy

At the end of last year, my husband and I committed to making small changes that would allow us to have less impact on our eco system. We hadn't done much before then because we believed that we needed to do something that would have a big impact. But we've realized that even small actions, over time, can make a huge difference. So we've started by replacing paper towels with cloth towels.

I've always been sensitive to the environment and am passionate about recycling and using less. With a combination of recycling, repurposing and donations, I send very little to the landfill. I also drive as little as possible and use environmentally friendly cleaning products.

to recycle as much as we can

Our big push this in our homeschool year was lowering our footprint. I really want my kids to know that everything we do, use, buy, eat, wear, etc comes from someplace. Nothing magically appears in your house.

We put up a laundry line, grow about 80% of our summer veggies, keep chickens, put in our first composter!, walk walk walk & made a rule that when the sun is up, NO lights are on in the house. We started it to make a point, but then the kids & I got really used to using the natural light.

Now if only I could get my husband to turn the lights off behind him ;)

I think there definitely needs to be some changes made to protect our environment and I already recycle and do a lot of walking.

I've been doing much more this year than in years past. bringing my own grocery bags/produce bags to the store and not buying bottled water anymore.

I do a lot of things but the most recent thing is I started composting

I recycle

we have been recyling for year and I stopped buying bottled water and I bring a bag to the store.

I plan all my errands and shopping so I only have to make one trip a week

Yes, we all need to do our part and our government needs to have tougher laws to protect the environment. We carpool, recycle and reduce our energy use.

I practice catch & release fishing.

I was already aware of the possibility of something like this happenning, so I think I've always done what I can to prevent it. I definitely think this has open the eyes of lots of people though.

I recycle, carpool, use florescent bulbs, avoid pesticides in the yard, and use cloth shopping bags.

I do anything for the environment I can on a daily basis. I hope someday to have a job that has to do with the environment, I'm very passionate about it. I even get my neighbors to recycle but they probably think I'm crazy lol. I reuse containers, recycle everything I can, buy less packaging and use all cfls...

justine417@comcast.net

I think we should do everything we can, we recycle and reuse things in are house, I also supported my husband going back to school to be a wind tech, because he wants to work a green career.

We are a family of 7 and even though there are that many people living here our whole family recycles and have the trash to a minimal one bag a week because we recycle just about everything.

The oil catastrophe has definitely made me think about the environment, the many things that we can do to keep our communities clean, the need for a better understanding of the products that we buy, and reusing or recycling materials that we do have access to.
I am hoping to create a program at the school that I work at to teach children to love and care for their environment. Planting gardens, keeping the campus litter-free, running food and clothing donations, ramping up the recycling program, and increasing environmental awareness are all things that I believe are important to teach children (and for us to practice as adults).
On a personal level, I'm a consistent recycler but could really focus more on the products that I buy, the amount of fuel that I use, and food that I consume (less meat, less take-out, etc.).

I have been keeping a compost... I love the idea of fresh-from-the-garden foods and having a compost pile means that all that food waste will not be lost at the landfill, but rather, will enrich my soil.

I make shopping lists so that everything that needs to get done, from shopping to bill-paying to anything else I can think of, all gets done efficiently and without needless extra trips. I live a ways out from shopping and business centers, so I am really conserving fuel by doing things all in one trip.

And just recently, I had the house I live in, tested for how I can be more efficient in my energy consumption, and was given kudos for already implementing many energy-saving behaviors, such as unplugging anything that wasn't in use... amazing isn't it, that things that are plugged in are still drawing energy even if they aren't in use!

I switched from my old cleaners, to all natural products.

i recycle all that i can if i tire of something i give it away rather than putting it in the trash..one mans junk is another mans treasure :)

Protect endangered species

I try to walk or ride my bike everywhere I go, to cut down on using the car. This year we plan on buying a Hybrid. I also recycle and reuse many items that years ago I would of just threw away and not thought twice about it. I realized that everyone would cut back on waste and use things properly without effecting the environment, we would not have these disasters.

I do multiple small things that hopefully will combine with others to made some big changes--recycling, turning off vampire electronics, etc.

We recycle, use reusable bags, cloth diapers, I breast feed and we eat a mostly from scratch diet, also we shop resale for the kids' clothes and toys. I try to consider the process and packaging that has went into a food item or toy, if it feels like too much then it stays on the shelf.
MJ is a contributing author at www.cheepchix.com ( http://www.cheepchix.com ) updated every Monday

I use old t-shirts for rags for like kids and for clean up.. never buy paper towels to landfills.... I also save all glass jars to me reused by Amish women for canning

we recycle one of the best things to help the environment. we always turn lights off when leaving a room, reuse grocery bags,we use energy saver lightbulbs helps too.their are a lot of small things people can do that add up to be alot!
tishajean@charter.net

Our family is already doing our part in saving the environment by being vegetarian for around 6 years. That is one of the biggest things you can do to help the Earth.

I cloth diaper, keep the widows open, try and recylce (I'm getting better at that)and try and use cloth products rather than paper.

I'm already recycling cans. I use the plastic grocery bags for our bathroom trash can as well as to help protect items that I ship.

http://pammiejammie.blogspot.com/

I think I've always been open to the idea of balancing protecting our environment, yet obtaining sources of energy our country needs. It's a difficult balance. While it's easy to say we don't want to do "anything" that could potentially damage the environment, we're happy to come home to our air conditioned houses and drive in our gas fueled vehicles. I think the answer is somewhere in the middle. While many people didn't want to do oil drilling in more shallow waters, the deep water drilling has now shown to have greater risks. If the rig had been in more shallow waters, this catastrophic spill could have been contained a long time ago. Thanks!

I do what I can, starting with small things like changing all the light bulbs in the house over to eco-friendly bulbs, and always taking re-usable bags to the grocery. Small things in massive numbers add up to big changes.

I try to invest in technology companies that build products that protect the environment, including PV makers and sellers.